This series will pull at the heartstrings if you’ve spent any time in southern Africa. If not, you should enjoy Mma Ramotswe’s problem-solving skills woven within the fabric of family and social events. As the series progresses (it now has at least 8 books as of the time this is written) the author adds in more and more exposition of the conflict between the modern world’s inevitable incursions and the region’s traditional tribal culture That culture appears to be very consistent across all the southern Africa, except the even older tribes of desert bushmen). Alexander McCall Smith, actually a Scot, made good use of his years in the region to capture the landscapes and patterns of speech. These are not shoot-’em-up private eye stories and quite often there is no real crime involved, just matters that need to be looked into. If you prefer TV to books, these may not be for you; otherwise, These books offer what is so often missing in the modern novel: a retreat to a peaceful world where the problems are few and the endings are nicely and happily tied together – although often in a welcome twist.
