A welcome visit with old friends

I know he's incredibly busy with the 5 or so series that he's created, so I'm always thrilled when a new Alexander McCall Smith book arrives, featuring our old friends Precious Ramotswe, Grace Maktusi and Mr. JLB Matekoni. It was with surprise and delight that I saw the book The Double Comfort Safari Club was out. Fans of the No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency series will not be disappointed.

In this novel, there are plenty of professional and personal problems to deal with. Mma Makutsi is still engaged to Phuti Radiphuti, but, as usual, her life can never go smoothly. Early in the novel, she is alarmed to hear that Phuti has suffered an accident at his furniture store and has been hospitalized. This alone would be enough to cope with, but there is the added difficulty of Phuti's "No. 1 Auntie," a jealous, hateful woman who refuses to accept Grace as Phuti's fiancée, and therefore, refuses to allow her access to her injured beloved. Mma Ramotswe attempts to intervene, but even she is no match for the aunt.

Professionally, there are also plenty of new cases for the female detective staff (Mma Ramotswe and her "Assistant Detective" Mma Makutsi) to work on. In this novel we have the usual suspected cheating spouse cases, and that shameless hussy Violet Sephotho makes another appearance. The main case, however, involves the ladies traveling to a safari camp in an attempt to identify a guide who has been left a sum of money by an American lady in her will. Her memory of the guide was warm and grateful, but little details such as the exact name and location of the camp where he worked were a little vague.

This novel is filled with all the warmth, humor and amusing turn of phrase that makes this series so special. I'm only sad that there haven't been more shows made for the HBO series. I'd love to see the same actors do more stories from the books, so I hope it will happen in the future!

Final Verdict for The Double Comfort Safari Club: Four Gherkins, for being a welcome visit with old friends (now if only things could go smoothly for Mma Makutsi for a while . . .)