I love this series. I did not love this book, which makes me kind of sad. I had two major problems with this particular volume. First, the overarching theme appeared to be "people are who they are, and there's no point trying to change who you are," which I find defeatist and unappealing. Second, nearly all of the intertwining subplots made me uncomfortable. Part of the reason is that Mma Makutsi and Mr. JLB Matekoni were acting in ways that seemed out of character to me (which of course was to illuminate the theme). But also, Mr. JLB Matekoni's and Charlie's subplots were obvious and predictable disasters in the making, and that hit my embarrassment squick.

One final thing I didn't like, which hardly counts, is that ordinarily the repetitive quirks of McCall's Smith storytelling - the tiny white van, the 97 percent - act as soothing, familiar balm. But when I was annoyed with the story, they annoyed me as well. I counted the phrase "beamed with pleasure" four times. Argh. But on the other hand, Mma Ramotswe's observations of Botswana and her people were always thoughtful and interesting, and the final chapters were quite satisfying.