Whenever I want a break from heavier reading (or let's be honest, a break from life), I reread one of the No 1 Ladies Detective Agency books. They are lighthearted without being superficial, funny without being flippant, and cozy without being cliche. Set in southern Botswana, it follows the detective Mma Ramotswe and the people she lives and works with, as well as the cases she solves. If you're looking for high crime, blood and suspense, you'll be disappointed . But if you're looking to make lifelong friends with quirky characters and their beautiful country, and to join them on their unpredictable adventures through it... All that to say, it's hard to explain the charm of these books if you haven't read them yourselves. So just do. As third-culture kid who grew up in neighboring Zimbabwe, author Alexander McCall Smith effortlessly builds a bridge between the reader and the characters of this book, giving an immersive experience that feels fresh, intimate and authentic.

This one is an excellent addition and one of my favorites to reread.

Blue Shoes and Happiness - The not-so-adventures and the journey-of-discovery-of-life continue for precious Ramotswe. The reader discovers in the process more intricacies and failings of human life. A person established in society can be doing something dishonest and someone who has not done any wrong can be punished for it and looked down upon by society. The tiny attractive failing of Mma Makutsi in buying the beautiful impractical shoes reminds us of similar things we have done sometime or the other in life. It also reminded me of the painful pair of heels that Meg wears in Louisa M Alcott's "Little Women". Two completely different cultures in two completely different continents, yet, human beings are the same. The balance that women have to draw between being accepted by the society as a traditional half of the male partner in a relationship as opposed to a free thinking equal modern feminist partner is also depicted ever so beautifully. Alexander McCall Smith, no wonder you are a Great Writer...

It's been a long time since I last enjoyed the #1 Ladies' Detective Agency series. Blue Shoes and Happiness by Alexander McCall Smith is the 7th book in this entertaining series, featuring the wonderful Botswana detective Precious Ramotswe.

Precocious operates her detective agency with her capable assistant Grace Makutsi out of her husband's garage Tlokweng Road. In this book, they work on a number of cases, with the assistance of one of the employees in Mr. J.L.B. Matekoni, Precious's hubby. Let's see what she's involved with in this story; a cook is being threatened with being fired by her boss who is stealing food from the cooking school, something mysterious is going on at the Game reserve that is putting the employees on edge, a doctor is falsifying blood pressure readings of his patients. On the back burner, Grace Makutsi's wedding with her fiance is threatened from some remarks she has made. And who is the advice columnist who works at the local paper, Auntie Emang?

With her usual intrepid, logical, thoughtful approach, Precious works through these cases, provides thoughtful discussion on her homeland, lovely Botswana and also on life, all free of charge. Well, you do have to buy the book, of course. It's a gentle, enjoyable adventure in what seems to be a lovely country, one that Precious loves dearly. Little incidents add to the richness of the story and the characters are lovingly portrayed. I will say that the incident with the cobra must have had a bigger impact on me than I realized because I dreamed about finding a cobra in my yard this morning.. lol Anyway, I'm glad to have rekindled my interest in this series, most enjoyable. (4 stars)

What I like best about McCall Smith is that his characters are never entirely wrong or entirely right. Mma Ramotswe is right about Mma Makutsi's shoes, and Mma Makutsi is right about Mma Ramotswe's weight. But the shoes and pretty and Mma Ramotswe doesn't like dieting. So sit back in the chair you didn't ask for and enjoy life.

Here you can read my review in Swedish: https://jennyjag.wordpress.com/2016/0...

This is a fun, quirky little book in the No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency. The agency is located in a room in a service garage and is run by the owner's wife and her assistant who have a Botswanan outlook on life. The wording is different than Americans are used to but once you adjust to women being called Mma (a respectful honorific meaning Ma'am or Mrs.) followed by their surname with no pronouns substituted it is an interesting story. And the male equivalent is Rra. It is fun to follow their exploits and somewhat convoluted form of deduction. I may be compelled to read more of this series.

pg 68: "...ties of kinship, no matter how attenuated by distance or time, linked one person to another, weaving across the country a human blanket of love and community. And in the fibres of that blanket there were threads of obligation that meant that one could not ignore the claims of others. Nobody should starve; nobody should feel that they were outsiders; nobody should be alone in their sadness."

pg 152: "As a young woman she had been too naive to see evil in others. The young, Mma Ramotswe thought, believe the best of people, or don't imagine that people they know, people of their own age, can be cruel or worthless. And then they find out, and they see what people can do, how selfish they can be, how ruthless in their dealings. The discovery can be a painful one, as it was for her, but it is one that has to be made. Of course it did not mean that one had to retreat into cynicism; of course it did not mean that. Mma Ramotswe had learned to be realistic about people, but this did not mean that one could not see some good in most people, however much that might be obscured by the bad. If one persisted, if one gave people a chance to show their better nature, and--and this was important--if one was prepared to forgive, then people could show a remarkable ability to change their ways."

Someone complained that nothing happened in the Number One Ladies' Detective Agency novels. Well, I suppose if you look for an exciting, rapidly moving, plot driven story then yes, these books are not plot driven stories.

What they are, and this novel is a classic example, are stories about characters and ideas. Philosophy. And it's no surprise when Alexander McCall Smith is a philospher. The stories show Mma Ramotswe and Mma Makutsi tackling ordinary people's problems and learning more about life, their own characters, their own attitudes and how to live well. The stories are about tolerance and generosity, kindness and the best way to live a good, decent, honest life.

In Blue Shoes and Happiness there is a nasty problem of blackmail to deal with, a possible case of witchcraft, and the weighty problem of: are diets right for the traditionally built? Mma Makutsi has to deal with her weakness for shoes and her intolerance with those lazy motor mechanic apprentices.

Mma Ramotswe is settling into life as a married lady. Mma Makutsi is struggling with being a modern thinking woman - and frightening off her fiancée - and learning that playing things softly works best. She also learns that vanity and tight blue shoes equal sore feet, but she is now able to laugh at herself about it. She has grown in self-tolerance.

Each of the detective problems needs thinking about and results in some change, either a realisation of the need for the characters to change or to reaffirm that what they thought right is right.

This novel is, for readers who think about life, their place in life, and living the best life possible, a satisfying read.

3.5. These books are like hot chocolate on a cold day: comforting.

3.5 stars
A unique cozy mystery. No blood and gore, no murder, but lots of little cases for Mma. Rambotswe and her friends to get to the bottom of. I wasn't sure what it would be like at first, since I generally prefer novels to have a strong sense of plot, but the lovely characters won me over and the setting is beautifully described. I especially approved of the amount of tea consumed by the characters! I'll be reading more of this series. I loved how clean the prose was and how all bad language was left out, making it a more relaxing read.

BLUE SHOES AND HAPPINESS, the seventh in Alexander McCall Smith's No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency series, is undoubtedly the best yet. Smith's writing seems to improve with every novel: his language becomes more poetic, his details richer, his observations on the minutiae of human existence ever more prevalent and telling.

Mma Ramotswe, Mma Makutsi and the other characters who fill out the pages of the book seem truer to life than ever before. In fact, everyone in the expanding cast is present here and involved in the story, aside from Ramotswe's two adopted children, who take a back seat as ever (only in one of the books did Smith give them scope to grow). The mysteries are truly mysterious, and there are elements of horror in the narrative for the first time as suspicions of witchcraft come into play.

Altogether, though, this is an utterly cosy, life-affirming read, something that's guaranteed to warm the heart with its wit and depth. An unaffected delight.

The worst of Smith's books. I did not like (initially) how not "much" happens in the No 1 Ladies Detective Agency books, but there are a lot of thoughts of the characters that provide entertainment and make the book itself. I have learned to appreciate this but in this book the thoughts of the characters seemed to lack meaning and seemed to reveal many useless facts about the characters. The thoughts were not as funny as they have been previously, and always in the last 20 pages is EVERYTHING SOLVED... so what happens in the first 200 pages is still a mystery to me. Also, Smith could have taken more time in showing how characters came up with the answers to the problems/mysteries they encounter with the ladies detective agency - but instead the characters just reveal that they "Know" things. I would have liked to have seen the process of the solving of the mysteries but instead got a lot of stray thoughts that had nothing to do with anything. Hopefully he improves on the next one.