The Limpopo Academy of Private Detection (No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency #13) by Alexander McCall Smith

Summary:

In this latest episode in the beloved, best-selling series, the kindest and best detective in Botswana faces a tricky situation when her personal and professional lives become entangled.

Precious Ramotswe is haunted by a repeated dream: a vision of a tall, strange man who waits for her beneath an acacia tree. Odd as this is, she’s far too busy to worry about it. The best apprentice at Tlokweng Road Speedy Motors is in trouble with the law and stuck with the worst lawyer in Gaborone. Grace Makutsi and Phuti Radiphuti are building the house of their dreams, but their builder is not completely on the up and up. And, most shockingly, Mma Potokwane, defender of Botswana’s weak and downtrodden, has been dismissed from her post as matron at the orphan farm. Can the No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency help restore the beloved matron to her rightful position?

As wealthy and powerful influences at the orphan farm become allied against their friend, help arrives from an unexpected visitor: the tall stranger from Mma Ramotswe’s dreams, who turns out to be none other than the estimable Clovis Andersen, author of the No. 1 Ladies’ prized manual, The Principles of Private Detection. Together, Mma Ramotswe, Mma Makutsi, and their teacher-turned-colleague help right this injustice and in the process discover something new about being a good detective.

Summary & Photo taken from Goodreads.com

Length: 272 pages (E-book)

Source: NetGalley ARC

Publication Date: April 3rd 2012

I first started reading the No. 1 Ladies' Detective back in the summer of 2010, shortly after the HBO show of the same name aired on television. A lot of you already know that I have a wee obsession with all things Africa so this series is my little escape to Botswana when I read it.

When I read this back in June, it had been a whole year since I had opened one of the books in this series and I was starting to miss Mma Ramotswe and the other colourful characters that Alexander McCall Smith so artfully writes into his novels.

When ever I read the series I feel like I'm coming home and this novel was no different from the others in that aspect. For me, I have certain authors that I resort to reading when I'm in a certain mood and when I read this one I needed a good old fashioned comfort read.

In this latest installment in the No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency we are once again brought into the comforting embrace of Mma Ramotswe.  In this book I got to meet up with my old friends Mma Makutsi, Phuti Radiphuti, Rra Matekoni and his faithful assistants at the garage he owns as well as being introduced to Mma Ramotswe's hero Clovis Anderson.

I know many people say that these books shouldn't be classed as mysteries because the "case" Mma Ramotswe solves are often pretty trivial but for me I just love the feeling these novels give me. This time around the mystery was close to home as one of Rra Matekoni's assistants is put in a delicate situation in which Mma Ramotswe, Mma Makutsi and and Clovis Anderson get on the case and try to rescue him!

This one turned out to be even better than the previous book in the series which surprised me because I thought the series had peaked at the time I read the last one so I was pleasantly surprised to find that that was not the case. This one still had the homey feeling that all the novels have but it was nice to see the different characters backstories evolve because less face it after a certain amount of books in a series things can become a little stagnant. For me this one actually turned out to be the best book in the series (besides the first one) in my opinion and was certainly the most enjoyable. I can't wait to read the next book.

I think the direction the author has taken with the book is one that readers will like. At least I hope other do because I really did. If you haven't read the series and want a unique reading experience I highly suggest reading this series.

*I revieved a copy of this book for free from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for my FREE and HONEST review. All thoughts and opinions expressed are my own and I was in no way compensated for my review.

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Awesome, I loved it!
★ ★ ★ ★ ★