The Minor Adjustment Beauty Salon

September 9, 2013
The No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency could be about to lose its #2 investigator in Smith’s endearing 14th installment of the bestselling Botswana-set series (after 2012’s The Limpopo Academy of Private Detection). One hardly needs the renowned deductive powers of agency head Mma Precious Ramotswe to notice the growing bulk beneath the increasingly voluminous garb of recently married second-in-command Mma Grace Makutsi. But the normally frighteningly efficient assistant stays mum as the pair try to establish whether the young “nephew” attempting to claim a dead man’s estate is in fact an imposter. Meanwhile, Mma Ramotswe allows herself to be snookered into figuring out who’s mounting a smear campaign against the titular beauty establishment. The two story lines work as serviceably as Mma Ramotswe’s doughty white van to propel the story forward, but the book’s appeal lies less in deduction than irrepressible characters, intriguing local lore, and bone-deep love of Africa. Agent: Robin Straus, Robin Straus Agency.

November 15, 2013
Two and a half new cases for Precious Ramotswe, who presides over the No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency. The first case is both straightforward and tricky. Sheba Kutso, the lawyer Edgar Molapo hired to execute the will leaving much of his estate to his late brother's son, Liso, suspects that the young man calling himself Liso Molapo isn't her late client's nephew, even though he's supplied with all the proper identification. Mma Ramotswe can imagine several different scenarios that would explain the possible imposture, as well as some that would indicate that the claimant isn't an imposter at all, but it's hard to find evidence that supports any of them and excludes the others. In the second case, which asks who's spreading malicious rumors about Mma Soleti, the proprietor of the newly relocated Minor Adjustment Beauty Salon, identifying the culprit seems almost too easy, but this inquiry too turns out to have unexpected twists. What occupies Mma Ramotswe most deeply, however, is the absence of her secretary and associate detective, Grace Makutsi, who, only days after finally acknowledging her pregnancy, is delivered of a son whose arrival brings a most unwelcome extended visit from her husband Phuti Radiphuti's aunt. In the tale's most effective episode, Mr. J.L.B. Matekoni, getting the idea that he needs to work harder at being a good husband to Mma Ramotswe, signs up for the Modern Husband course at the University of Botswana, with gratifyingly predictable results. A little slower-moving and more diffuse than many of the 13 preceding volumes in this celebrated series (The Limpopo Academy of Private Detection, 2012, etc.), but it's no more than you'd expect from a heroine whose fleetness has never been as big a draw as her wisdom.

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Starred review from October 1, 2013
The titles of many of the No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency novels (this is the fourteenth) often have a wonderfully cheery tone. Think of The Full Cupboard of Life, for example, or Tea Time for the Traditionally Built. The latest title is brilliant in its hopefulness, implying, as it does, that a person may only be a mere tweak away from beauty. This hopeful attitude is exemplified by Mma Ramotswe, the owner and operator of Botswana's only detective agency, who resolutely tackles the problems people bring to her in her small, out-of-the-way office under an acacia tree. The clients' problems showcase the usual suspects of greed, envy, slothall the vices that cause trouble for others. This time, the owner of the nearest town's new beauty salon receives a tiny thing, a feather from a ground hornbill bird. But this artifact is a traditional way of conveying hate. This is followed by a highly effective smear campaign. The other case Mma Ramotswe works on here concerns an heir to a great cattle farm who may actually be an imposter. Mma Ramotswe must track the truth alone because her assistant Mma Makutsi is absent (no plot spoiler here). As usual, these novels are only a bit about actual mysteries. They're leisurely, wonderfully crafted descriptions of life in the agency and at home, the beauties of Botswana, and the joys, big and small, of life. This latest is, especially, a tribute to enduring friendship.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2013, American Library Association.)

June 1, 2013

Mma Ramotswe is back, investigating a series of curious incidents that seem designed to put the Minor Adjustment Beauty Salon out of business. No. 14 for the No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency; with a reading group guide and a ten-city tour.

Copyright 2013 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

November 1, 2013

A reader favorite, the irresistible Precious juggles two cases with her usual aplomb. She has more trouble grappling with changes within her own agency in her 14th adventure (after The Limpopo Academy of Private Detection). [See Prepub Alert, 5/13/13.]

Copyright 2013 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

March 1, 2014
For a series now with 14 entries, McCall Smith's Botswana-set books starring Mma Precious Ramotswe have maintained a remarkably high standard. Every novel adds new depth to its beloved characters while spinning plot twists that are sufficiently intriguing to make each book work on its own as a satisfying detective story. This latest (after "The Limpopo Academy of Private Detection") explores the effect of motherhood on Precious's recently married associate, Mma Makutsi. The latter's maternity-leave causes the unfailingly sensitive Mma Ramotswe to redefine her professional relationship with her assistant. Meanwhile, the agency confronts troubling cases of a possibly false heir to a farm and a beauty salon targeted by a vicious rumor campaign. Despite the country's many admirable qualities, all is not well in Botswana. Lisette Lecat's narration is, as always, pitch perfect. VERDICT Another excellent title from McCall Smith.--R. Kent Rasmussen, Thousand Oaks, CA

Copyright 2014 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.