In the Company of Cheerful Ladies (Ladies' No, 1 Detective Agency) By Alexander McCall Smith

Relief flooded over me as I read the first chapter of In the Company of Cheerful Ladies! I have loved The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency from the very beginning but I could not even finish the last one, The Full Cupboard of Life, it just didn't grab me at all. So then I was really worried that I had gone off the series or that McCall Smith's writing style had changed but everything was okay when I read this one, I think that it is probably my favourite out of the whole series.
Precious Ramotswe is now married to Mr J.L.B. Maketoni of Tlokweng Road Speedy Motors and both of their businesses are doing very well. There are some small cases for the ladies to solve along the way but this book is more about the central characters and what is going on with their lives. Precious Ramotswe has a collision in her white van with a man on a bicycle and this brings a new friend into all their lives; Precious also has a very unwanted visitor from her past who has to be dealt with in her own special way. Meanwhile Mma Makutsi (she is my favourite character) has a spectacular row with Charlie, the apprentice over a tea-pot and he quits his job. However angry Mma Makutsi is she still helps out her friend when he gets himself into trouble with a very rich, Mercedes-Benz driving girl friend. My favourite part of the book was the story line following Mma Makutsi who decides to take up dancing lessons; she meets a very shy man at class who takes a particular shine to her and we follow them through the book.
I love the simplicity of Alexander McCall Smith's series; the characters are so warm and the messages in the book are so relevant to all of us. I am not sure what happened with the last one but I am so glad that I didn't give up on them, I shall be getting the next one as soon as possible.