The House of Unexpected Sisters (No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency Series #18)

by Alexander McCall Smith Narrated by Lisette Lecat

Overview

Precious Ramotswe learns valuable lessons about first impressions and forgiveness in this latest installment of the beloved and best-selling No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency series. Mma Ramotswe and Mma Makutsi are approached by their part-time colleague, Mr. Polopetsi, with a troubling story: a woman, accused of being rude to a valued customer, has been wrongly dismissed from her job at an office furniture store. Never one to let an act of injustice go unanswered, Mma Ramotswe begins to investigate, but soon discovers unexpected information that causes her to reluctantly change her views about the case. Other surprises await our intrepid proprietress in the course of her inquiries. Mma Ramotswe is puzzled when she happens to hear of a local nurse named Mingie Ramotswe. She thought she knew everybody by the name of Ramotswe, and that they were all related. Who is this mystery lady? Then, she is alerted by Mma Potokwani that an unpleasant figure from her past has recently been spotted in town. Mma Ramotswe does her best to avoid the man, but it seems that he may have returned to Botswana specifically to seek her out. What could he want from her? With the generosity and good humor that guide all her endeavors, Mma Ramotswe will untangle these questions for herself and for her loved ones, ultimately bringing to light important truths about friendship and family-both the one you're born with and the one you choose.

Editorial Reviews

From the Publisher

Praise for The House of Unexpected Sisters:

“Perhaps one of the author’s most charming books on the topic of Precious Ramotswe.” —The Washington Times

“There is no end to the pleasure that may be extracted from these books.” —The New York Times Book Review
 
“Longtime fans of the series will feel as if they've come home again.” —Booklist (Starred Review)

Praise for Alexander McCall Smith’s No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency Series:
 
“An oasis. . . . Full of wit, nuance, and caring.” —Chicago Sun-Times
 
“McCall Smith explores diverse matters of the heart. . . . Vibrantly appealing. . . . A respite from the rush and worries of daily life.” —Richmond Times-Dispatch 
 
“Entrancing. . . . A tapestry of extraordinary nuance and richness.” —The Wall Street Journal
 
“Smart and sassy . . . [with] the power to amuse or shock or touch the heart, sometimes all at once.”
—Los Angeles Times
 
“Enthralling. . . . Mma Ramotswe is someone readers can’t help but love.” —USA Today
 
“The best, most charming, honest, hilarious, and life-affirming books to appear in years.”
—The Plain Dealer

Kirkus Reviews

2017-09-19
A deceptively slow opening movement ushers in one of the most complicated dockets ever for the No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency."Life," thinks Mma Precious Ramotswe, is "more or less perfect." But only a few hours after this contented reflection, Mr. Polopetsi, the part-time chemistry teacher who volunteers his services at the agency, presents her with an unexpectedly vexing problem. Charity Mompoloki, the sister of a fellow teacher, has been fired from her job on the sales floor of The Office Place for speaking rudely to a customer—something she tearfully assures Mma Ramotswe she didn't do, a statement Mma Grace Makutsi, the agency's co-director and a fellow alumna of the Botswana Secretarial College, is prepared to defend to the death. If Charity wasn't rude, then why did her boss, Mr. Gopolang, show her the door? Looking for answers, Mma Ramotswe (Precious and Grace, 2016, etc.) visits Charity's mother, Mma Lentswe, in Mochudi, her own hometown, and inadvertently makes a discovery that seriously threatens to derail her from the increasingly puzzling case she's agreed to investigate, a discovery that will lead to still further developments, some of them wonderful, some shattering. Meanwhile, word comes that Note Mokoti, Mma Ramotswe's abusive first husband, has been spotted at the local branch of the Standard Bank. The traditionally built detective, normally a rock of strength and sanity, might well be overwhelmed by all this intrigue if her creator didn't trot out perennial bad girl Violet Sephotho for one more round of villainy, provoking Mma Ramotswe's unsurprising reaction: "Well, she does get around, doesn't she?"Though the No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency increasingly feels more like a therapy group than a commercial enterprise, there's no denying the slow-burning power of its revelations in this 18th installment.

Product Details

BN ID:	2940171199029
Publisher:	Recorded Books, LLC
Publication date:	11/07/2017
Series:	No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency Series , #18
Edition description:	Unabridged

Read an Excerpt

CHAPTER ONE
(Continues…)

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Excerpted from "The House of Unexpected Sisters"
by .
Copyright © 2017 Alexander McCall Smith.
Excerpted by permission of Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group.
All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
Excerpts are provided by Dial-A-Book Inc. solely for the personal use of visitors to this web site.

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