The Handsome Man's Deluxe Café

August 25, 2014
As usual, the problems that Precious Ramotswe tackles in Smith enjoyable 15th No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency novel (after 2013’s The Minor Adjustment Beauty Salon) are more the province of a therapist/counselor than of a cop. Mma Ramotswe’s longtime assistant, Grace Makutsi, now a partner in their detective agency, hopes her good fortune will transfer to a new business venture, a restaurant whose name is the book’s title. In the main plot line, the owner of a Botswana office supplies company retains the detective agency to help ascertain the identity of an amnesiac woman, whose uncertain status puts her at risk for deportation. Meanwhile, Mma Ramotswe’s husband, Mr. J.L.B. Matekoni, must make a difficult business decision, but that only provides his wife with yet another chance to display her sympathy for almost every living creature. Series fans will be moved by a supporting character’s growth, and newcomers will be charmed by the gentle humor. Nine-city author tour. Agent: Robin Straus, Robin Straus Agency.

October 15, 2014
A slow mystery season in Botswana-there's only one proper case for the No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency-leaves its employees free to pursue all manner of adventures on their own.The official case, as so often, involves no obvious crime. When an amnesiac Indian lady carrying no identification wanders into the home of Mr. Sengupta and his widowed sister, "Miss Rose" Chattopadhyay, they naturally take her in but tell Precious Ramotswe that they'd feel better if they knew who their uninvited tenant was and where she'd come from. Putting aside the strategic plan ("The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency: Challenges Ahead and Options for the Future") furniture salesman Phuti Radiphuti has developed for the agency, Mma Ramotswe (The Minor Adjustment Beauty Salon, 2013, etc.) is able to put an unexpected operative on the case: Charlie, the chronically underachieving apprentice her husband, Mr. J.L.B. Matekoni, has finally let go from Tlokweng Road Speedy Motors. The episode in which Charlie, rescued from despair by Mma Ramotswe's offer of a job as an apprentice detective, stakes out the Sengupta home in the hope of following his mysterious visitor provides the comic high point of this gentle tale. It's not giving too much away to say that things don't exactly work out as planned for Charlie-or for Mma Ramotswe's partner Grace Makutsi, whose venture into the hospitality business, The Handsome Man's DeLuxe Cafe, runs into sadly predictable problems. If only her husband had drawn up a strategic plan. Thanks to that sturdy deus ex machina, Orphan Farm matron Mma Potokwane, all's well that ends well in perhaps the most tranquil and unruffled entry in this renowned series.

COPYRIGHT(2014) Kirkus Reviews, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

Starred review from October 1, 2014
Calling Precious Ramotswe, owner and chief investigator of the No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency in Botswana, a detective doesn't do her justice. Problem solver extraordinaire would be much better. Mma Ramotswe takes on one or two true mysteries per novel, it's true, but she also treats a whole range of human difficulties as they come her way, finding good solutions through her wisdom, kindness, and tact. In this, the fifteenth in McCall Smith's hyperpopular series, the true mystery takes the form of a woman who appears to suffer from amnesia and is in considerable danger. Two other disruptions unsettle Mma Ramotswe's gentle routine of making bush tea in the morning and waiting for clients. Charlie, the girl-crazy, work-loathing apprentice to Mma Ramotswe's husband, who runs the garage adjoining the agency, is let go and quickly sinks into almost suicidal despair. Mma Makutsi, she who prides herself on receiving a 97 at the Botswana Secretarial College and is now Mma Ramotswe's copartner in the business, decides to open a caf' for fashionable people (the Handsome Man title is meant to target that demographic). Humor runs rampant, as always, except in the darkest situations. For example, the pride and prickliness of Mma Makutsi are always a hoot. McCall Smith's depictions of the sights and sounds of Botswana and his overarching theme of compassion make this novel radiant. HIGH-DEMAND BACKSTORY: The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency series remains the number-one attraction in the prolific McCall Smith's extensive oeuvre, and a new installment is always big news for the author's fans.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2014, American Library Association.)

June 1, 2014

Mma Ramotswe's next case: bucking up partner Grace Makutsi, who is overwhelmed by business demands and a lightning strike when she decides to try something different and opens the Handsome Man's Deluxe Cafe. The 15th installment in a venerable series; with a nine-city tour to Atlanta, Boston, Miami, New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Santa Barbara, Aliso Viejo, CA, and Seattle.

Copyright 2014 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.