Tea Time for the Traditionally Built

Tea Time for the Traditionally Built
Alexander McCall Smith
Pantheon Books, c2009. 212 pgs. Mystery

Another treasure emerges in the No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency series. Precious Ramotswe, our dear Botswanan heroine, is indeed traditionally built and her statuesque physique only reinforces her traditional values and solid character. This time she and Miss Makutsi of the 97 percent are called to solve mysteries of excess: a football/soccer team with too many losing games, a furniture assistant who sells too many beds and a lady laden with too many husbands.

McCall Smith writes with a wise, gentle pen—his prose both purposefully simple and elegantly humorous. His touch so delicate he’s sometimes mistaken for an ingénue. A favorite line reads, “Human hurt was like lightning, it did not choose its targets, but struck, with rough equality and little regard to position, achievements, or moral dessert.” A lovely mystery that is only mysterious in its understanding of humanity’s heart. A treat that leaves you perfectly content.

DAP