Kirkus
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Three new problems, only one involving an actual client, for the No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency.Susan Peters was born in Molepolole and spent four years of her childhood in Gaborone, but shes passed her adult life in Toronto. Disappointed in love, shes looking to connect to her past, and she wants Mma Precious Ramotswe and her associate, Mma Grace Makutsi, to find her childhood home and the nurse she remembers only as Rosie. The blurred photograph of Rosie she shares with Botswanas foremost detective agency (Chance Developments, 2016, etc.) isnt much of a lead, but the sleuths, aided by their associate Charlie, get down to work. Other matters repeatedly upstage the case. Fanwell, the assistant mechanic at Tlokweng Road Speedy Motorsthe company owned by Mr. J.L.B. Matekoni, Mma Ramotswes husbandhas run over a dog thats become perversely attached to him and insists on returning to the agency no matter what. And Mr. Polopetsi, who divides his professional hours between teaching chemistry and consulting at the agency, has added a new activity: going around Gaborone pushing shares in the Fat Cattle Club, an investment opportunity that Mma Ramotswe instantly recognizes as a pyramid scheme. As usual, theres even more low-level intrigue simmering in the background, from a lovelorn mans plea to Mma Ramotswe to help him find a nice girl to the detectives midnight encounter with a snake to the nomination of business consultant Violet Sephotho, Mma Makutsis sworn enemy, as Woman of the Year. The result is a gossamer web that feels miscellaneous even by the loose standards of this celebrated franchise. More than ever, the rewards are local and properly humble, as in every moment experience and wisdom triumph over the blinkered clichs they regularly confront. Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.