Rating: 
Summary: Enjoyable, but not the best in the series
Review: Precious Ramotswe has more than her clients' problems to solve in the third book of this series. Her detective agency is not doing well financially, and her fiance, Mr. Matekoni, has two lazy apprentices who are not helping him much with his car repair business. Added to this, Mr. Matekoni himself is behaving in a very strange manner. Rather than fire her secretary, Precious instead promotes her and puts her in charge of running both the car repair business and the detective agency. For some reason, which is not well explained in the book, Mma Makutsi is wildly successful in running the businesses and motivating the apprentices. Mr. Matekoni is shuffled off to the local orphanage (which makes no sense) to try to recover from his problem. His absence is keenly felt in the book and part of the interest is lost because he and Precious have very little interaction in this installment. Also there are some subplots which are weak or which go nowhere (such as Mma Makutsi's ill brother and the strange boy who is found in the wilderness.) The book is at its best when Mma Ramotswe is trying to solve the mystery of a Government Man's relative who is being poisoned, and Mma Makutsi investigates the moral character of four beauty pageant contestants. These plot lines show the delightful tongue-in-cheek spirit which have made these books so popular.
Rating: 
Summary: Management, a muddled mind and male habits
Review: Precious Ramotswe turned a legacy from cattle-breeding into a novel enterprise. She runs the only Ladies-run detective agency in Botswana. The business, however, struggles for survival as she's more helpful than profit-minded. Her secretary, Mma Makutsi, proves unexpectedly astute in helping to solve the crisis. She receives a promotion. In fact, she garners two promotions as Mma Ramotswe's fiance, Mr. J.L.B. Matekone, develops mental problems.Mma Makutsi achieves a greater level of exposure in this third volume of McCall Smith's series. The attention seems well deserved. She branches out in unexpected ways and proves both caring and efficient. These aren't traits common in management - at least in this reviewer's experience. But Botswana is a different place, as Mma Ramotswe continually reminds us. Even "knocking" on the door of the house you're visiting is different from what we're used to. Tradition is strong in Botswana, but the modern, Western world makes intrusions. McCall Smith, through Mma Ramostswe and others, notes these clashes with style and wit. His discussion of studies of the "criminal type" raises an old spectre - but is it a grim one? Men in general come in for a thorough drubbing in this volume. The young men are indolent and unreliable, spending too much thought on young women. Older men are arrogant and unreliable, spending to much time taking up with young women. Even Mr J.L.B. Matekone emerges with an unresolved shadow in his past. A grudging respect is granted to, of all people, a man running beauty contests. Women bear the burdens of responsibility and labour with little recognition of their worth. It all reads a bit like Gloria Steinem in her more turbulent days. One can only hope that this series will redress some of this condemnation in a later volume.
[stephen a. haines - Ottawa, Canada]
Rating: 
Summary: I shed tears along with the Government Man
Review: Precious Ramotswe, "a woman ... in Africa, which was who, and where, she wanted to be," returns in this third installment of Alexander McCall's gentle series about Botswana's "No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency." Mma Ramotswe's assistant, Mma Makutsi, comes into her own as a detective in her own right and as the "acting manager" of Mr. J.L.B. Matekoni's Tlokweng Road Speedy Motors. Mma Romotswe makes a powerful Government Man remember his manners and solves his case with powerful compassion. Mr. McCall's writing, as in the two prior books, is humorous, wise and often lyrical. A couple of threads in the book are left loose - perhaps to tantalize us into reading the fourth novel in the series - The Kalahari Typing School for Men. It has worked for me.
Rating:
Summary: Precious Ramotswe is worried.
Review: Precious Ramotswe, proprietor of the No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency in Bostwana, has a great deal to think about. Mr. J.L.B. Matekoni, Mma Ramotswe's fiance and the owner of Tlokweng Road Speedy Motors, has been acting strangely of late. He is unusually listless and he seems uninterested either in his business or in her. What can be wrong with him? Meanwhile, although she gets her fair share of clients, Mma Ramotswe's detective agency is not exactly prospering. Fortunately, Ramotswe's assistant, Mma Makutsi, proves to be an invaluable asset. She not only becomes the acting manager of Tlokweng Road Speedy Motors, but she even takes on a lucrative case of her own. While Makutsi investigates the moral character of four contestants in the Miss Beauty and Integrity Contest, Mma Ramotswe looks into a possible poisoning for an important "Government Man". Mma Ramotswe's sweet nature, unerring instincts and inherent common sense make her both a wonderful friend and a superb detective. Mma Makutsi comes into her own in this novel, as she shows herself to be both an excellent investigator and a shrewd manager. I recommend "Morality for Beautiful Girls" for its gentle charm, its wry humor and its unique and memorable characters.
Rating: 
Summary: stiff PC prose
Review: Read the sample pages on Amazon...the author obviously set himself the task of raising consciousness about life in Africa, specifically female life in Botswana. His political purpose may be admirable but the writing is stiff, preachy, and ultimately uninteresting. Not wretched, but a chore to read. How many women refer to a prospective fiance in their most private thoughts as Mr. J. L. B. Jones? 'Nuff said.
Rating:
Summary: Hail the Ugly Duckling
Review: The beauty about this intelligent and funny series is that you can read them in any order, once you've finished Book One, "The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency".
Undoubtedly, a meticulous mind would prefer to read them in the order in which they were written, and I would have chosen this option if the second book hadn't gone astray in the mail.
Unable to wait another minute, I dived into book three, and was not disappointed. What's not mentioned in the blurb is that Mma Ramotswe has far too much on her plate, and is forced to share the spotlight with the efficient and intelligent Mma Makutsi, now promoted to Assistant Detective of the agency, with the added responsibility of managing Mr. Matekoni's auto repair business.
While her boss is out of town sorting out the worries of a rich Government man whose concern for his younger brother and inheritance has poisoned his mind, Mma Makutsi takes over the story completely, devising methods to select a deserving and scandal-free beauty queen, while at the same time anchoring two businesses, and trying to keep them both afloat.
This is really the story of the quiet and homely secretary who matured into a feisty, albeit plain swan.
Amanda Richards November 14, 2004
Rating:
Summary: That tiny white van accumulates more mileage
Review: The beauty of this series is its simplicity and non-formulaic pacing and style. With few words, with a seemingly simplistic point of view, complicated matters that go beyond the borders of Botswana are broken down into small parcels. The facts have life are not often so basically described. One of the main aspects of the novel that I really love is the unpredictable pacing of the novel. Halfway through the story, a new and very important story line surfaces and without a lot of Hollywood-style drama, the story continues unfolding calmly, without exploding cars; wild, passionate scenes; predictable melodrama. Unlike most stories today, the plot doesn't build up to a dramatic plateau three quarters of the way through the story; rather it unfolds like rolling hills. The plot is almost inconsequential compared to the telling of the story; it's the telling of the story and the point of views that make these books so captivating. This series successfully transports you to a new world and way of looking at life, something that can't be said for most fiction that I have read. Between this book and Matt Lauer's report on Botswana, I am now looking forward to visiting this country someday.
Rating:
Summary: The Best Yet
Review: The books in this wonderful series just keep getting better and better, and this latest, which finds the formidable secretary Mma Makutsi promoted to assistant manager of Mr. J.L.B. Matekoni's auto repair shop, often had me laughing aloud.
In a tale whose loose ends wind up in the most unexpected and delightful of ways, our heroine and owner of the Ladies Number One Detective Agency, Mma Ramotswe, has her hands full. Her fiance, the above-mentioned Mr. Matekoni, is suffering from a mysterious malaise, and has started to neglect his thriving business. Her own detective agency, while still getting customers, is showing no profit and may have to move into different premises. Put that together with the lazy, girl-chasing auto-repair apprentices, the earnest and ambitious Mma Makutsi, and a case for the detective agency that just might save the business, and there are plot twists aplenty.
Of course, Mma Ramotswe faces all her problems unscathed, after many cups of bush tea. And of course Mma Makutsi proves herself to be invaluable--as usual.
A delightful tale in this utterly delightful series!
Rating:
Summary: True Beauty Can Be Seen Only When There Is Light From Within
Review: The last time I saw Mma. Precious Ramotswe, at the conclusion of "Tears of the Giraffe," the entrepreneurial private eye was happily engaged to Mr J.L.B. Matekoni, they were both making plans for a life together and bonding with their two foster children, the No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency was firmly established, as was Tlokweng Road Speedy Motors, Mr. Matekoni's business, and the horizon was filled with sunshine as far as the eye could see. How drastically things can change in just one book!
"Morality for Beautiful Girls" finds trouble on both personal and professional fronts. Mr. Matekoni is going through a bout of depression and is temporarily unable to run his business. The detective agency, while enjoying tremendous success with clients and developing a fine reputation, is not making money. The couple decide to merge and reorganize! Mma. Ramotswe closes her detective agency's offices and moves her business, lock, stock and barrel into a small building adjacent to Speedy Motors. Mma Makutsi, who had already been promoted to assistant detective, is now appointed acting manager of the mechanical garage AND she runs the detective business while the owner is in the field detecting. Not surprisingly, the strong woman turns out to be an extremely efficient manager and a clever investigator. Mma. Makutsi is one of my favorite characters and the way she deals with the lazy, girl crazy mechanics is priceless. Meanwhile, Mr. Matekoni, who has been persuaded to see a doctor, is resting and working on getting his health back.
An important Government Man enlists Mma. Ramotswe's services when he becomes convinced his younger brother is being poisoned. While she is out in the countryside working the case, the director of the Miss Beauty and Integrity of Botswana Contest asks Mma. Makutsi to help him with background checks for the contestants. He wants a "good girl" to win, someone who will not bring shame to the pageant or to Botswana. The problem is that according to the country's norms and moral codes, "good girls," don't compete in beauty contests.
As always, the mysteries may appear small but they deal with issues important to people's lives, and some of them are extremely thought-provoking and emotional. And for all their apparent simplicity, I find these books highly sophisticated. I really appreciate the way the author handles the topic of depression, and how the need to become informed and get appropriate treatment is emphasized.
Mr. Smith also stresses the importance of empathy. When considering a friend who treats her maid badly, Mma Ramotswe thinks that "such behavior was no more than ignorance; an inability to understand the hopes and aspirations of others. That understanding . . . was the beginning of all morality. If you knew how a person was feeling, if you could imagine yourself in her position, then surely it would be impossible to inflict further pain. Inflicting pain in such circumstances would be like hurting oneself."
As always, Mma. Ramotswes spirit is luminescent. She loves her fellow man, but most of all, and most inspiring, is her deep and abiding love for Africa, and for Botswana and its people in particular. "They are my people, my brothers and sisters. It is my duty to help them to solve the mysteries of their lives. That is what I am called to do." I am captivated by this series and cannot wait to begin book number four!
JANA
Rating:
Summary: Not Equal To The First Two
Review: The third book in the Ladies No. 1 Detective Agency series is a little bit of a letdown. Having loved the previous two entries (which one should certainly read before this), I was rather disappointed that there of the five plotlines, only two were actually "cases" and two were left unresolved. Plotline one involves the agency's move to share space with Speedy Motors and Miss Makutsi's new role as Asst. Manager there. Plotline two involves a feral young boy found in the bush, which never really goes anywhere. Plotline three involves the apparent poisoning of the brother of an important "Government Man." This case is much like those in the two previous books as "traditionally built" Precious Ramotswe must insinuate herself into a country household and unmask the poisoner. As always, she uses her intelligence, keen sense of human nature and a desire to help people to arrive at an outcome that's best for all. Plotline four embroils Miss Makutsi in an investigation of the character of four beauty contest finalists. She proves herself the equal of Mma Ramotswe as a detective, and in that sense, she steals some of the thunder in this book. The final plotline revolves around a mystery held by Mr. J.L.B. Matekoni which is hinted at but never unveiled, presumably leaving it for the next book, which is rather frustrating and annoying. Like the earlier books, this one critiques forces of progress and modernization as well as patriarchalism (although in a lighter way than the other books did), and aims to portray a positive picture of modern Africa, one all too rarely seen in the West. As always, the story is delivered in a delightfully fluid and simple well-paced prose. The series continues with The Kalahari Typing School For Men.
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