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The latest installment from the No. 1 Ladies´ Detective Agency series.

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Precious Ramotswe learns valuable lessons about first impressions and forgiveness in this latest installment of the much-loved, best-selling No. 1 Ladies´ Detective Agency series.

At Botswana´s No 1 Ladies´ Detective Agency, Precious Ramotswe and Grace Makutsi are intrigued by the troubling dismissal of an employee at a thriving local business. The ladies proceed with investigations as they are inclined to do - with Mma Makutsi´s customary vigour, and Mma Ramotswe´s rather more subtle caution. Soon enough, interesting discoveries are made... marital subterfuge, undue influence and commercial chicanery! Clearly, there is more to this dismissal than at first imagined.

While Mma Makutsi´s focus, as self-appointed Principal Investigating Officer, is firmly on the case, Mma Ramotswe´s attention is diverted by personal matters. Not only has her disgraced ex-husband reappeared in town, but she has stumbled on an unsettling family secret of her own - one that might threaten what she holds closest to her heart.

As Precious contemplates this painful possibility, she must draw on her strength and compassion and confront The House of Unexpected Sisters. And for both Mma Makutsi and Mma Ramotswe, the wise words of their mentor Clovis Andersen - ´the needle swings in confusing ways´ - have never been more prescient . . .

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The dialogue transports the reader to the book´s hot, dry setting, and the gentle exchanges of mundane facts carry a weight of love and tenderness . . . Immersing yourself in Precious Ramotswe´s life seems to slow your heart rate while sharpening your senses Scotsman

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McCall Smith, Alexander
Alexander McCall Smith is the author of over eighty books on a wide array of subjects, including the award-winning The No.1 Ladies´ Detective Agency series. He is also the author of the Isabel Dalhousie novels and the world´s longest-running serial novel, 44 Scotland Street. His books have been translated into forty-six languages. Alexander McCall Smith is Professor Emeritus of Medical Law at the University of Edinburgh and holds honorary doctorates from thirteen universities.

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