In the Company of Cheerful Ladies by Alexander McCall Smith

Fiction. Paperback from Abacus. Published in 2004. Purchased at Methven's in Windsor, UK.

This is the sixth in the The Number 1 Ladies' Detective Agency Series. I've read all of the previous books. I got a bit disgruntled with the publisher after this one came out because despite having released the first five directly to paperback, they decided this sixth one should be released first in hardback. (What's up with that besides the greed of being able to charge more? No one who is collecting the series would want to have five paperbacks and one hardback lined up neatly on the bookshelf.) So, I've waited to buy it until it came out in paperback.

Publisher's summary:
Precious Ramotswe, that cheerful Botswanan private investigator of 'traditional build', 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 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 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...

To buy from amazon.co.uk, click here: In the Company of Cheerful Ladies
from amazon.com, click here: In the Company of Cheerful Ladies