In this latest installment in the beloved No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency series, Mma Ramotswe is tempted to put the brakes on a business venture before it even gets rolling.

“McCall Smith is a master....There’s beauty and revelation of one kind or another woven expertly into every line.” (The Christian Science Monitor)

Mr. J.L.B. Matekoni attends a course hosted by the local chamber of commerce entitled “Where Is Your Business Going?”. But rather than feeling energized, he comes back in low spirits, unsure how to grow the already venerable and successful Tlokweng Road Speedy Motors. Then an old friend from school approaches him about a new business venture that could be just the ticket. When it turns out he will need to mortgage his property in order to pursue this endeavor, Mma Ramotswe and Mma Makutsi wonder what this will mean for his current business - as well as their own.

Even as she puzzles over mysteries on the domestic front, Mma Ramotswe’s professional duties must take precedence. When a concerned son learns that his aging father’s nurse now stands to inherit the family home, he begins to doubt her intentions and takes his case to Botswana’s premier detective agency. Fortunately, Mma Ramotswe and Mma Makutsi are committed agents of justice and agree to investigate.

Tricky as these matters may be, Mma Ramotswe knows that the most creative solutions are often found with the support of loving friends and family. Working together over a cup of red bush tea, she and Mma Makutsi will rely on their tact, humor, and goodwill to ensure that all involved find the happiness that they deserve.

Listening Length

8 hours and 8 minutes
Author

Alexander McCall Smith
Narrator

Bianca Amato
Audible release date

November 16, 2021
Language

English
Publisher

Recorded Books, Inc.
ASIN

B0971S4NSL
Version

Unabridged
Program Type

Audiobook
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Product details

Listening Length	8 hours and 8 minutes
Author	Alexander McCall Smith
Narrator	Bianca Amato
Whispersync for Voice	Ready
Audible.com Release Date	November 16, 2021
Publisher	Recorded Books, Inc.
Program Type	Audiobook
Version	Unabridged
Language	English
ASIN	B0971S4NSL
Best Sellers Rank	#8,733 in Audible Books & Originals (See Top 100 in Audible Books & Originals) #43 in Private Investigator Mysteries (Audible Books & Originals) #49 in Amateur Sleuth Mysteries (Audible Books & Originals) #66 in Cozy Mysteries (Audible Books & Originals)

Customer reviews

5 star		73%
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3 star		6%
2 star		1%
1 star		1%

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Mark from Haifa

Another charming No. 1 Ladies book

Reviewed in the United States on January 27, 2022

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I got hooked on Alexander McCall Smith's No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency series long ago and have now read all 22 of them with great pleasure. They weave, with charm and grace, vignettes of life in Botswana, with characters who still remember the old morality there, where people felt connected to each other and even to people who had become "late". You have to love "traditionally built" Mma Ramotswe, founder of the Detective Agency, and her partner Mma Makutsi, who is so proud of having achieved a grade of 97 per cent at the Botswana Secretarial College. They solve mysteries - all non-violent - using wisdom and tact. And I am also fond of Mma Ramotswe's mechanic husband, Mr. JLB Matekoni, and her friend Mma Potokwane, who runs the orphan farm. I think you will love all of them, too.

5 people found this helpful

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JRAlpine

Take the bus

Reviewed in the United States on December 7, 2021

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Alexander McCall Smith’s No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency books are consistently delightful, balancing wit and humor with a wisdom verging on the profound. The adventures of Mma Ramotswe and Mma Makutsi in “The Joy and Light Bus Company” continue that tradition.

Here the detectives’ concerns include a client worried that a younger woman is exploiting his aging and wealthy father and, for Mma Ramotswe, that an old school chum could be taking similar advantage of her husband, stuck in a mid-life crisis.

No surprise that the situations prove to be more nuanced than they seem at first because that’s the way life is. And Violet Sephotho makes an early appearance, perhaps to remind readers that human nature is imperfect—a delicate touch in a book otherwise full of joy and light.

Wonderfully written, as always.

4 people found this helpful

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Heart-warming and life-affirming as ever

Reviewed in the United States on December 14, 2021

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Nothing ever changes, but nothing’s the same from day to day for Botswana’s famous lady detectives. Once again, the challenges come three at a time for Mma Precious Ramotswe, proprietor of Gaborone’s No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency.

The son of a wealthy man is convinced that the nurse who cares for his elderly and ailing father has wickedly prevailed on him to leave her the rural estate where they live.
A 12-year-old girl at the Orphan Farm, escaped from domestic slavery in a wealthy home in the capital, says that two other youngsters are still held there against their will.
And Mr. J. L. B. Matekoni, Precious’ loyal and loving husband, attends a motivational seminar for small business owners. There, he meets a childhood friend who is now a big success. The friend wants him to join as a partner in a risky scheme to start a bus company—and to do so he’ll have to mortgage the premises where both the detective agency and the Tlokweng Road Speedy Motors repair shop are located.

GETTING TO THE TRUTH WITH CARE AND CONCERN

Together with her exasperating secretary, Mma Grace Makutsi, who has promoted herself to “senior co-managing director” in the agency, Mma Ramotswe must somehow get to the truth behind each of these three troublesome reports—and find ways to resolve the dilemmas they pose in the most caring way she can. Thus begins the 22nd entry in the No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency series by the prolific Scots author Alexander McCall Smith.

CELEBRATING AFRICAN TRADITION AND VALUES

McCall Smith idealizes Africa’s traditional values of love for the land, the people, and the communities they forge. Mma Ramotswe’s thoughts turn again and again to her memories of the late Obed Ramotswe, the wise man who raised prize cattle and gave life to her. She and Mma Makutsi both cling proudly to their identification with the villages where they were born and raised, Precious in relative comfort, Grace in poverty.

There is corruption and wrongdoing in the country, and AIDS rages in the background, but we gain only glimpses of the damage they do. Evil is personified in a handful of rich and greedy families, an occasional criminal, and in the person of Violet Sephotho, Grace’s glamorous classmate at the Secretarial School who steals husbands and constantly connives to undermine the lady detectives. Mma Ramotse makes her way through this world acting as though people are good, and only rarely is she disappointed. And she laments the passing of the “old ways.”

HAPPINESS FOR ONE AND ALL

Here, for example, Mma Ramotswe muses about happiness. “Both sexes, she thought, might give some thought to the happiness of the other. She knew that there were some women who did not care much about men, and who would not be bothered too much if there were large numbers of discontented men, but she did not think that way herself. Such women, she thought, were every bit as selfish as those men who seemed not to care about the happiness of women. We should all care about each other, she felt, and it made no difference whether an unhappy person was a man or a woman. Any unhappiness, in anybody at all, was a shame. It was as simple as that: it was a shame.”

FORGET THE AFRICAN STEREOTYPES: THIS IS BOTSWANA

Understanding these charming little novels requires at least a cursory knowledge of the city and country where they’re set. Botswana is a large, landlocked country in south-central Africa bordered on the south by South Africa, on the west by Namibia, and on the north by Angola, Zambia, and Zimbabwe. Though it’s nearly the size of Texas, Botswana is home to just 2.4 million people. It’s one of the most sparsely populated countries in the world. Nearly 70 percent of its territory is the huge Kalahari Desert. The capital city of Gaborone, where Precious Ramotswe lives, has a population of 276,000. It’s the size of Chula Vista, California, or Durham, North Carolina. Which means, of course, that it’s no surprise Mma Ramotswe could so often run into people she knows.

Although Botswana has been inhabited for 200,000 years, it lost its independence in the 19th-century Scramble for Africa. It first became a German colony and then a British protectorate known as Bechuanaland. The country regained its independence in 1966 and has been a stable democracy ever since. In recent years, despite the terrible toll of the AIDS epidemic, Botswana has become one of Africa’s fastest-growing economies and is now ranked as a middle-income nation. Seretse Khama, the country’s beloved first president, is one of Precious Ramotswe’s heroes.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Alexander McCall Smith was born in 1948 in what is now the nation of Zambia. Educated at the University of Edinburgh, where he received his LLB and PhD degrees in law, he later co-founded the law school and taught law at the University of Botswana. As Wikipedia notes, “He settled in Edinburgh, Scotland, in 1984. He and his wife Elizabeth, a physician, . . . lived there for almost 30 years, raising their two daughters. Nearby lived the authors J. K. Rowling, Ian Rankin, and Kate Atkinson.” McCall Smith reportedly writes 2,000 to 3,000 words a day. He has produced scores of novels, including two other long-running series (44 Scotland Street and The Sunday Philosophy Club) as well as the No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency. McCall Smith is also a renowned expert on law and medical ethics. He has authored thirteen legal texts.

11 people found this helpful

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PaulaB

Time to end this series

Reviewed in the United States on January 8, 2022

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I've been a devoted fan of The No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency series since the first book came out, so it pains me to give this just 2 stars.

Either the author is getting tired of his characters, or I am, or both. I felt this way, though not as strongly, with #18 or #19, can't remember which. But I stuck with it nevertheless.

Perhaps if this were a stand-alone, and I wasn't familiar with the characters and their back-stories, I'd have been more entertained.

If #23 is released, I'll probably skip it and wait for the final book to see how McCall Smith wraps things up. I'll be sad to see his delightful characters go, but it's time.

13 people found this helpful

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Judy Mc

I love this series!

Reviewed in the United States on November 24, 2021

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What a great story this and every time. When I read the stories there are always great lessons. And I love Precious more and more. I can never get enough of No 1 Ladies Detective Agency. This particular story is about relationships, changing opinions and trust. Kind Botswana people winning out in the end.

One person found this helpful

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Helen Chappell

can’t get enough Precious

Reviewed in the United States on January 14, 2022

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I’m a huge fan oh The Number One Ladies Detective Agency. These stories, set in Botswana and populated by wonderful kind humans never disappoint. They’re gentle and leisurely funny and compassionate and I read them as a refreshing break and an escape into a better world.

One person found this helpful

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K. M. Bell

The whole series is excellent!

Reviewed in the United States on December 25, 2021

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The first book I read in this series was "Morality for Beautiful Girls" and I was hooked. I've bought every book in "The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency" series and passed them on to my mother to read. Fortunately A. McCall Smith usually has a new book finished before Christmas so it's perfect timing: I have time to read it and then wrap it to give my mother. I hope this series never ends.

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Kim Keltner

Lovely

Reviewed in the United States on December 28, 2021

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I really have enjoyed this whole series. The characters are like old friends. I love the way the books immerse you in Botswana culture too. It comes across so well in the gentle musings of Mma Ramotswe. This one was quite lovely. And he even snuck the evil Violet in as well.

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Top reviews from other countries

Barry Linton

Series has lost it attraction for me

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on September 16, 2021

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I have been a fan of the series since the first book all those years ago. Pleasant stories and a gradual development of the characters as time went by. Sadly all AMcS books are now platforms for the author's musings on philosophical or ethical issues. The Swedish Varg series became boring because of such musings and sadly the No 1 Ladies Detective Agency is slipping down the same route.

It was almost three full chapters before there was even a hint of a story, just page after page of Precious Ramotswe's thoughts on various irrelevant topics. Grace Makutsi seemed to have regressed in her behaviour back to her immature start 20 years ago. Very lazy writing, no longer pleasant story telling.

5 people found this helpful

Malcolm R

Better than recent entries to the sequence

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on January 15, 2022

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Struggled to get into this book as the beginning is the usual discursive thoughts on men and happiness and other inconsequential matters but nothing else. A third of the way in actual detective work takes over, we still get reminisce and cod philosophising but a tolerable amount. The actual investigations are interesting and the last two thirds race past with everything working out nicely and succinctly. An improvement from the last several books where the charm was thinning to say the least.

2 people found this helpful

Jane Page

Too little too late

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on May 5, 2022

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Before I bought this book - and I have quite a few of the No.1 Ladies' Detective Agency - I read the reviews and was almost affronted by one reviewer who said there was too much philosophising. Surely, I thought, that is what we read them for? The plots are always minimal. But the reader was right. Mr. McCall Smith can turn out philosophy by the yard but he seems to have forgotten how to write a story, and mutterings of 'Come on, get to the point' have - understandably - no effect. I even found myself skimming paragraphs to discover if anything actually was going to happen. I did finish the book. But then it's not as long as it often felt.

One person found this helpful

The Reading Room

Joyful and Delightful

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on May 5, 2022

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Another delightful book in ‘The No1 Ladies Detective Agency’ series – 5 Stars

In this book, the problems are particularly close to home for Mma Ramotswe as her husband is approached to invest in a new business venture, and her friend, Mma Potokwani, takes-in an abused child…

It’s always a pleasure to read one of ‘The No1 Ladies Detective Agency’ series, and this novel encapsulates all that is good about these books: The investigations are entertaining, there are wonderful descriptions of Botswana’s flora, fauna, and culture, and the entire story leaves you with an overriding sense of hope for humanity. It’s full of philosophical ‘problems’ but, as always, Mme Ramotswe is guided to the solutions by her innate kindness and understanding of human nature.

Overall: Crime fiction doesn’t come much gentler than this. It’s very much a story with kindness and kinship at its heart.

Mrs. L. M. Morse

Perhaps the best of the 1st Ladies Detective Agency stories

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on November 15, 2021

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I think I have all the Ladies Detective Agency books. Each one is love story, really; love for Botswana and love for the people there. They almost draw me to Gaborone, they are such warm, definite characters! In this book we had a peak into the business world of Grace's husband, Phuti, which seems to work the same way over there as it does everywhere - the importance of who you know, as well as what you know! The main story here is that Mme Ramotswe's husband, Mr J L B Maketone seems to be the victim of a scam that could cost him everything he owns, including his garage, but his old friend's offer turns out to be genuine, although the end result is diferent. And Mr J L B recognises his worth - and everyone is happy.

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The Joy and Light Bus Company: No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency, Book 22 Audible Audiobook – Unabridged

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