Blue Shoes and Happiness

alexander mccall smith

There is considerable excitement at The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency. A cobra has been found in Precious Ramotswe's office. Then a nurse from a local medical clinic reveals that faulty blood–pressure readings are being recorded there. And Botswana has a new advice columnist, Aunty Emang, whose advice is rather curt for Mma Ramotswe’s taste.

All this means a lot of work for our heroine and her inestimable assistant, Grace Makutsi, and they are, of course, up to the challenge. But there’s trouble brewing in Mma Makutsi’s own life. When Phuti Radiphuti misses their customary dinner date, she begins to wonder if he is having second thoughts about their engagement. And while Mma Makutsi may be able to buy that fashionably narrow (and uncomfortable) pair of blue shoes, it may not buy her the happiness that Mma Ramotswe promises her she’ll find in the simpler things—in contentment with the world and enough tea to smooth over the occasional bumps in the road.

Genres mysteryfictionafricabotswanacrimedetectivecozy mysteryaudiobookhumormystery thriller

227 pages, Paperback

First published January 1,2006

Series

No. 1 Ladies/ Detective Agency

Literary awards

theakston old peculier crime novel of the year,

Places

gaborone,

This edition

Format: 227 pages, Paperback
Published: March 13, 2007 by Anchor
ISBN: 9781400075713
ASIN: 1400075718
Language: English

Characters More characters

Precious Ramotswe

a clever and generous woman who runs the only female-headed detective agency in Botswana -- possibly the only detective agency; she solves crimes based on her knowledge of human nature and hard work...
Puso

a Masarwa orphan and the younger brother of Motholeli; they are Precious Ramotswe and Mr. J.L.B. Matakonis foster childrenmore...
Charlie The Older Apprentice

a feckless girl-crazy apprentice mechanic who never seems to get final approval for his full licence...
Mr. Polopetsi

an erroneously imprisoned pharmacist who becomes an employee at the garage and an assistant to Precious Ramotswe before becoming a high-school chemistry teacher. In "Blue Shoes ..." he has issues with his rich uncle.more...
Note Mokoti

a hard-drinking, abusive jazz trumpet player; he was Precious Ramotswes first husbandmore...
Clovis Anderson

the frequently quoted author of "The Principles of Private Detection." Mma Ramotswe almost knows the book by heartmore...

About the author

alexander mccall smith

Alexander McCall Smith is the author of the international phenomenon The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency series, the Isabel Dalhousie Series, the Portuguese Irregular Verbs series, and the 44 Scotland Street series. He is professor emeritus of medical law at the University of Edinburgh in Scotland and has served on many national and international bodies concerned with bioethics. He was born in what is now known as Zimbabwe and he was a law professor at the University of Botswana. He lives in Scotland. Visit him online at www.alexandermccallsmith.com, on Facebook, and on Twitter.