Perhaps it's a
stretch to call Alexander McCall Smith's No. 1
Ladies' Detective Agency series literary fiction, but the
novels also seem miscategorized in the mystery genre. For one thing,
seat-of-the-pants suspense isn't their attraction; the detectives admit
they have slow days and generally don't investigate anything major. In Blue Shoes and Happiness, there
are no dead bodies, and while blackmail, medical fraud, and theft of
food are investigated, no lives are at risk, and the cases are
dispatched quietly.
These extraordinarily popular novels are loved for their characters and
their universal wisdom about life — which, come to think of
it, are strengths of literary fiction. The detectives at the
No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency in Botswana are shrewd but kind owner
Precious Ramotswe and her harder-edged assistant, Grace Makutsi. Mma's
Makutsi's relationship with her fiance, Phuti Radiphuti, figures as
much in Blue Shoes and
Happiness as any of the investigations. Did she scare him
away by saying she's a feminist? Considerable attention is also given
to the weight of "traditionally built" Mma Ramotswe and to the purchase
of a plush new chair by her husband, Mr. J. L. B. Matekoni,
and of fashionable but uncomfortable new shoes by Mma Makutsi.
Smith, a Scotsman, has a remarkable ability to depict the beauty, the
people, and the culture of Africa for a curious but ill-informed world.
Blue Shoes and Happiness is
the sixth book in the series.
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