Books The Miracle at Speedy Motors: The New Novel in the No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency Series (No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency)
Books and Publications Average Rating:

Rating: - Another Good Addition to the Series
McCall Smith has added another worthy title to his series. Rather than repeat all the stuff from other reviewers, let me just point out something about this - and really all the books in this series:

They provide a window onto a lifestyle that is so much different, so much more peaceful, than the Western world that is a true joy reading these. For just those few moments that you read, you are living a more calm, sedate, and perhaps, more "true", life.

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Rating: - Wonderful characters, well told
An anonymous letter threatens the lives of detective Precious Ramotswe and her assistant Grace Makutsi; a woman without a family searches for her past; and a girl in a wheelchair is given dangerous new hope. The ninth installment of the No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency Series is packed with all the adventure one might expect from a detective novel. And yet there is more-oh, so much more.

Alexander McCall Smith is known for his superb character development, and The Miracle at Speedy Motors is another delightful encounter with the men and women who make their home under the large Botswana sky. You need not have read the other books in the series to enjoy this latest book. However, if you have read those books, you will find yourself even deeper into the hearts of the characters that you have grown to love.

McCall Smith's writing here is both lyrical and meaningful. It's not only the plot that drives this novel, it's also a compulsion to discover more about the human heart. Page after page, McCall Smith uses his beloved characters to open windows into the human soul. The vision of humanity that he creates is not only insightful, but it is fundamentally hopeful.

These characters are attractive because their weaknesses are so familiar and their pain so tangible. They can't help but hope for healing miracles to sweep through their lives. If the book were sentimental, they might receive the miracles for which they hope. Instead, they do experience the miraculous, but in ways quite unexpected.

While contemplating a difficult turn of events, Ramotswe thinks, "What does it matter if businesses are left unattended, if people are not always as we want them to be; we need the time just to be human, to enjoy something like this: a boy chasing ants, a dry land drinking at last, birds in the sky, a rainbow." Yes, we all need time just to be human and to enjoy something-something very much like this book.

Armchair Interviews says: The joy that you experience in reading this novel might be its own little miracle!

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Rating: - I love these books!
I have read the entire series of The #1 Ladies Detective Agency and I absolutely love them. The characters are so well developed and the descriptions so vivid, that I feel that I am in Botswana. I'm always looking for the next installment.

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Rating: - Swift and Sweet
Another charming addition to The Detective Agency series. While I enjoyed the book a great deal, this one felt a bit more slight than some of the previous books, and frankly felt like an expanded newspaper serial.
Still, anyone who is a fan of the books will find themselves delighted just to be in the company of Precious and co. for an afternoon.