An enemy in the heart of the No 1 Ladies' Detective Agency

The ninth volume in the series, No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency by Alexander McCall Smith was released by the Penguin Group in South Africa in April this year. It is already in to its sixth reprinting, sales probably stimulated by the release of the TV film of Precious Ramotswe and her friends (Mmegi, 25 April 2008).

The Miracle at Speedy Motors takes the various adventures of the main characters forward, including: Grace Makutsi, assistant detective who would like to advance to associate detective, and her betrothed Mr Phuti Radiphuti of the Double Comfort Furniture Store - they are not yet married; Mr Polopetsi the obsequious part-time detective who also works at the Speedy Motors garage; the matron at the orphan farm in Tlokweng, Mma Potokwani, who still bakes the best fruitcakes in Botswana; Charlie, the senior and seemingly life-time apprentice at the garage; and the good man, Mr J.L.B. Matekoni, Precious Ramotswe's husband who is concerned, if given proper medical treatment, that their adopted daughter Motholeli might actually be able to walk again.
Phuti Radiphuti and Mma Makutsi purchase a giant bed with a heart shaped headboard, an event that leads to temporary disaster and duplication. Her uncle has requested an exorbitant bride wealth of 97 cattle based on her famous 97 percent. Mma Ramotswe suspects that Polopetsi has been secretly leaving threatening notes addressed to her and Mma Makutsi around the garage.  She must be careful, because in his past life he suffered from being falsely accused. The first one reads: 'Fat lady: You watch out! And you too, the one with the big glasses. You watch out too!' Applying the lesson learnt from Mma Potokwani in the previous volume, Mma Ramotswe fantasizes about finding a way to give him love.

'The question of Mr Polopetsi was the most serious of these, she felt, but here in this light, he was no problem. If envy had driven him to write what he had written, then there was a very simple remedy for that: Love. She would tell him that she was sorry that he had been hurt into writing those letters. She would promote him. So that solved that' (page 124). Or did it?

The main case that the two lady detectives deal with in number nine is that of Mma Sebina. When her mother died her last words to her were a confession. She told Mma Sebina that she was not really her mother. Then she expired. Being 'late' meant poor Mma Sebina might never know who her real mother was. She then did some investigations on her own and thus came to the No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency seeking assistance. The search for Mma Sebina's true origins is not easy or straight forward. It is full of twists and turns, as rough as the back road to Mochudi, but Mma Ramotswe is used to it in her little white van with its knocking engine. Under a tree, with a chair hanging in it, our lady detective finds a helpful informant who tells her about Mma Sebina's mother. Later, another village person says to her, 'My friend never wanted her daughter to know. I am sure of that'. Mma Ramotswe replies: 'Then we can respect her wishes.' But as a good detective trained by repeated self-study of Clovis Andersen's famous book on detective work, our No. 1 Lady finds she must still pursue the case, as at the heart of it there is a mystery that needs to be solved. It involves domestic violence and other relatives that no one knew about.

There is also a lesson in values and communication contained here. What is the truth and when should what one perceives to be the truth be told to another person? Does the truth actually hurt and make things worse? When should the truth be denied to others?

Or is truth an absolute that must always be revealed? In a discussion with Mma Makutsi she says: 'It is better to tell the truth ...it is always better.' 'Mma Makutsi pursed her lips 'Except sometimes' she muttered' (page 144). Mma Ramotswe becomes upset to find that Mma Makutsi has a 'private drawer' in her desk and keeps secrets from her. What to do about it? She will learn that 'there is just a knack' to it.

'Mma Potokwane held her guest's gaze. Mma Ramotswe was her friend - an old friend, moreover, and there were not many subjects one could not raise with an old friend. But there were some. One thing one could never do was criticise, even in the gentlest of manners, the spouse of a friend; nor their children; nor their taste in music, their dogs, their possessions in general, their choice of clothes in particular, their children's choice of clothes (or spouses), or their cooking. Apart from that one could talk about anything' (page 172).

'Nothing to beat the shade provided by a tree'. As with the first eight, this sequel is replete with homilies and insights. Some will find it most enjoyable, others frivolous.  Discussion of how to make the best pot of tea and what is a good postal address are not confined to Botswana, but have a universal interest. The second threatening note arrives on page 90. It is directed only at Mma Ramotswe: 'Fat woman beware! You think you are Number 1, but you are Number Nothing!' When eventually they track the source of the threatening notes, Mma Ramotswe concludes that she must 'answer ... hatred with love'.

All previous eight 'Ladies' Detective' tales have been reviewed in Mmegi (see Mmegi 28 September 2007 for the Good Husband of Zebra Drive). The only title that has never appeared is The Night-time Dancer - it was the promised name of what would have been the fifth volume in the series in 2004. Perhaps when McCall Smith opens the 'No. 1 Ladies' Opera House' at Kgale Siding (beyond St Joseph's Secondary School) later this month he can tell us what happened to The Night-time Dancer.

Readers outside of Botswana may have difficulty separating the fictitious characters from those who are friends of the McCall Smith and live and work in Gaborone: Dr Moffat, David Slater, Trevor Mwamba, the SOS Children's Village in Tlokweng and others.

Alexander McCall Smith, now retired, was an Edinburgh University professor of medical law and former law instructor at the University of Botswana (UB). He has now published over 50 books, including children's stories based in Zimbabwe. They include his new 44 Scotland Street series set in Edinburgh (Mmegi, 1 February 2008).
 E-mail sheridangriswold@yahoo.com