So many series start to wane by the time the 4th installment comes out, but not so with Smith’s No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency books. This installment, The Kalahari Typing School for Men is directly on the level of the previous three books—delightful, peaceful, witty, charming.
This installment finds Mma Makutsi feeling down because she is “just” an assistant manager/detective and she wants more out of her life. She would also like the attention of a good man. Not only that, but the responsibilities of taking care of her family back home and her ailing brother living with her have depleted her savings and are hurting her ability to make ends meet. After much thinking, she decides to open the Kalahari Typing School for Men to make some extra money—there she thinks she finds the love of a man, but what she ends up finding is the love of herself.
Mma Romatse must solve a couple of mysteries—another errant husband and a man who did something bad in his youth and wants to make amends. These are so lightly tossed in there that you hardly realize the tough detective work that Precious must do—she’s definitely one smart cookie!
When I finished, I found myself thinking “I want to grow up and be Precious Romatswe” but then I realized that 1) I AM grown up already and 2) Precious is really my age. She is such a smart, patient, peaceful, wonderful person who sees the good in people and tries to do her best no matter what. I would love to be like that—to be able to step back from the things swirling around in my life and just breathe and let things work themselves out.
2 comments:
That sounds like a book I'd like to read! Enjoyed the review. BJ
Uncle Jackie has read all seven of the books in this series now. He really enjoyed them all. He's even drinking African Bush Tea!
Auntie J.
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