I think I have to read one of these books every so often, just connect with a slower, gentler, kinder culture. The mysteries are not gory. The solution to problems are often simple. The world would be better if we'd all try a bit harder to just be nice.

Oh! How I just love this series! I am sure that literally anyone could find something to admire and savour about these books. They are so enjoyable. I hope they carry on for the foreseeable future. Sometimes, all you need is the comfort and this series has that in bucketloads. I remember seeing a couple of episodes when they made a television show from one of the books and it was great too. AMS is a writer I find immersive and every single story in this array of novels is absorbing. Bravo!

Five new shoe happy stars for Lisette Lecat and her top notch narration once again. I am totally addicted to listening to these beautiful Botswana tales in audio form. Three new shoe are-they-the-right-size stars to the narrative. I do love Mma Ramatswe with her "tiny white van" and her "traditional build." The pacing, though, was all over the place. The cobra incident was so exciting. And the relationship growing pains for Mma Makutsi and her intended were a fascinating piece of her character d...

This is the sixth book in the "No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency" series that I have read. This book was so much fun for me, not just because it is a easy read and a fun story, but it has so many memories. I love that I know what the hot Botwana sun feels like , or what Kigale hill looks like, or that I can pronounce the Setswana words. I can relate to Mma Ramotswe (which was also the name of our nanny) on what a unique country Botswana is politically in Africa and the pride in their first president...

3.5 starsA unique cozy mystery. No blood and gore, no murder, but lots of little cases for Mma. Rambotswe and her friends to get to the bottom of. I wasn't sure what it would be like at first, since I generally prefer novels to have a strong sense of plot, but the lovely characters won me over and the setting is beautifully described. I especially approved of the amount of tea consumed by the characters! I'll be reading more of this series. I loved how clean the prose was and how all bad languag...

There are so many great reviews of these books that it is hard to not be repetitive. This book was one of my favorites because of Mma Makutsi and her "blue shoes." Like so much else in Smith's books, the shoes are a vehicle for philosophy. There is a contrast between Mma Ramotswe's contented life and Mma Makutsi's need driven one. Mma Ramotswe sits under trees and looks at the land with such contentment and joy. She doesn't escape from her problems, but she does let the land put them into perspe...

The only other book in the No.1 Ladies' Detective Agency series I've read is the first one and so perhaps I should have waited to read books number two to six before jumping straight to the seventh in the series. However, I couldn't resist buying whatever was available when I went to the book store yesterday and in any case, I have maintained a rich tradition of reading books out of order.It goes without saying that reading this one was as enjoyable as the first one, the warm Botswana sun a welc...

This is definitely comfort reading for me. Nothing much happens but everything does happen. It's the little things that make me smile while I read the daily adventures of Mma Ramotswe and her assistant Mma Matkusi. This one is a slow reflexion on happiness and what isn't good for you might ultimately make you happy anyway. Happiness is an elusive thing. It might be a beautiful pairs of blue shoes a size to small that you wear anyway just because. The important thing is to feel happiness and to r...

It's nice to get back to this series - the characters continue to delight.Here are a couple of passages that I want to remember:This new-found fluency ,, enabled him to say things that he had been unable to say for years, and the words flowed out of him ... It was as if a drought had ended - a drought that had made for expanses of silence, as drought will dry up a salt pan and render it white and powdery - and the words were like longed-for rain, turning the land green at last. (p.51, hardcover

Not as good as the previous _In the Company of Cheerful Ladies_ but still quite enjoyable. I know I say it each and every time, but these books make me so happy. I love the peacefulness and the sense of humanity and civility engendered by Mma Ramotswe and the cast of characters. They all seem so gentle. This book seemed to have more "waxing philosophical" passages than some of the previous books - I enjoyed it, of course, but it brought a slightly different tone. I think this is my favorite titl...

4 Stars. Here's something we don't experience in Canada. I've entertained wild bears with ABBA songs along the roadside in northern British Columbia, and seen a moose try to run through a baseball backscreen in central Ontario, but a cobra in one's office? Botswana is delightfully different. Assistant detective Grace Makutsi found the snake near her desk one day. When the excitement quotient hit the roof, so did she! It's endearing; it's sort of a mystery, but a title like, "More Little Cases Co...

***Fifth read*** I want to thank Alexander McCall Smith for writing a series of books that got me through what I sincerely hope to be the worst presidency in America's history. I will probably keep reading this series because a new one comes out every year and I'm on the waiting list for the newest one, but maybe I'll be able to open up some avenues to other kinds of reading in years to come. I busted my a$$ working since July for Joe Biden's campaign, turning away billable work in the process,

It's been a long time since I last enjoyed the #1 Ladies' Detective Agency series. Blue Shoes and Happiness by Alexander McCall Smith is the 7th book in this entertaining series, featuring the wonderful Botswana detective Precious Ramotswe.Precocious operates her detective agency with her capable assistant Grace Makutsi out of her husband's garage Tlokweng Road. In this book, they work on a number of cases, with the assistance of one of the employees in Mr. J.L.B. Matekoni, Precious's hubby. Let...

It still amazes me that a series of detective stories with no suspense, and no great mysteries can actually work, but McCall Smith manages to make it work. Reading these books is like visiting old friends that you know so well that they don't surprise you any more, but you enjoy their company. I think that is the best way I can explain my relationship with this series. I still like the characters, and reading about them entertains me.

I really enjoyed this book in the No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency series. In this book, Mma Ramotswe looks into superstitious happenings at a local safari, blackmailing and government theft at the University, and a doctor who seems to be doing something wrong with his patients. That and a new pair of blue shoes. Such charm in Botswana...

This is now the 7th book in the series, and once again we are looking at a comfort book about a traditional lady (Mma. Ramotswe) and her No.1 Ladies' Detective Agency. As in all books, the actual cases take a back seat to both character development and Botswana (and I have won a few trivia games thanks to my knowledge of Botswana!). A lot happens and yet a lot does not happen. We have a few cases, none of which are going to be money makers for the Agency, and for the first time that I can rememb...

I reread this story as I’ve picked up the series again and realized I’d read some out of order. I’m waiting for my library hold for the next one. Whether you read these stories or listen to them they are a bit of a balm to the soul. Mma Ramotswe and the gang are such sweet and genuine people with an interest in keeping tradition alive and some of the old ways though they are modern ladies. They work at being polite, honest and fair and these slow African stories just make you feel good. You can

This is number 7 in the No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency series. Grace Makutsi makes the mistake of telling her fiancé that she is a feminist, causing him to become afraid. Mma Ramotswe takes on the problem of a young lady chef who has seen her boss feeding her husband on company food, and is afraid she will be fired if she tells. The employees at a game reserve are being subjected to the fear of witchcraft. An advice columnist piques Ramotswe’s interest, and ire. She turns out to be a central cha...

Another enjoyable adventure with the No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency. Please keep them coming Alexander McCall Smith.

Maybe I didn't like it quite as much as the previous one, but still, it is always wonderful to visit Botswana and lose myself in the world of the tiny white van and 97%, of Seretse Khama and the old Botswana morality. The intertwining plots perhaps had the common thread, this time, of vanity and pride: Mma Makutsi's statement about being a feminist nearly derailing her engagement (or so she thinks!), Mr. Polopoletsi's attempt to solve a problem on his own, Mma Ramotswe's diet, and of course, the...