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The Kalahari Typing School for Men

Part of No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency Series

Author Alexander McCall Smith
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$15.95 US
Knopf | Anchor
On sale Mar 09, 2004 | 208 Pages | 978-1-4000-3180-1
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  • English > Comparative Literature > Detective and Crime Fiction
  • English > Comparative Literature: African > African Literature
  • Interdisciplinary Studies > Race and Ethnic Studies > African Literature and Drama
  • About
  • Excerpt
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THE NO. 1 LADIES DETECTIVE AGENCY.
FOR ALL CONFIDENTIAL MATTERS AND ENQUIRIES. SATISFACTION GUARANTEED FOR ALL PARTIES.
UNDER PERSONAL MANAGEMENT.

A beguiling mystery and lyrical novel of Africa—the fourth in a series that the L.A. Times calls “thoroughly engaging and entertaining.”

Now that The No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency (the only detective agency for ladies and others in Botswana) is established, its founder, Precious Ramotswe, can look upon her life with pride: she’s reached her late thirties (“the finest age to be”), has a house, two children, a good fiancé—Mr. J. L. B. Matekoni—and many satisfied customers. But life is never without its problems. It turns out that her adopted son is responsible for the dead hoopoe bird in the garden; her assistant, Mma Makutsi, wants a husband and needs help with her idea to open the Kalahari Typing School for Men; yet Mma Ramotswe’s sexist rival has no trouble opening his Satisfaction Guaranteed Detective Agency across town. Will Precious Ramotswe’s delightfully cunning and profoundly moral methods save the day? Follow the continuing story of Botswana’s first lady detective in the irresistible The Kalahari Typing School for Men.

“The apparent simplicity of the story belies McCall Smith’s keen eye and sly sense of humour.” —Layla Dabby, The Gazette (Montreal)

“They [McCall Smith’s books] are closer to being moral fables, fascinating explorations of guilt and conscience and reparation and atonement. … [Mma Ramotswe’s] cleverness lies in her way of resolving the situations that arise to the satisfaction of all parties. I can’t even begin to say how profoundly satisfying this makes the books. …[A]t a certain point in reading the Ladies’ Detective books, I experienced something I haven’t felt since reading Nancy Drew books as a child. I no longer wanted to read about Mma Ramotswe: I wanted to be her.” —Sara O’Leary, The Vancouver Sun

“Reader, be warned: This is not your ordinary detective novel. With more than a touch of whimsy, Alexander McCall Smith filters his sometime homeland of Southern Africa through the Agatha Christie medium, and emerges triumphant . . . The Kalahari Typing School for Men maintains the breezy-to-read, gentle tone of Smith’s previous work, and leaves us wanting more adventures ASAP” —Daneet Steffens, The Globe and Mail, April 26, 2003

“There’s no mystery as to why Alexander McCall Smith’s books are everywhere . . . His works are engaging, delightful events, immersing readers in a world that is foreign, yet familiar, where good people try to do their best in life, with mixed results. … [T]his is a love letter to Botswana and her people . . . The memorable characters, cadence, turns of phrase and imagery create a pleasing, haunting, [sic] tableaux readers will want to visit more than once.” —Ruth Myles, Calgary Herald

“The fourth appearance of Precious Ramotswe, protagonist of The No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency and two sequels, is once again a charming account of the everyday challenges facing a female private detective in Botswana . . . But the real appeal of this slender novel is Ramotswe’s solid common sense, a proficient blend of folk wisdom, experience and simple intelligence . . . A dose of easy humor laces the pages, as McCall Smith throws in wry observations, effortlessly commenting on the vagaries his protagonist encounters as she negotiates Botswana bureaucracy. This is another graceful entry in a pleasingly modest and wise series.” —Publishers Weekly

“His fondness for the country is deeply felt and his highly amusing books are gems . . . Smith’s characters, too, are captivating, their sanguine celebrations of life the perfect backdrop to small and curious adventures.” —The London Free Press

“It’s a novel rich in humor and insight that provides a glimpse into African culture.” —The Observer
CHAPTER ONE

How to Find a Man

I must remember, thought Mma. Ramotswe, how fortunate I am in this life; at every moment, but especially now, sitting on the verandah of my house in Zebra Drive, and looking up at the high sky of Botswana, so empty that the blue is almost white. Here she was then, Precious Ramotswe, owner of Botswana's only detective agency, The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency--an agency which by and large had lived up to its initial promise to provide satisfaction for its clients, although some of them, it must be said, could never be satisfied. And here she was too, somewhere in her late thirties, which as far as she was concerned was the very finest age to be; here she was with the house in Zebra Drive and two orphan children, a boy and a girl, bringing life and chatter into the home. These were blessings with which anybody should be content. With these things in one's life, one might well say that nothing more was needed.

But there was more. Some time ago, Mma. Ramotswe had become engaged to Mr. J.L.B. Matekoni, proprietor of Tlokweng Road Speedy Motors, and by all accounts the finest mechanic in Botswana, a kind man, and a gentle one. Mma. Ramotswe had been married once before, and the experience had been disastrous. Note Mokoti, the smartly dressed jazz trumpeter, might have been a young girl's dream, but he soon turned out to be a wife's nightmare. There had been a daily diet of cruelty, of hurt given out like a ration, and when, after her fretful pregnancy, their tiny, premature baby had died in her arms, so few hours after it had struggled into life, Note had been off drinking in a shebeen somewhere. He had not even come to say good-bye to the little scrap of humanity that had meant so much to her and so little to him. When at last she left Note, Mma. Ramotswe would never forget how her father, Obed Ramotswe, whom even today she called the Daddy, had welcomed her back and had said nothing about her husband, not once saying I knew this would happen. And from that time she had decided that she would never again marry unless--and this was surely impossible--she met a man who could live up to the memory of the late Daddy, that fine man whom everybody respected for his knowledge of cattle and for his understanding of the old Botswana ways.

Naturally there had been offers. Her old friend Hector Mapondise had regularly asked her to marry him, and although she had just as regularly declined, he had always taken her refusals in good spirit, as befitted a man of his status (he was a cousin of a prominent chief). He would have made a perfectly good husband, but the problem was that he was rather dull and, try as she might, Mma. Ramotswe could scarcely prevent herself from nodding off in his company. It would be very difficult being married to him; a somnolent experience, in fact, and Mma. Ramotswe enjoyed life too much to want to sleep through it. Whenever she saw Hector Mapondise driving past in his large green car, or walking to the post office to collect his mail, she remembered the occasion on which he had taken her to lunch at the President Hotel and she had fallen asleep at the table, halfway through the meal. It had given a new meaning, she reflected, to the expression sleeping with a man. She had woken, slumped back in her chair, to see him staring at her with his slightly rheumy eyes, still talking in his low voice about some difficulty he was having with one of the machines at his factory.

"Corrugated iron is not easy to handle," he was saying. "You need very special machines to push the iron into that shape. Do you know that, Mma. Ramotswe? Do you know why corrugated iron is the shape it is?"

Mma. Ramotswe had not thought about this. Corrugated iron was widely used for roofing: was it, then, something to do with providing ridges for the rain to run off? But why would that be necessary in a dry country like Botswana? There must be some other reason, she imagined, although it was not immediately apparent to her. The thought of it, however, made her feel drowsy again, and she struggled to keep her eyes open.

No, Hector Mapondise was a worthy man, but far too dull. He should seek out a dull woman, of whom there were legions throughout the country, women who were slow-moving and not very exciting, and he should marry one of these bovine ladies. But the problem was that dull men often had no interest in such women and fell for people like Mma. Ramotswe. That was the trouble with people in general: they were surprisingly unrealistic in their expectations. Mma. Ramotswe smiled at the thought, remembering how, as a young woman, she had had a very tall friend who had been loved by an extremely short man. The short man looked up at the face of his beloved, from almost below her waist, and she looked down at him, almost squinting over the distance that separated them. That distance could have been one thousand miles or more--the breadth of the Kalahari and back; but the short man was not to realise that, and was to desist, heartsore, only when the tall girl's equally tall brother stooped down to look into his eyes and told him that he was no longer to look at his sister, even from a distance, or he would face some dire, unexpressed consequence. Mma. Ramotswe felt sorry for the short man, of course, as she could never find it in herself to dismiss the feelings of others; he should have realised how impossible were his ambitions, but people never did.

Mr. J.L.B. Matekoni was a very good man, but, unlike Hector Mapondise, he could not be described as dull. That was not to say that he was exciting, in the way in which Note had seemed exciting; he was just easy company. You could sit with Mr. J.L.B. Matekoni for hours, during which he might say nothing very important, but what he said was never tedious. Certainly he talked about cars a great deal, as most men did, but what he had to say about them was very much more interesting than what other men had to say on the subject. Mr. J.L.B. Matekoni regarded cars as having personalities, and he could tell just by looking at a car what sort of owner it had.

"Cars speak about people," he had once explained to her. "They tell you everything you need to know."

It had struck Mma. Ramotswe as a strange thing to say, but Mr. J.L.B. Matekoni had gone on to illustrate his point with a number of telling examples. Had she ever seen the inside of the car belonging to Mr. Motobedi Palati, for example? He was an untidy man, whose tie was never straight and whose shirt was permanently hanging out of his trousers. Not surprisingly, the inside of his car was a mess, with unattached wires sticking out from under the dashboard and a hole underneath the driver's seat--so that dust swirled up into the car and covered everything with a brown layer. Or what about that rather intimidating nursing sister from the Princess Marina Hospital, the one who had humiliated a well-known politician when she had heckled him at a public meeting, raising questions about nurses' pay that he simply could not answer? Her car, as one might expect, was in pristine condition and smelled vaguely of antiseptic. He could come up with further examples if she wished, but the point was made, and Mma. Ramotswe nodded her head in understanding.

It was Mma. Ramotswe's tiny white van that had brought them together. Even before she had taken it for repair at Tlokweng Road Speedy Motors, she had been aware of Mr. J.L.B. Matekoni, as a rather quiet man who lived by himself in a house near the old Botswana Defence Force Club. She had wondered why he was by himself, which was so unusual in Botswana, but had not thought much about him until he had engaged her in conversation after he had serviced the van one day, and had warned her about the state of her tyres. Thereafter she had taken to dropping in to see him in the garage from time to time, exchanging views about the day's events and enjoying the tea which he brewed on an old stove in the corner of his office.

Then there had come that extraordinary day when the tiny white van had choked and refused to start, and he had spent an entire afternoon in the yard at Zebra Drive, the van's engine laid out in what seemed like a hundred pieces, its very heart exposed. He had put everything together and had come into the house as evening fell and they had sat together on her verandah. He had asked her to marry him, and she had said that she would, almost without thinking about it, because she realised that here was a man who was as good as her father, and that they would be happy together.

Mma. Ramotswe had not been prepared for Mr. J.L.B. Matekoni to fall ill, or at least to fall ill in the way in which he had done. It would have been easier, perhaps, if his illness had been one of the body, but it was his mind which was affected, and it seemed to her that the man she had known had simply vacated his body and gone somewhere else. Thanks to Mma. Silvia Potokwani, matron of the orphan farm, and to the drugs which Dr. Moffat gave to Mma. Potokwani to administer to Mr. J.L.B. Matekoni, the familiar personality returned. The obsessive brooding, the air of defeat, the lassitude--all these faded away and Mr. J.L.B. Matekoni began to smile again and take an interest in the business he had so uncharacteristically neglected.

Of course, during his illness he had been unable to run the garage, and it had been Mma. Ramotswe's assistant, Mma. Makutsi, who had managed to keep that going. Mma. Makutsi had done wonders with the garage. Not only had she made major steps in reforming the lazy apprentices, who had given Mr. J.L.B. Matekoni such trouble with their inconsiderate way with cars (one had even been seen to use a hammer on an engine), but she had attracted a great deal of new customers to the garage. An increasing number of women had their own cars now, and they were delighted to take them to a garage run by a lady. Mma. Makutsi may not have known a great deal about engines when she first started to run the garage, but she had learned quickly and was now quite capable of carrying out service and routine repairs on most makes of car, provided that they were not too modern and too dependent on temperamental devices of the sort which German car manufacturers liked to hide in cars to confuse mechanics elsewhere.

"What are we going to do to thank her?" asked Mma. Ramotswe. "She's put so much work into the garage, and now here you are back again, and she is just going to be an assistant manager and assistant private detective once more. It will be hard for her."

Mr. J.L.B. Matekoni frowned. "I would not like to upset her," he said. "You are right about how hard she has worked. I can see it in the books. Everything is in order. All the bills are paid, all the invoices properly numbered. Even the garage floor is cleaner, and there is less grease all over the place."

"And yet her life is not all that good," mused Mma. Ramotswe. "She is living in that one room over at Old Naledi with a sick brother. I cannot pay her very much. And she has no husband to look after her. She deserves better than that."

Mr. J.L.B. Matekoni agreed. He would be able to help her by allowing her to continue as assistant manager of Tlokweng Road Speedy Motors, but it was difficult to see what he could do beyond that. Certainly the question of husbands had nothing to do with him. He was a man, after all, and the problems which single girls had in their lives were beyond him. It was women's business, he thought, to help their friends when it came to meeting people. Surely Mma. Ramotswe could advise her on the best tactics to adopt in that regard? Mma. Ramotswe was a popular woman who had many friends and admirers. Was there not something that Mma. Makutsi could do to find a husband? Surely she could be told how to go about it?

Mma. Ramotswe was not at all sure about this. "You have to be careful what you say," she warned Mr. J.L.B. Matekoni. "People don't like you to think that they know nothing. Especially somebody like Mma. Makutsi, with her ninety-seven percent or whatever it was. You can't go and tell somebody like that that they don't know a basic thing, such as how to find a husband."

"It's nothing to do with ninety-seven percent," said Mr. J.L.B. Matekoni. "You could get one hundred percent for typing and still not know how to talk to men. Getting married is different from being able to type. Quite different."

The mention of marriage had made Mma. Ramotswe wonder about when they were going to get married themselves, and she almost asked him about this but stopped. Dr. Moffat had explained to her that it was important that Mr. J.L.B. Matekoni should not be subjected to too much stress, even if he had recovered from the worst of his depression. It would undoubtedly be stressful for him if she started to ask about wedding dates, and so she said nothing about that and even agreed--for the sake of avoiding stress--to speak to Mma. Makutsi at some time in the near future with a view to finding out whether the issue of husbands could be helped in any way with a few well-chosen words of advice.

During Mr. J.L.B. Matekoni's illness they had moved the No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency into the back office at Tlokweng Road Speedy Motors. It had proved to be a successful arrangement: the affairs of the garage could be easily supervised from the back of the building, and there was a separate entrance for agency clients. Each business benefited in other ways. Those who brought their cars in for repair sometimes realised that there was a matter which might benefit from investigation--an errant husband, for example, or a missing relative--while others who came with a matter for the agency would arrange at the same time for their cars to be serviced or their brakes to be checked.
Copyright © 2003 by Alexander McCall Smith. All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
© Michael Lionstar

ALEXANDER McCALL SMITH is the author of the No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency novels and a number of other series and stand-alone books. His works have been translated into more than forty languages and have been best sellers throughout the world. He lives in Scotland.

View titles by Alexander McCall Smith

About

THE NO. 1 LADIES DETECTIVE AGENCY.
FOR ALL CONFIDENTIAL MATTERS AND ENQUIRIES. SATISFACTION GUARANTEED FOR ALL PARTIES.
UNDER PERSONAL MANAGEMENT.

A beguiling mystery and lyrical novel of Africa—the fourth in a series that the L.A. Times calls “thoroughly engaging and entertaining.”

Now that The No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency (the only detective agency for ladies and others in Botswana) is established, its founder, Precious Ramotswe, can look upon her life with pride: she’s reached her late thirties (“the finest age to be”), has a house, two children, a good fiancé—Mr. J. L. B. Matekoni—and many satisfied customers. But life is never without its problems. It turns out that her adopted son is responsible for the dead hoopoe bird in the garden; her assistant, Mma Makutsi, wants a husband and needs help with her idea to open the Kalahari Typing School for Men; yet Mma Ramotswe’s sexist rival has no trouble opening his Satisfaction Guaranteed Detective Agency across town. Will Precious Ramotswe’s delightfully cunning and profoundly moral methods save the day? Follow the continuing story of Botswana’s first lady detective in the irresistible The Kalahari Typing School for Men.

“The apparent simplicity of the story belies McCall Smith’s keen eye and sly sense of humour.” —Layla Dabby, The Gazette (Montreal)

“They [McCall Smith’s books] are closer to being moral fables, fascinating explorations of guilt and conscience and reparation and atonement. … [Mma Ramotswe’s] cleverness lies in her way of resolving the situations that arise to the satisfaction of all parties. I can’t even begin to say how profoundly satisfying this makes the books. …[A]t a certain point in reading the Ladies’ Detective books, I experienced something I haven’t felt since reading Nancy Drew books as a child. I no longer wanted to read about Mma Ramotswe: I wanted to be her.” —Sara O’Leary, The Vancouver Sun

“Reader, be warned: This is not your ordinary detective novel. With more than a touch of whimsy, Alexander McCall Smith filters his sometime homeland of Southern Africa through the Agatha Christie medium, and emerges triumphant . . . The Kalahari Typing School for Men maintains the breezy-to-read, gentle tone of Smith’s previous work, and leaves us wanting more adventures ASAP” —Daneet Steffens, The Globe and Mail, April 26, 2003

“There’s no mystery as to why Alexander McCall Smith’s books are everywhere . . . His works are engaging, delightful events, immersing readers in a world that is foreign, yet familiar, where good people try to do their best in life, with mixed results. … [T]his is a love letter to Botswana and her people . . . The memorable characters, cadence, turns of phrase and imagery create a pleasing, haunting, [sic] tableaux readers will want to visit more than once.” —Ruth Myles, Calgary Herald

“The fourth appearance of Precious Ramotswe, protagonist of The No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency and two sequels, is once again a charming account of the everyday challenges facing a female private detective in Botswana . . . But the real appeal of this slender novel is Ramotswe’s solid common sense, a proficient blend of folk wisdom, experience and simple intelligence . . . A dose of easy humor laces the pages, as McCall Smith throws in wry observations, effortlessly commenting on the vagaries his protagonist encounters as she negotiates Botswana bureaucracy. This is another graceful entry in a pleasingly modest and wise series.” —Publishers Weekly

“His fondness for the country is deeply felt and his highly amusing books are gems . . . Smith’s characters, too, are captivating, their sanguine celebrations of life the perfect backdrop to small and curious adventures.” —The London Free Press

“It’s a novel rich in humor and insight that provides a glimpse into African culture.” —The Observer

Excerpt

CHAPTER ONE

How to Find a Man

I must remember, thought Mma. Ramotswe, how fortunate I am in this life; at every moment, but especially now, sitting on the verandah of my house in Zebra Drive, and looking up at the high sky of Botswana, so empty that the blue is almost white. Here she was then, Precious Ramotswe, owner of Botswana's only detective agency, The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency--an agency which by and large had lived up to its initial promise to provide satisfaction for its clients, although some of them, it must be said, could never be satisfied. And here she was too, somewhere in her late thirties, which as far as she was concerned was the very finest age to be; here she was with the house in Zebra Drive and two orphan children, a boy and a girl, bringing life and chatter into the home. These were blessings with which anybody should be content. With these things in one's life, one might well say that nothing more was needed.

But there was more. Some time ago, Mma. Ramotswe had become engaged to Mr. J.L.B. Matekoni, proprietor of Tlokweng Road Speedy Motors, and by all accounts the finest mechanic in Botswana, a kind man, and a gentle one. Mma. Ramotswe had been married once before, and the experience had been disastrous. Note Mokoti, the smartly dressed jazz trumpeter, might have been a young girl's dream, but he soon turned out to be a wife's nightmare. There had been a daily diet of cruelty, of hurt given out like a ration, and when, after her fretful pregnancy, their tiny, premature baby had died in her arms, so few hours after it had struggled into life, Note had been off drinking in a shebeen somewhere. He had not even come to say good-bye to the little scrap of humanity that had meant so much to her and so little to him. When at last she left Note, Mma. Ramotswe would never forget how her father, Obed Ramotswe, whom even today she called the Daddy, had welcomed her back and had said nothing about her husband, not once saying I knew this would happen. And from that time she had decided that she would never again marry unless--and this was surely impossible--she met a man who could live up to the memory of the late Daddy, that fine man whom everybody respected for his knowledge of cattle and for his understanding of the old Botswana ways.

Naturally there had been offers. Her old friend Hector Mapondise had regularly asked her to marry him, and although she had just as regularly declined, he had always taken her refusals in good spirit, as befitted a man of his status (he was a cousin of a prominent chief). He would have made a perfectly good husband, but the problem was that he was rather dull and, try as she might, Mma. Ramotswe could scarcely prevent herself from nodding off in his company. It would be very difficult being married to him; a somnolent experience, in fact, and Mma. Ramotswe enjoyed life too much to want to sleep through it. Whenever she saw Hector Mapondise driving past in his large green car, or walking to the post office to collect his mail, she remembered the occasion on which he had taken her to lunch at the President Hotel and she had fallen asleep at the table, halfway through the meal. It had given a new meaning, she reflected, to the expression sleeping with a man. She had woken, slumped back in her chair, to see him staring at her with his slightly rheumy eyes, still talking in his low voice about some difficulty he was having with one of the machines at his factory.

"Corrugated iron is not easy to handle," he was saying. "You need very special machines to push the iron into that shape. Do you know that, Mma. Ramotswe? Do you know why corrugated iron is the shape it is?"

Mma. Ramotswe had not thought about this. Corrugated iron was widely used for roofing: was it, then, something to do with providing ridges for the rain to run off? But why would that be necessary in a dry country like Botswana? There must be some other reason, she imagined, although it was not immediately apparent to her. The thought of it, however, made her feel drowsy again, and she struggled to keep her eyes open.

No, Hector Mapondise was a worthy man, but far too dull. He should seek out a dull woman, of whom there were legions throughout the country, women who were slow-moving and not very exciting, and he should marry one of these bovine ladies. But the problem was that dull men often had no interest in such women and fell for people like Mma. Ramotswe. That was the trouble with people in general: they were surprisingly unrealistic in their expectations. Mma. Ramotswe smiled at the thought, remembering how, as a young woman, she had had a very tall friend who had been loved by an extremely short man. The short man looked up at the face of his beloved, from almost below her waist, and she looked down at him, almost squinting over the distance that separated them. That distance could have been one thousand miles or more--the breadth of the Kalahari and back; but the short man was not to realise that, and was to desist, heartsore, only when the tall girl's equally tall brother stooped down to look into his eyes and told him that he was no longer to look at his sister, even from a distance, or he would face some dire, unexpressed consequence. Mma. Ramotswe felt sorry for the short man, of course, as she could never find it in herself to dismiss the feelings of others; he should have realised how impossible were his ambitions, but people never did.

Mr. J.L.B. Matekoni was a very good man, but, unlike Hector Mapondise, he could not be described as dull. That was not to say that he was exciting, in the way in which Note had seemed exciting; he was just easy company. You could sit with Mr. J.L.B. Matekoni for hours, during which he might say nothing very important, but what he said was never tedious. Certainly he talked about cars a great deal, as most men did, but what he had to say about them was very much more interesting than what other men had to say on the subject. Mr. J.L.B. Matekoni regarded cars as having personalities, and he could tell just by looking at a car what sort of owner it had.

"Cars speak about people," he had once explained to her. "They tell you everything you need to know."

It had struck Mma. Ramotswe as a strange thing to say, but Mr. J.L.B. Matekoni had gone on to illustrate his point with a number of telling examples. Had she ever seen the inside of the car belonging to Mr. Motobedi Palati, for example? He was an untidy man, whose tie was never straight and whose shirt was permanently hanging out of his trousers. Not surprisingly, the inside of his car was a mess, with unattached wires sticking out from under the dashboard and a hole underneath the driver's seat--so that dust swirled up into the car and covered everything with a brown layer. Or what about that rather intimidating nursing sister from the Princess Marina Hospital, the one who had humiliated a well-known politician when she had heckled him at a public meeting, raising questions about nurses' pay that he simply could not answer? Her car, as one might expect, was in pristine condition and smelled vaguely of antiseptic. He could come up with further examples if she wished, but the point was made, and Mma. Ramotswe nodded her head in understanding.

It was Mma. Ramotswe's tiny white van that had brought them together. Even before she had taken it for repair at Tlokweng Road Speedy Motors, she had been aware of Mr. J.L.B. Matekoni, as a rather quiet man who lived by himself in a house near the old Botswana Defence Force Club. She had wondered why he was by himself, which was so unusual in Botswana, but had not thought much about him until he had engaged her in conversation after he had serviced the van one day, and had warned her about the state of her tyres. Thereafter she had taken to dropping in to see him in the garage from time to time, exchanging views about the day's events and enjoying the tea which he brewed on an old stove in the corner of his office.

Then there had come that extraordinary day when the tiny white van had choked and refused to start, and he had spent an entire afternoon in the yard at Zebra Drive, the van's engine laid out in what seemed like a hundred pieces, its very heart exposed. He had put everything together and had come into the house as evening fell and they had sat together on her verandah. He had asked her to marry him, and she had said that she would, almost without thinking about it, because she realised that here was a man who was as good as her father, and that they would be happy together.

Mma. Ramotswe had not been prepared for Mr. J.L.B. Matekoni to fall ill, or at least to fall ill in the way in which he had done. It would have been easier, perhaps, if his illness had been one of the body, but it was his mind which was affected, and it seemed to her that the man she had known had simply vacated his body and gone somewhere else. Thanks to Mma. Silvia Potokwani, matron of the orphan farm, and to the drugs which Dr. Moffat gave to Mma. Potokwani to administer to Mr. J.L.B. Matekoni, the familiar personality returned. The obsessive brooding, the air of defeat, the lassitude--all these faded away and Mr. J.L.B. Matekoni began to smile again and take an interest in the business he had so uncharacteristically neglected.

Of course, during his illness he had been unable to run the garage, and it had been Mma. Ramotswe's assistant, Mma. Makutsi, who had managed to keep that going. Mma. Makutsi had done wonders with the garage. Not only had she made major steps in reforming the lazy apprentices, who had given Mr. J.L.B. Matekoni such trouble with their inconsiderate way with cars (one had even been seen to use a hammer on an engine), but she had attracted a great deal of new customers to the garage. An increasing number of women had their own cars now, and they were delighted to take them to a garage run by a lady. Mma. Makutsi may not have known a great deal about engines when she first started to run the garage, but she had learned quickly and was now quite capable of carrying out service and routine repairs on most makes of car, provided that they were not too modern and too dependent on temperamental devices of the sort which German car manufacturers liked to hide in cars to confuse mechanics elsewhere.

"What are we going to do to thank her?" asked Mma. Ramotswe. "She's put so much work into the garage, and now here you are back again, and she is just going to be an assistant manager and assistant private detective once more. It will be hard for her."

Mr. J.L.B. Matekoni frowned. "I would not like to upset her," he said. "You are right about how hard she has worked. I can see it in the books. Everything is in order. All the bills are paid, all the invoices properly numbered. Even the garage floor is cleaner, and there is less grease all over the place."

"And yet her life is not all that good," mused Mma. Ramotswe. "She is living in that one room over at Old Naledi with a sick brother. I cannot pay her very much. And she has no husband to look after her. She deserves better than that."

Mr. J.L.B. Matekoni agreed. He would be able to help her by allowing her to continue as assistant manager of Tlokweng Road Speedy Motors, but it was difficult to see what he could do beyond that. Certainly the question of husbands had nothing to do with him. He was a man, after all, and the problems which single girls had in their lives were beyond him. It was women's business, he thought, to help their friends when it came to meeting people. Surely Mma. Ramotswe could advise her on the best tactics to adopt in that regard? Mma. Ramotswe was a popular woman who had many friends and admirers. Was there not something that Mma. Makutsi could do to find a husband? Surely she could be told how to go about it?

Mma. Ramotswe was not at all sure about this. "You have to be careful what you say," she warned Mr. J.L.B. Matekoni. "People don't like you to think that they know nothing. Especially somebody like Mma. Makutsi, with her ninety-seven percent or whatever it was. You can't go and tell somebody like that that they don't know a basic thing, such as how to find a husband."

"It's nothing to do with ninety-seven percent," said Mr. J.L.B. Matekoni. "You could get one hundred percent for typing and still not know how to talk to men. Getting married is different from being able to type. Quite different."

The mention of marriage had made Mma. Ramotswe wonder about when they were going to get married themselves, and she almost asked him about this but stopped. Dr. Moffat had explained to her that it was important that Mr. J.L.B. Matekoni should not be subjected to too much stress, even if he had recovered from the worst of his depression. It would undoubtedly be stressful for him if she started to ask about wedding dates, and so she said nothing about that and even agreed--for the sake of avoiding stress--to speak to Mma. Makutsi at some time in the near future with a view to finding out whether the issue of husbands could be helped in any way with a few well-chosen words of advice.

During Mr. J.L.B. Matekoni's illness they had moved the No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency into the back office at Tlokweng Road Speedy Motors. It had proved to be a successful arrangement: the affairs of the garage could be easily supervised from the back of the building, and there was a separate entrance for agency clients. Each business benefited in other ways. Those who brought their cars in for repair sometimes realised that there was a matter which might benefit from investigation--an errant husband, for example, or a missing relative--while others who came with a matter for the agency would arrange at the same time for their cars to be serviced or their brakes to be checked.
Copyright © 2003 by Alexander McCall Smith. All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.

Author

© Michael Lionstar

ALEXANDER McCALL SMITH is the author of the No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency novels and a number of other series and stand-alone books. His works have been translated into more than forty languages and have been best sellers throughout the world. He lives in Scotland.

View titles by Alexander McCall Smith

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    Ebook
    Vintage
    Aug 05, 2014
  • Trains and Lovers
    Trains and Lovers
    A Novel
    Alexander McCall Smith
    978-0-345-80581-2
    $15.95 US
    Paperback
    Anchor
    Dec 31, 2013
  • Mystery of Meerkat Hill
    Mystery of Meerkat Hill
    Alexander McCall Smith, Iain McIntosh
    978-0-345-80446-4
    $7.99 US
    Paperback
    Anchor
    Oct 22, 2013
  • Bertie Plays the Blues
    Bertie Plays the Blues
    44 Scotland Street Series (7)
    Alexander McCall Smith
    978-0-307-94849-6
    $15.95 US
    Paperback
    Anchor
    Oct 08, 2013
  • The Uncommon Appeal of Clouds
    The Uncommon Appeal of Clouds
    Alexander McCall Smith
    978-0-307-94923-3
    $14.95 US
    Paperback
    Anchor
    Jul 02, 2013
  • A Conspiracy of Friends
    A Conspiracy of Friends
    Alexander McCall Smith
    978-0-307-94800-7
    $15.00 US
    Paperback
    Anchor
    Apr 30, 2013
  • Unusual Uses for Olive Oil
    Unusual Uses for Olive Oil
    Alexander McCall Smith
    978-0-307-27989-7
    $15.00 US
    Paperback
    Anchor
    Jan 01, 2013
  • The Forgotten Affairs of Youth
    The Forgotten Affairs of Youth
    Alexander McCall Smith
    978-0-307-73940-7
    $16.00 US
    Paperback
    Anchor
    Oct 02, 2012
  • The Importance of Being Seven
    The Importance of Being Seven
    44 Scotland Street Series (6)
    Alexander McCall Smith
    978-0-307-73936-0
    $15.95 US
    Paperback
    Anchor
    Aug 21, 2012
  • The Dog Who Came in from the Cold
    The Dog Who Came in from the Cold
    Alexander McCall Smith
    978-0-307-73944-5
    $15.95 US
    Paperback
    Anchor
    May 29, 2012
  • The Great Cake Mystery: Precious Ramotswe's Very First Case
    The Great Cake Mystery: Precious Ramotswe's Very First Case
    Alexander McCall Smith
    978-0-307-74389-3
    $6.99 US
    Paperback
    Anchor
    Apr 03, 2012
  • The Charming Quirks of Others
    The Charming Quirks of Others
    Alexander McCall Smith
    978-0-307-73939-1
    $15.95 US
    Paperback
    Anchor
    Nov 01, 2011
  • The Perils of Morning Coffee
    The Perils of Morning Coffee
    An Isabel Dalhousie eBook Original Story
    Alexander McCall Smith
    978-0-307-90751-6
    $1.99 US
    Ebook
    Pantheon
    Oct 25, 2011
  • Corduroy Mansions
    Corduroy Mansions
    Alexander McCall Smith
    978-0-307-47650-0
    $16.00 US
    Paperback
    Anchor
    May 31, 2011
  • La's Orchestra Saves the World
    La's Orchestra Saves the World
    A Novel
    Alexander McCall Smith
    978-0-307-47304-2
    $16.00 US
    Paperback
    Anchor
    Dec 07, 2010
  • The Lost Art of Gratitude
    The Lost Art of Gratitude
    Alexander McCall Smith
    978-0-307-38708-0
    $15.95 US
    Paperback
    Anchor
    Sep 21, 2010
  • The Unbearable Lightness of Scones
    The Unbearable Lightness of Scones
    44 Scotland Street Series (5)
    Alexander McCall Smith
    978-0-307-45470-6
    $15.00 US
    Paperback
    Anchor
    Jan 12, 2010
  • The Comforts of a Muddy Saturday
    The Comforts of a Muddy Saturday
    Alexander McCall Smith
    978-0-307-38707-3
    $15.95 US
    Paperback
    Anchor
    Jul 28, 2009
  • The World According to Bertie
    The World According to Bertie
    44 Scotland Street Series (4)
    Alexander McCall Smith
    978-0-307-38706-6
    $15.00 US
    Paperback
    Anchor
    Nov 11, 2008
  • The Careful Use of Compliments
    The Careful Use of Compliments
    Alexander McCall Smith
    978-1-4000-7712-0
    $15.00 US
    Paperback
    Anchor
    Aug 26, 2008
  • Love Over Scotland
    Love Over Scotland
    44 Scotland Street Series (3)
    Alexander McCall Smith
    978-0-307-27598-1
    $15.95 US
    Paperback
    Anchor
    Nov 06, 2007
  • The Right Attitude to Rain
    The Right Attitude to Rain
    Alexander McCall Smith
    978-1-4000-7711-3
    $15.00 US
    Paperback
    Anchor
    Jul 10, 2007
  • Friends, Lovers, Chocolate
    Friends, Lovers, Chocolate
    Alexander McCall Smith
    978-1-4000-7710-6
    $16.00 US
    Paperback
    Anchor
    Aug 29, 2006
  • Espresso Tales
    Espresso Tales
    44 Scotland Street Series (2)
    Alexander McCall Smith
    978-0-307-27597-4
    $15.95 US
    Paperback
    Anchor
    Jul 11, 2006
  • The Sunday Philosophy Club
    The Sunday Philosophy Club
    Alexander McCall Smith
    978-1-4000-7709-0
    $16.00 US
    Paperback
    Anchor
    Jul 12, 2005
  • 44 Scotland Street
    44 Scotland Street
    44 Scotland Street Series (1)
    Alexander McCall Smith
    978-1-4000-7944-5
    $15.95 US
    Paperback
    Anchor
    Jun 14, 2005
  • Portuguese Irregular Verbs
    Portuguese Irregular Verbs
    Alexander McCall Smith
    978-1-4000-7708-3
    $15.00 US
    Paperback
    Anchor
    Dec 28, 2004
  • The Finer Points of Sausage Dogs
    The Finer Points of Sausage Dogs
    Alexander McCall Smith
    978-1-4000-9508-7
    $14.95 US
    Paperback
    Anchor
    Dec 28, 2004
  • At the Villa of Reduced Circumstances
    At the Villa of Reduced Circumstances
    Alexander McCall Smith
    978-1-4000-9509-4
    $16.00 US
    Paperback
    Anchor
    Dec 28, 2004
  • The Girl Who Married a Lion
    The Girl Who Married a Lion
    and Other Tales from Africa
    Alexander McCall Smith
    978-0-375-42344-4
    $12.99 US
    Ebook
    Pantheon
    Dec 07, 2004
  • No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency (24)
    No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency (24)
    No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency (24)
    Alexander McCall Smith
    978-0-593-31699-3
    $28.00 US
    Hardcover
    Pantheon
    Oct 17, 2023
  • The Discreet Charm of the Big Bad Wolf
    The Discreet Charm of the Big Bad Wolf
    A Detective Varg Novel (4)
    Alexander McCall Smith
    978-0-593-70083-9
    $28.00 US
    Hardcover
    Pantheon
    Jul 25, 2023
  • The Private Life of Spies and The Exquisite Art of Getting Even
    The Private Life of Spies and The Exquisite Art of Getting Even
    Stories
    Alexander McCall Smith
    978-0-593-70069-3
    $29.00 US
    Hardcover
    Pantheon
    May 09, 2023
  • The Enigma of Garlic
    The Enigma of Garlic
    44 Scotland Street Series (16)
    Alexander McCall Smith
    978-0-593-68519-8
    $16.00 US
    Paperback
    Anchor
    Apr 11, 2023
  • Cook for Me
    Cook for Me
    Alexander McCall Smith
    978-0-593-68605-8
    $1.99 US
    Ebook
    Anchor
    Feb 14, 2023
  • Sphinx
    Sphinx
    from Pianos and Flowers
    Alexander McCall Smith
    978-0-593-68547-1
    $0.99 US
    Ebook
    Vintage
    Oct 11, 2022
  • The Sweet Remnants of Summer
    The Sweet Remnants of Summer
    An Isabel Dalhousie Novel (14)
    Alexander McCall Smith
    978-0-593-60809-8
    $29.00 US
    Large Print
    Random House Large Print
    Jul 19, 2022
  • The Man with the Silver Saab
    The Man with the Silver Saab
    A Detective Varg Novel (3)
    Alexander McCall Smith
    978-0-593-31363-3
    $16.00 US
    Paperback
    Anchor
    Jun 07, 2022
  • In a Time of Distance
    In a Time of Distance
    and Other Poems
    Alexander McCall Smith, Iain McIntosh
    978-0-593-31598-9
    $22.00 US
    Hardcover
    Pantheon
    Apr 12, 2022
  • Tiny Tales
    Tiny Tales
    Stories of Romance, Ambition, Kindness, and Happiness
    Alexander McCall Smith, Iain McIntosh
    978-0-593-31297-1
    $16.00 US
    Paperback
    Anchor
    Mar 01, 2022
  • Love in the Time of Bertie
    Love in the Time of Bertie
    44 Scotland Street Series (15)
    Alexander McCall Smith
    978-0-593-46844-9
    $16.00 US
    Paperback
    Anchor
    Feb 22, 2022
  • The Pavilion in the Clouds
    The Pavilion in the Clouds
    Alexander McCall Smith
    978-0-593-46909-5
    $8.99 US
    Ebook
    Anchor
    Jan 25, 2022
  • Pianos and Flowers
    Pianos and Flowers
    Brief Encounters of the Romantic Kind
    Alexander McCall Smith
    978-0-593-31096-0
    $16.00 US
    Paperback
    Anchor
    Dec 07, 2021
  • The Geometry of Holding Hands
    The Geometry of Holding Hands
    An Isabel Dalhousie Novel (13)
    Alexander McCall Smith
    978-0-593-08123-5
    $16.00 US
    Paperback
    Anchor
    Jun 15, 2021
  • Your Inner Hedgehog
    Your Inner Hedgehog
    Alexander McCall Smith
    978-0-593-31267-4
    $16.00 US
    Paperback
    Anchor
    Apr 06, 2021
  • The Talented Mr. Varg
    The Talented Mr. Varg
    A Detective Varg Novel (2)
    Alexander McCall Smith
    978-0-593-08122-8
    $16.00 US
    Paperback
    Anchor
    Mar 02, 2021
  • A Promise of Ankles
    A Promise of Ankles
    44 Scotland Street (14)
    Alexander McCall Smith
    978-0-593-31328-2
    $15.95 US
    Paperback
    Anchor
    Dec 08, 2020
  • The Second-Worst Restaurant in France
    The Second-Worst Restaurant in France
    A Paul Stuart Novel (2)
    Alexander McCall Smith
    978-0-525-56642-7
    $16.00 US
    Paperback
    Anchor
    Jun 02, 2020
  • The Department of Sensitive Crimes
    The Department of Sensitive Crimes
    A Detective Varg Novel (1)
    Alexander McCall Smith
    978-0-525-56567-3
    $16.00 US
    Paperback
    Anchor
    Feb 04, 2020
  • The Peppermint Tea Chronicles
    The Peppermint Tea Chronicles
    44 Scotland Street Series (13)
    Alexander McCall Smith
    978-1-9848-9781-7
    $15.95 US
    Paperback
    Anchor
    Dec 03, 2019
  • The Quiet Side of Passion
    The Quiet Side of Passion
    An Isabel Dalhousie Novel (12)
    Alexander McCall Smith
    978-0-8041-6993-6
    $15.95 US
    Paperback
    Anchor
    Jun 04, 2019
  • The Race to Kangaroo Cliff
    The Race to Kangaroo Cliff
    Alexander McCall Smith
    978-0-399-55405-6
    $15.99 US
    Hardcover
    Delacorte Press
    Apr 09, 2019
  • The Strange Case of the Moderate Extremists
    The Strange Case of the Moderate Extremists
    Alexander McCall Smith
    978-1-9848-9852-4
    $2.99 US
    Ebook
    Vintage
    Feb 26, 2019
  • The Good Pilot Peter Woodhouse
    The Good Pilot Peter Woodhouse
    A Novel
    Alexander McCall Smith
    978-0-525-56303-7
    $16.00 US
    Paperback
    Anchor
    Feb 05, 2019
  • A Distant View of Everything
    A Distant View of Everything
    An Isabel Dalhousie Novel (11)
    Alexander McCall Smith
    978-0-8041-6992-9
    $15.00 US
    Paperback
    Anchor
    Aug 21, 2018
  • Freddie Mole: Lion Tamer
    Freddie Mole: Lion Tamer
    Alexander McCall Smith
    978-1-5247-1379-9
    $10.99 US
    Ebook
    Delacorte Press
    Jul 10, 2018
  • My Italian Bulldozer
    My Italian Bulldozer
    A Paul Stuart Novel (1)
    Alexander McCall Smith
    978-1-101-97283-0
    $16.00 US
    Paperback
    Anchor
    Mar 06, 2018
  • A Time of Love and Tartan
    A Time of Love and Tartan
    44 Scotland Street Series (12)
    Alexander McCall Smith
    978-0-525-43655-3
    $15.95 US
    Paperback
    Anchor
    Feb 06, 2018
  • Chance Developments
    Chance Developments
    Stories
    Alexander McCall Smith
    978-1-101-97187-1
    $16.00 US
    Paperback
    Anchor
    Nov 28, 2017
  • The Sands of Shark Island
    The Sands of Shark Island
    Alexander McCall Smith
    978-0-399-55403-2
    $7.99 US
    Ebook
    Delacorte Press
    Jul 11, 2017
  • The Bertie Project
    The Bertie Project
    44 Scotland Street Series (11)
    Alexander McCall Smith
    978-0-525-43300-2
    $15.00 US
    Paperback
    Anchor
    Feb 07, 2017
  • School Ship Tobermory
    School Ship Tobermory
    Alexander McCall Smith
    978-0-399-55261-8
    $15.99 US
    Hardcover
    Delacorte Press
    Oct 11, 2016
  • The Novel Habits of Happiness
    The Novel Habits of Happiness
    Alexander McCall Smith
    978-0-307-94924-0
    $16.00 US
    Paperback
    Anchor
    Aug 23, 2016
  • Sweet, Thoughtful Valentine
    Sweet, Thoughtful Valentine
    An Isabel Dalhousie Story
    Alexander McCall Smith
    978-0-525-43191-6
    $0.99 US
    Ebook
    Vintage
    May 31, 2016
  • Emma: A Modern Retelling
    Emma: A Modern Retelling
    Alexander McCall Smith
    978-0-8041-7241-7
    $16.00 US
    Paperback
    Anchor
    Apr 05, 2016
  • The Revolving Door of Life
    The Revolving Door of Life
    44 Scotland Street Series (10)
    Alexander McCall Smith
    978-1-101-97191-8
    $15.95 US
    Paperback
    Anchor
    Feb 09, 2016
  • At the Reunion Buffet
    At the Reunion Buffet
    An Isabel Dalhousie Story
    Alexander McCall Smith
    978-1-101-97046-1
    $1.99 US
    Ebook
    Vintage
    May 26, 2015
  • Bertie's Guide to Life and Mothers
    Bertie's Guide to Life and Mothers
    44 Scotland Street Series (9)
    Alexander McCall Smith
    978-0-8041-7000-0
    $16.00 US
    Paperback
    Anchor
    Feb 17, 2015
  • The Forever Girl
    The Forever Girl
    Alexander McCall Smith
    978-0-345-80442-6
    $15.95 US
    Paperback
    Anchor
    Dec 30, 2014
  • The Mystery of the Missing Lion
    The Mystery of the Missing Lion
    Alexander McCall Smith
    978-0-8041-7327-8
    $7.99 US
    Paperback
    Anchor
    Oct 21, 2014
  • Sunshine on Scotland Street
    Sunshine on Scotland Street
    44 Scotland Street Series (8)
    Alexander McCall Smith
    978-0-345-80440-2
    $15.95 US
    Paperback
    Anchor
    Aug 12, 2014
  • Fatty O'Leary's Dinner Party
    Fatty O'Leary's Dinner Party
    Alexander McCall Smith
    978-1-101-87301-4
    $3.99 US
    Ebook
    Vintage
    Aug 05, 2014
  • Trains and Lovers
    Trains and Lovers
    A Novel
    Alexander McCall Smith
    978-0-345-80581-2
    $15.95 US
    Paperback
    Anchor
    Dec 31, 2013
  • Mystery of Meerkat Hill
    Mystery of Meerkat Hill
    Alexander McCall Smith, Iain McIntosh
    978-0-345-80446-4
    $7.99 US
    Paperback
    Anchor
    Oct 22, 2013
  • Bertie Plays the Blues
    Bertie Plays the Blues
    44 Scotland Street Series (7)
    Alexander McCall Smith
    978-0-307-94849-6
    $15.95 US
    Paperback
    Anchor
    Oct 08, 2013
  • The Uncommon Appeal of Clouds
    The Uncommon Appeal of Clouds
    Alexander McCall Smith
    978-0-307-94923-3
    $14.95 US
    Paperback
    Anchor
    Jul 02, 2013
  • A Conspiracy of Friends
    A Conspiracy of Friends
    Alexander McCall Smith
    978-0-307-94800-7
    $15.00 US
    Paperback
    Anchor
    Apr 30, 2013
  • Unusual Uses for Olive Oil
    Unusual Uses for Olive Oil
    Alexander McCall Smith
    978-0-307-27989-7
    $15.00 US
    Paperback
    Anchor
    Jan 01, 2013
  • The Forgotten Affairs of Youth
    The Forgotten Affairs of Youth
    Alexander McCall Smith
    978-0-307-73940-7
    $16.00 US
    Paperback
    Anchor
    Oct 02, 2012
  • The Importance of Being Seven
    The Importance of Being Seven
    44 Scotland Street Series (6)
    Alexander McCall Smith
    978-0-307-73936-0
    $15.95 US
    Paperback
    Anchor
    Aug 21, 2012
  • The Dog Who Came in from the Cold
    The Dog Who Came in from the Cold
    Alexander McCall Smith
    978-0-307-73944-5
    $15.95 US
    Paperback
    Anchor
    May 29, 2012
  • The Great Cake Mystery: Precious Ramotswe's Very First Case
    The Great Cake Mystery: Precious Ramotswe's Very First Case
    Alexander McCall Smith
    978-0-307-74389-3
    $6.99 US
    Paperback
    Anchor
    Apr 03, 2012
  • The Charming Quirks of Others
    The Charming Quirks of Others
    Alexander McCall Smith
    978-0-307-73939-1
    $15.95 US
    Paperback
    Anchor
    Nov 01, 2011
  • The Perils of Morning Coffee
    The Perils of Morning Coffee
    An Isabel Dalhousie eBook Original Story
    Alexander McCall Smith
    978-0-307-90751-6
    $1.99 US
    Ebook
    Pantheon
    Oct 25, 2011
  • Corduroy Mansions
    Corduroy Mansions
    Alexander McCall Smith
    978-0-307-47650-0
    $16.00 US
    Paperback
    Anchor
    May 31, 2011
  • La's Orchestra Saves the World
    La's Orchestra Saves the World
    A Novel
    Alexander McCall Smith
    978-0-307-47304-2
    $16.00 US
    Paperback
    Anchor
    Dec 07, 2010
  • The Lost Art of Gratitude
    The Lost Art of Gratitude
    Alexander McCall Smith
    978-0-307-38708-0
    $15.95 US
    Paperback
    Anchor
    Sep 21, 2010
  • The Unbearable Lightness of Scones
    The Unbearable Lightness of Scones
    44 Scotland Street Series (5)
    Alexander McCall Smith
    978-0-307-45470-6
    $15.00 US
    Paperback
    Anchor
    Jan 12, 2010
  • The Comforts of a Muddy Saturday
    The Comforts of a Muddy Saturday
    Alexander McCall Smith
    978-0-307-38707-3
    $15.95 US
    Paperback
    Anchor
    Jul 28, 2009
  • The World According to Bertie
    The World According to Bertie
    44 Scotland Street Series (4)
    Alexander McCall Smith
    978-0-307-38706-6
    $15.00 US
    Paperback
    Anchor
    Nov 11, 2008
  • The Careful Use of Compliments
    The Careful Use of Compliments
    Alexander McCall Smith
    978-1-4000-7712-0
    $15.00 US
    Paperback
    Anchor
    Aug 26, 2008
  • Love Over Scotland
    Love Over Scotland
    44 Scotland Street Series (3)
    Alexander McCall Smith
    978-0-307-27598-1
    $15.95 US
    Paperback
    Anchor
    Nov 06, 2007
  • The Right Attitude to Rain
    The Right Attitude to Rain
    Alexander McCall Smith
    978-1-4000-7711-3
    $15.00 US
    Paperback
    Anchor
    Jul 10, 2007
  • Friends, Lovers, Chocolate
    Friends, Lovers, Chocolate
    Alexander McCall Smith
    978-1-4000-7710-6
    $16.00 US
    Paperback
    Anchor
    Aug 29, 2006
  • Espresso Tales
    Espresso Tales
    44 Scotland Street Series (2)
    Alexander McCall Smith
    978-0-307-27597-4
    $15.95 US
    Paperback
    Anchor
    Jul 11, 2006
  • The Sunday Philosophy Club
    The Sunday Philosophy Club
    Alexander McCall Smith
    978-1-4000-7709-0
    $16.00 US
    Paperback
    Anchor
    Jul 12, 2005
  • 44 Scotland Street
    44 Scotland Street
    44 Scotland Street Series (1)
    Alexander McCall Smith
    978-1-4000-7944-5
    $15.95 US
    Paperback
    Anchor
    Jun 14, 2005
  • Portuguese Irregular Verbs
    Portuguese Irregular Verbs
    Alexander McCall Smith
    978-1-4000-7708-3
    $15.00 US
    Paperback
    Anchor
    Dec 28, 2004
  • The Finer Points of Sausage Dogs
    The Finer Points of Sausage Dogs
    Alexander McCall Smith
    978-1-4000-9508-7
    $14.95 US
    Paperback
    Anchor
    Dec 28, 2004
  • At the Villa of Reduced Circumstances
    At the Villa of Reduced Circumstances
    Alexander McCall Smith
    978-1-4000-9509-4
    $16.00 US
    Paperback
    Anchor
    Dec 28, 2004
  • The Girl Who Married a Lion
    The Girl Who Married a Lion
    and Other Tales from Africa
    Alexander McCall Smith
    978-0-375-42344-4
    $12.99 US
    Ebook
    Pantheon
    Dec 07, 2004
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