Alexander McCall Smith Sets Up The No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency to Solve Two More Crimes

From a Far and Lovely Country by Alexander McCall Smith

From a Far and Lovely Country is the 24^th and most recent novel in the ever delightful No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency series written by beloved and prolific but never formulaic or boring author Alexander McCall Smith. 

Dropping in for a visit with Mma Precious Ramotswe and Mma Grace Makutsi as well as their family, friends and clients at the agency has become a welcome annual treat. It’s like a highly anticipated visit to an adored distant relative who will cook your favorite meals and stay up late laughing with you while looking through old photographs and catching you up on the latest gossip and news of those dear and familiar. What a pleasant experience for the armchair traveller to return to Gaborone, Botswana where you can sit on a shaded veranda, sip red bush tea and nibble on Mma Potokwane’s fabled thick slices of homemade fruitcake while learning about the latest cases waiting to be solved. 

If you are new to the series, you will be warmly welcomed and returning readers will revel in adding to their knowledge of the central characters and, in the oft-expressed opinion of Mma Ramotswe, in this most beautiful country in Africa. The border with South Africa is merely 10 miles distant but the pace is more relaxed in Botswana where time-honored courtesies are observed such as properly greeting friends and strangers.

Context on the Novel’s Setting

Botswana has little arable land with 70% of this landlocked country being comprised of a portion of the vast Kalahari Desert. The population is about 2.3 million, sparse in comparison to Nigeria with over 200 million and over 62 million people in its close neighbor South Africa. 

However, Botswana has a thriving economy which has risen dramatically since the mid-1960’s when it was one of the world’s poorest countries to one experiencing a solid, growing middle class enjoying a high standard of living. Diamond mining and tourism account for much of this success.

 The transformation came about after the former Bechuanaland Protectorate, established in 1885 by the United Kingdom, became the Republic of Botswana on September 30, 1966, which retained English as the official language. Most speakers are at least bi-lingual with Setswana the most widely spoken of several southern African languages. 

The government is considered to be one of the least corrupt in Africa. Certainly there are crimes, environmental issues arising from drought and desertification as well as social and health issues with the continuing severity of the HIV/AIDS epidemic affecting an estimated 25% of persons between the age of 15-49, the third highest percentage in the world. Universal access to treatment is available through comprehensive government programs providing free antiretroviral drugs as well as information and prevention campaigns. 

Alexander McCall Smith has taken notice of this major problem. Prominent character Mma Potokwane manages a large orphanage comprised mainly of children whose parents and all too frequently their extended family have died of this dreadful disease. Her charges are divided among a cluster of home-like cottages tended by women who cook and otherwise care for them with love and devotion. They all receive health care, a formal education and are taught useful crafts and skills.  In earlier books Mma Makutsi cared for her dying brother who is now “late”; the preferred euphemism for dead. 

Faced With Two New Cases 

From a Far and Lovely Country celebrates Mma Ramotswe’s birthday and simultaneously brings two important new cases to the #1 Ladies Detective Agency. Part-time mechanic and recently wed Charlie has been training to also become a Junior Assistant Detective, also part-time. For the first time, he will be independently leading an investigation while reporting regularly to his mentors. His assignment is to go undercover to expose the wrongdoings of a new club in town. 

The Cool Singles Evening Club has created a social media site for married men to pretend to be bachelors in order to meet and dupe lonely single women. Might the nefarious Violet Sephotho be involved? 

The second case involves Julia, a biracial American woman whose late step-grandfather Khumo was Botswanan. He was one of the many thousands of servicemen from Bechuanaland sent to Europe to fight with the British Allies in WWII and was unable to return home. To honor his memory and in an attempt to heal personal emotional scars from her ex-husband’s desertion, Julia has traveled from Bloomington, Indiana to seek any of his people to inform them of his life story and remember his sacrifices. 

It seems almost predestined that Khumo’s village was Mochudi, the hometown of the late Obed Ramotswe and his daughter Precious. Julia may not discover what she sought but finds herself embraced by new friends and a welcoming country.

Charming Story with Relatable Characters

Precious Ramotswe would probably not label herself a feminist but she is a strong, self-determined woman, an independent thinker who divorced her abusive first husband and used her cattle and land inheritance from her revered late father Obed Ramotswe to purchase a comfortable home and garden in Gaborone before establishing her business. She retained her maiden name after she married Mr. J. L. B. Matekoni, owner and chief mechanic of Tlokweng Road Speedy Motors. However, she cheerfully does the shopping, cooking and cleaning at home. Mma Ramotswe is not naïve, is quick to forgive, possesses a natural attitude of gratitude and a generous heart along with an enduring appreciation for family and her country.

In this series as well as his other works Alexander McCall Smith imparts deep philosophical observations as well as spinning charming, uplifting stories of relatable characters. Until next time, the familiar characters of From a Far and Lovely Country bid the readers “Ke tla go bôna kgantele” or “see you later”.