Reviews

Morality for Beautiful Girls by Alexander McCall Smith

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thisisthelion's review against another edition

4.0

And there goes another one. Reading a No.1 Ladies Detective Agency’s book is always so much fun.
In this one, the story broadens: we have Mma Ramotswe's investigations as always but also the newly promoted Assistant Detective, Mma Makutsi, whom also has to keep an eye the apprentices at Tlokweng Speedy Motors because the Agency has moved there to save costs. It’s nice to see her step out a bit of her usual secretarial activities and have her investigate on her own. That way we can switch focus from Mma Ramotswe a little. Besides, the apprentices are kind of fun, here's hoping they will have names soon and keep appearing.
There are two things that are left without answer: first, the wild boy that is found in the bush and second, J. L. B. Matekoni suffering from depression. I hope they revisit the boy’s story, it’s seems like they talked too much about it to just ended with a few lines at the end; plus, it has potential. And there appears to be a glimpse at something bad that J. L. B. Matekoni may have done in his past. I’m not sure where they are going with this story, so, we’ll see. He's a lovely character and I kind of missed him in this one.
There are a lot of things going on in this book and while checking the pages that I had left to read, I thought either Smith wasn’t going to close them all or do it in a rush. But no, he manages to finish all the ongoing investigations without hurrying. I guess I’m too used to books dragging mysteries that I’m surprised this doesn’t have to be like that.

Overall, it’s such a delight to read this series, I’m already eager to grab the next book.

johnjohn156677788's review against another edition

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hopeful lighthearted relaxing slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.75

This book was really relaxing and easy to read.

willowsfair's review against another edition

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adventurous hopeful inspiring mysterious reflective slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

A flawlessly written, wonderful story. Review to come.

desert_side_notched's review against another edition

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lighthearted mysterious

4.0

lynecia's review against another edition

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4.0

What can I say? I REALLY enjoy this series!
It's funny and thought-provoking at the same time. McCall always ends up injecting a moral lesson into each one.

sam_hartwig's review against another edition

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3.0

So I have now read 3 books from the No.1 Ladies Detective Agency series and I'm not that fussed to continue on to the others right away. The first book was fantastic, the main character Mma Ramotswe was solving crimes left right & centre, and along the way a little bit of Botswana history was thrown in but.... with this book I felt like it was the other way around. Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying it's a terrible book but I'm a bit disappointed in the amount of detective work that actually happens in the book (which to me felt like very little). I guess I'm used to other mystery books where I find it hard to figure out who the killer is and I'm always kept guessing, but these are very light and if you read too many in one go they can get boring in my opinion. So, I think I'll wait a while before I pick up another one.