To the Land of Long Lost Friends

I love Mma Ramotswe and J.L.B Matekoni. I adore Mma Makutse and Charlie and Mma Potekwane. And even though I have never seen Botswana, I love it as well.

But I did not love this novel as I have so many of the others. I have noticed a tendency in recent novels for the author to tie things together very quickly in just a few pages, as if he suddenly realized he was nearing a page limit and had to finish things up in the pages that were left. This installment has a similar problem.

I do not even know where to begin with this one, but will say this, without, I hope, giving too much away. The original case that begins this novel involves a woman who believes her husband is cheating on her. Nothing really happens with that story line except for one other scene and two letters. It is almost as if the author forgot all about that case and just let it float away.

Disappointing. And I was so excited for another Precious Ramotswe book.

For years, I’ve been a huge fan of most of the works of Alexander McCall Smith. Besides the ‘No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency’ series, I also enjoy the gentle psychological sleuthing in the Isabel Dalhousie series, the sweet and earnest goings of Bertie and Co, at ’44 Scotland Street’, The ‘Portuguese Irregular Verbs’ advent;ures and misadventures, plus some other short stories and series. I love the language and literary devices that Mr. McCall Smith so skillfully uses.

However, this most recent novel was a bit of a disappointment, since it was mostly musings and offered barely any action that could balanced out the supporting thoughts and conversations of the characters.. Doesn’t a detective have to have a decent amount of interesting action to conjure up likely misdemeanors, scattered clues, attendant suspects, and finally, the resolution of a tricky situation? There was a bit too much thinking and little real action in this tale.

However, the reader does get to again visit with all the usual and noteworthy characters that have kept this series going for almost 20 stories, notwithstanding some new characters that trigger Mma Ramotswe and Mma Makutsi to take action to right the wrongs in their beloved Botswana.

Still, I did love revisiting the life and times of Gabaronne and its environs. Having lived for many years in E. Africa, all these people, settings, and cultural behaviors are so welcoming. It’s like coming home for me. The tales make me homesick for Africa!

However, I do look forward to more of Mma Ramotswe, her antics, and sleuthing pals. It’s not easy to produce an annual, fresh new tale that supercedes previous stories. However in today’s world, McCall Smith’s portrayals of Africa and Africans are almost the only positive comment on modern Africa, and I thank him for that. You’re the best, Mr. McCall Smith!

I liked the book and have enjoyed the entire series, but Grace Makutsi is starting to become an annoying character. I used to like her contrasting personality to that of Precious Ramatswe but she has become so jealous and petty and mean in the last few books. I don’t like her anymore.
Let her go off and run her own business if there is going to be competition between her and Precious. Grace was such a wonderful character, a little abrasive but not as near cruel as she is now. I
JMO.

To the Land of Long Lost Friendsis the twentieth book in the No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency series and the first one that has disappointed me. The local color is there, of course. The charm is present throughout. But the narrative drive that carried me through all the earlier stories is lacking. Alexander McCall Smith has long had the habit of leading his characters off into conversational cul-de-sacs; that’s been the source of much of the series’s charm. But he has overdone it in this book.

The #1 Ladies Detective Agency takes on a bundle of cases

As usual, there are several narrative threads here. Mma Ramotswe is convinced a client is mistaken that her husband has been having an affair, but Mma Makutsi disagreesvociferously, as always. A wealthy old friend of Mma Ramotswe’s has gone broke because she has become involved with a charismatic lay preacher who runs what he calls the Church of Christ, Mechanic. And Mma Ramotswe is distressed to learn that the daughter of an old friend from her hometown rejected her mother’s friendship. Meanwhile, apprentice detective Charlie is frantic that the woman he has been dating wants to get married even though Charlie is broke and can’t possibly pay the bride price.

In the earlier entries in the series, this collection of plotlines would have been more than sufficient to fill the pages of a novel. In fact, it could have justified at least two. Here, though, McCall Smith spends relatively little time elaborating and resolving these threads of the story. He devotes far more time and space in digressions about . . . well, just about everything that seems to come into the minds of his characters. And sometimes those digressions go on for pages. The #1 Ladies Detective Agency is, after all, a detective agency. I would have expected a lot more detecting.

Too bad. I love this series. I hope McCall Smith hasn’t run out of steam.

This latest novel in the No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency is interesting, but far from the best. Too much off-on-a-tangent thoughts from various characters — like the over-use of the “97% score” Ms. Matsuki received at the secretarial school. And the story of Precious’ “late” friend who is not really dead. I enjoyed the Charlie story, however. And the mystery was tied up nicely. Just too much past information, and not enough new.