In the Company of Cheerful Ladies: No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency    by Alexander McCall Smith Order:  USA  Can Anchor, 2006 (2005) Hardcover, Paperback Read an Excerpt     Reviewed by Mary Ann Smyth Precious Ramotswe of the No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency is finding life to be very busy. She has the mysteries of the man she found under her bed, the pumpkin found outside her house, the return of her first husband demanding money, the disappearance of her trusty small white van, a man she almost ran over, the love affair between her husband's apprentice and a lady driving a silver Mercedes, and the location of a bank official who ran away with the bank's money. And she knows nothing of her associate Mma Makutsi's dance classes or the man she met there. Precious lives and works in modern day Botswana. She's an honest woman who lives by her own upright precepts. She does well with her detective agency. Her husband, Mr. J. L. B. Matekoni, runs the Tlokweng Road Speedy Motors and is as upright as his wife Precious. Author Alexander McCall Smith tells a gentle tale of gentle people. He digresses occasionally to tell a story of the many and varied characters who reside in his books. He says, 'A life without stories is not a life.' He also believes that love 'is what redeems us, that is what makes our pain and sorrow bearable – this giving of love to others, this sharing of the heart.' Readers can always depend on Smith to give them a good feeling, as they read a book in any of his four series. Note: Opinions expressed in reviews and articles on this site are those of the author(s) and not necessarily those of BookLoons. Find more Mystery books on our Shelves or in our book Reviews