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The Miracle at Speedy Motors by Alexander McCall Smith By Melissa J Wantuck  |
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The Miracle at Speedy Motors by Alexander McCall Smith (Anchor Books, 2009) is the ninth installment of the No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency series and is now in paperback. McCall Smith continues with his priceless storyline of the clever and wise Precious Ramotswe, her quiet and gentle husband Mr. J. L. B. Matekoni, and her outspoken and colorfully soled secretary/assistant/associate Grace Makutsi. If you have not read the entire series, you’ll want to catch up before anything from this review might spoil what’s happened so far.
The Miracle at Speedy Motors opens as the rainy season in Botswana is about to begin. Mma Ramotswe’s emotions rush to the surface as she faces several personal issues at once: threatening letters, Mr. J. L. B. Matekoni’s reaction to them, his desire to help Motholeli walk despite the prognosis against it, a case to find a woman’s family that isn’t returning positive results, and an ominous knocking sound coming from the engine of the beloved tiny white van. She must deal with each one head on, summoning the strength within her to clear her mind of doubts and worry that have started swirling there.
Mr. J. L. B. Matekoni has been advised by a doctor he met that he can get Motholeli to walk but it comes with a high price tag. The small spark of hope soon roars into life and Mr. J. L. B. Matekoni is determined at any cost to help Motholeli. The young girl is optimistic but remains realistic about her situation. Mma Ramotswe worries what this could do to the girl and to Mr. J. L. B. Matekoni as well if it fails, as she inevitably believes it will.
Mma Makutsi has a few crises she faces as well. A moment of forgetfulness costs her some sleepless nights concerning her new bed and she fears her fiancé’s reaction to her carelessness. On top of this, her family has made her bride price known and Mma Ramotswe and Mr. J. L. B. Matekoni wonder how Mr. Phuti Radiphuti will respond to their request. The official wedding date is still not set.
The little family at Tlokweng Road Speedy Motors continues to endeavor. The girl-crazy antics of Charlie and the younger apprentice never named once again prove useful to the lady detectives. The sibling-like fighting between Charlie and Mma Makusti has not ended and still a cause for many chuckles as well as Mma Makusti’s condescending attitude towards Mr. Polopesti as she defends her territory as the only other detective at the agency. When she comes to work with another new stylish change, don’t hold back the laughs.
McCall Smith continues to entertain Mma Ramotswe’s readers with her winsome nature and the bantering of ideas and opinions that abound within the busy premises at Tlokweng Road Speedy Motors and in the quiet house on Zebra Drive. As the skies clear and a beautiful rainbow fills the endless skies of Botswana above the Acacia trees, a miracle or two or three will find its way to the garage and detective office around back. McCall Smith knows how to paint a beautiful picture on a page of words.
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