Alexander McCall Smith, The Woman Who Walked in Sunshine

In Alexander McCall Smith's latest No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency novel, Mma Ramotswe is talked into taking a vacation and leaving the agency in the hands of her sometimes difficult colleague, Mma Makutsi. But it's difficult to let go, and Mma Ramotswe finds herself almost as busy on vacation as she is at work. There's a case to solve, a young man to save, and a curiously-named new business in town that needs to be investigated. Mma Ramotswe approaches everything with her trademark grace and wisdom. Readers of McCall Smith's Botswana novels will enjoy this installment in the series as much as his previous books.

The leisurely pace of McCall Smith's stories can make one feel as if nothing much is happening in the books. However busy Mma Ramotswe may be, she still has time to contemplate the broad Botswana sky, to enjoy conversations over cake and tea, and to mull over the remembered wisdom of her beloved late father, Obed Ramotswe. As slow as the books may seem, however, we have watched the series' main characters grow and change quite a lot over the course of 16 books, perhaps none so much as Mma Makutsi, whose circumstances have changed dramatically since she first came to work in the agency. In this latest novel, we see something new emerge in Mma Makutsi, and so does her boss. It's a pleasure to witness.