In the Company of Cheerful Ladies (The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency) - Hardcover

'The author's prose has the merits of simplicity, euphony and precision. This is art that conceals art' - Anthony Daniels, The Sunday Telegraph 'I was enchanted by the character of Precious Ramotswe, the sly humour of Alexander McCall Smith's writing and his deft evocation of a culture' - Anthony Minghella (director of the Oscar-winning The English Patient) 'The author has an easy command of story-telling and a gift for describing dusty, sun-baked Botswana. His books, ostensibly mysteries, are also gentle but incisive commentaries on Africa, men and women and life in general. They are not to be missed' - Seattle Times

Precious Ramotswe, that cheerful Botswanan private investigator of 'traditional build', is well-known to millions across the world through the best-selling No.1 Ladies' Detective Agency series. Those who have been following her exploits in five previously published novels will soon be able to savour the next instalment, in which, as usual, circumstances are never as straightforward as they seem and events take a more than unexpected turn. Precious Ramotswe, is now married to Mr J.L.B. Matekoni, of Tlokweng Road Speedy Motors. The Agency is busy, but Mma Ramotswe cannot ignore the plea which is made to her by a woman who comes to her with a tale of particular misfortune. Unfortunately, her attempts to help are interrupted by a close encounter between her tiny white van and a bicycle, and by a spectacular disagreement between her assistant, Mma Makutsi, and one of the apprentices at the garage. This apprentice has found a fancy girlfriend who drives a large silver Mercedes-Benz. How can he be rescued from his folly? And as for Mma Makutsi, she has found a dancing class, and a man who may not be able to dance very well but who admires her greatly. And all of this happens against a background of quiet sessions of bush tea, and of a land that stretches out forever under mile upon mile of empty sky.