Miracles do Happen, I agree

As usual, Alexander McCall Smith, the Scottish writer, weaves magic with his observations of simple life in his novel, Miracle at Speedy Motors.

He writes about this detective agency in Botswana, of all places. A detective agency that solves various problems in a rainless, rural, underdeveloped country, with its cultural values, family system, and specific problems.

In Botswana, the No 1 Ladies Detective Agency, the series to which this book belongs, does not deal with complicated murder mysteries, or million dollar ransom cases. It is engaged instead in finding answers to the issues that people in this small place face. Like Sebina, who is on the lookout for her family, hoping she would find someone to call her own, although she has no one. She might find someone somewhere, if she was lucky. So she contacts the Ladies Detective Agency with a request.

In the book, the interactions between Mma Ramotswe and, the owner of the agency, and her assistant, Mma Makutsi, are so clearly portrayed. And often, they are hilarious, and that made me smile all along.