This is the twelfth book in the No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency series, set in Gaborone, Botswana, and dealing with Mma Precious Ramotswe, a lady of traditional Botswana build. The agency is run next door to Tlokweng Road Speedy Motors, owned and operated by Mr. J.L.B. Matekoni (Mma Ramotswe’s husband), and the agency is run with the assistance of Mma Grace Makutsi. As with all the other books in the series, mysteries arise and are solved by Mma Ramotswe, with the aid of many cups of traditional bush tea. And it is always a joy to read another book in the series.

Mma Grace Makutsi is about to be married to Rra Phuti Radiphuti, who runs his family-owned furniture store, at long last (they met several books ago). But the detective agency meets up with new mysteries and problems; a client has had two of his cattle hamstrung, the girlfriend of one of the garage apprentices has given birth to twins, and Mma Ramotswe’s old beloved white van, sold a book or two ago as totally unrepairable, has begun popping up on the roads of Gaborone in a mysterious manner.

This is a gentle little book, as are all the books in the series; and all I can say is that if one likes the other books in the series, one will also like this one, as I did.