A Song of Comfortable Chairs (No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency Book 23)

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There's also the small matter of an old friend of Mma Makutsi's, another woman from Bobonong named Patience, who after some major challenges in her life, is now living, along with her 14-year-old son, with a good man who treats her very well. Unfortunately, her son resents him and is extremely rude and disrespectful to him. It's extreme enough that it's putting real strain on Patience's relationship with the man, to the point where he's suggested that this can't go on. He'll have to ask her to leave if things don't improve.

This is such a charming series. I enjoy this series so much because of the unique setting and because it is such a fresh take on the classic female detective stories. Alexander McCall Smith has managed once again to write another wonderful tale where our leading lady, Precious, encourages us to slow down and express gratitude. To many it might seem simplistic, yet truly speaking, it is the superb craftsmanship of Alexander that provides devoted readers with a gentle reminder to be more open minded and extend warmth to those around us. There is no end to the pleasure that may be extracted from these . . . books.” —Janet Malcolm, The New York Review of BooksThe story comes in the third person POV. It alters between limited third-person (of both the leading ladies) and omnipresent narration.

The only female-owned detective agency in Botswana is the realization of a dream of Mma Precious Ramotswe. She was inspired when she came across a slender volume, the self-published The Principles of Private Detection by a little-known (fictional) American author, Clovis Andersen, of Muncie, Indiana who set the gold standard of investigation for her. The now battered, oft-read copy serves as a guideline and part gospel for the small office. TWO WOMEN STRIVE TO RESTORE HARMONY and a firm called Twenty-First Century Chairs is selling new-age, adjustable seats at reduced prices. Unfortunately, Phuti can't compete.I did not find this book intermittently annoying (so it's a definite improvement over the last one), but I am bewildered that the agency can manage to stay in business. The only paying case mentioned here is already concluded, with Grace Makutsi puzzling over how to word their report to the client. There are, however, two personal "cases," one involving a threat to Grace's husband's furniture business, and the other being the problem a friend of hers is having with her teenage son. Thanks to Mma Ramotswe's ingenuity (and that of other regulars, including Charlie), both of those situations are resolved quite cleverly and satisfactorily. So all in all, it's an enjoyable book. The narration is relaxed and takes time to gather momentum. Even then, it is languid and lingers here and there before coming to the main point. The writing has a semi-stream-of-consciousness style (an incident happens/ new info is revealed, and one of the leading ladies thinks about something relevant from the past). Once I got used to this, I could sync my reading style with the narration. Precious and Grace come up with a scheme that would temporarily move the woman and her unruly son into Grace and Phuti's home. Physical punishment is forbidden in any attempt to discipline him for his bad behaviour. Their plan includes an undercover actor visiting the home and interacting with the antagonistic, hostile teenager. However, the plan is not working as the son shows no sign of changes in his attitude or behaviour. Suddenly, he is much calmer and wants to return to the previous home, apologize, and get along with his mother's new boyfriend. It seems he received a secret visit from Charlie, which improved the boy's outlook considerably. Of course, Grace cannot accept or credit Charlie's unorthodox methods of solving the case, now concluded with a happy ending. In this latest installment in the beloved No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency series, Grace Makutsi encounters a pair of quandaries that will require all of her and Mma Ramotswe's cleverness and generosity to resolve