The Miracle at Speedy Motors (No1 Ladies Detective Agency 9)

In the ninth instalment of Alexander McCall Smith's excellent series, The No.1 Ladies' Detective Agency, Mma Precious Ramotswe, owner of the only ladies' detective agency in Botswana (indeed, the only private detective agency there at all) continues, as she puts it, to solve the problems in people's lives. As ever, not so very much has changed in her world at the end of the book, but, on balance, people's lives have been made better, and often not in quite the way that Mma Ramotswe and the reader might have expected.

In "The Miracle at Speedy Motors" Mma Ramotswe, her associate detective Mma Makutsi and their occasional assistants deal with threatening letters, missing relatives and the good and bad consequences of the rainy season. Answering hatred with love is one of the themes that McCall Smith explores in the book. Initial results are mixed, but in the end Mma Ramotswe and McCall Smith convince us that it is a better strategy than the normal one. The miracles achieved are not the big one hoped for, but they make a difference all the same.

This is a gentle, life-affirming commentary on the human condition, written in a light and entertaining way. It's not crime fiction, it's not a thriller, but this book, the others in the series and indeed those other of McCall Smith's books that I have read are a welcome break from faster paced, or more overtly serious, reading. If you haven't read it yet, give it a try (though I'd start with the first in the series). If you have, then this is as good as any. Thoroughly recommended.

"Some of our [country has vanished], maybe. But not the heart that beats right inside...That is still there." (3/3 people found this helpful)

In this ninth novel in the Alexander McCall Smith series, Precious Ramotswe, the "traditionally built" proprietor of the #1 Ladies' Detective Agency in Gaborone, Botswana, receives a threatening letter: "Fat lady: you watch out! And you too, the one with the big glasses." Mma Ramotswe and her assistant, Grace Makutsi, of the big glasses, are startled by this letter, and Mma Ramotswe even begins to believe that she is being followed. As the two women deal with their business and their lives, the letter haunts them--it is so uncharacteristic of the gentle, sweet-spirited life of Botswana, a place where, in Mma Ramotswe's experience, almost any problem can be worked out over a cup of bush tea.

Continuing the stories of Mma Ramotswe and those around her, this novel, like its predecessors, contains a mystery or two, along with many episodes of daily life which develop the characters further, quietly teach a few lessons, and show how humor and polite behavior can improve even the worst of situations. The central mystery of the novel is uncomplicated. A woman has come to Mma Ramotswe because she believes that she is not the daughter of her late "mother," and she wants Mma Ramotswe to find her birth family.

Subplots galore keep the stories flowing. The fuss-budget-y Grace Makutsi, who is engaged to marry a wealthy furniture seller, picks out an elaborate bed which she and her husband will occupy after they are married. When she has it delivered to her house, the bed precipitates a disaster. At the same time, Mma Ramotswe begins to suspect that one of the employees of Speedy Motors, the auto repair shop run by her honest and honorable husband, Mr. J. L. B. Matekoni, is the author of the threatening letter. When Mr. J. L. B. Matekoni meets a doctor who convinces him that their wheelchair-bound daughter Motholeli might be able to walk again, he will to stop at nothing--not even the doctor's enormous fee--to help her.

More a series of short episodes in the life of Mma Ramotswe than a mystery in the traditional sense, the novel creates a warm, feel-good atmosphere which provides a respite from the insistent realism of other contemporary detective stories. Ultimately, the "miracle" of Speedy Motors--and the "miracle" of this series--reveals itself, the ability to face whatever life dishes out with kindness and love. Escape reading of the highest order, the #1 Ladies' Detective Agency series features characters who feel familiar, make us love them, and inspire us to obey our best instincts. Mary Whipple

A simpler life (5/5 people found this helpful)

Full of delightful characters and a simple philosophy of life. But Precious Ramotswe is not naive by any means. She has an excellent knowledge of life and people. She doesn't make a fortune from her detective agency, but she enjoys her work and has modest successes making people happy in the process. Her husband prays for a miracle for their adopted daughter, but simple faith, even when accompanied by money cannot always produce the desired results. Funny, sad and an excellent way of restoring one's faith in human nature. Only a dyed in the wool cynic could fail to find these books entertaining.

Poetry not Prose (11/12 people found this helpful)

The latest in this series does exactly what fans will expect. It's funny. It's sad. And it leaves you with a feeling that the world is a slightly better place than when you started the book.

There is a profundity to Professor McCall-Smith's work, but it is a subtle profundity. He doesn't hit you over the head with his philosophy but rather uses his characters to envelop you in it.

I think most people could enrich their lives by reading these books

The Miracle at Speedy Motrs (1/26 people found this helpful)

Anyone who thought this author could write fiction needs their bumps felt. I have read stories by under tens that have better substance than anything that Alexander McCall Smith has written. An over-rated author who deserves less attention.

The Miracle at Speedy Motors (No1 Ladies Detective Agency 9)

Alexander McCall Smith

Reader Reviews:

Answer hatred with love and little miracles come to pass (1/1 people found this helpful)

"Some of our [country has vanished], maybe. But not the heart that beats right inside...That is still there." (3/3 people found this helpful)

A simpler life (5/5 people found this helpful)

Poetry not Prose (11/12 people found this helpful)

The Miracle at Speedy Motrs (1/26 people found this helpful)

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