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The Miracle at Speedy Motors (No1 Ladies Detective Agency 9) | 
 enlarge | Author: Alexander Mccall Smith
Publisher: Little, Brown
Category: Book
List Price: £14.99
Buy New: £7.55
You Save: £7.44 (50%)
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Rating:  13 reviews
Sales Rank: 677
Media: Hardcover
Pages: 256
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.9
Dimensions (in): 8.5 x 5.7 x 1.1
ISBN: 0316030074
EAN: 9780316030076
ASIN: 0316030074
Publication Date: March 3, 2008
Availability: Usually dispatched within 1-2 business days
Condition: Brand new book sourced directly from the publisher. Delivery in 3-5 days. Customer service 7 days per week
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| Customer Reviews: Read 8 more reviews...
 Prizes little-noticed June 8, 2008
Stephen A. Haines (Ottawa, Ontario Canada)
We're all familiar with the big miracles: the little child as sole survivor of an airplane crash or the earthquake victim pulled alive from rubble a week after the event. Precious Ramotswe, however, is sensitive to the other kind, the little miracles with long-term meaning for family affairs. Founder of The Number One Ladies Detective Agency of Gabarone, Botswana, Precious has been rather miraculous in her own right. She solves others' problems, counsels her colleague, Grace Makutsi. Precious has also has an ongoing miracle with her husband, Mr JLB Matekoni, owner of Speedy Motors on the Tlokweng Road. But all that good fortune, and the notoriety gained thereby, seems to have produced an enemy, who is sending her threatening letters.
McCall Smith's many volumes in this series has allowed him to fill and strengthen his regular characters, while introducing drop-ins who never fail to leave an impact. Charlie, Mr JLB Matekoni's shop apprentice is a fine example. Appearing regularly in a minor role, Charlie seems readily predictable: brash, self-centred and arrogant, he seems destined never to mature. Is he a candidate for things miraculous? McCall Smith's portrayals are the foundations around which these fine stories are constructed. This may well be the peak effort, a finely written and gripping tale of mystery and resolution.
Precious' skills as a detective are on full display here, as is her humanity. She faces a serious challenge from the letters. Tracking down their originator will be a daunting task. Is she up to facing a serious enemy? Woven into this story is a shift in Mr JLB Matekoni's relations with Precious. A sudden act of independence might lead to tragedy for the family and his workshop. Yet, because the act is one of deep humanity, Precious is unable to resist his desire to see if their crippled adopted daughter, Motholeli can be successfully treated. Grace Makutsi becomes caught up in a web of deceit and fabrications. Is the web so tight it may choke her engagement to Phuti Radiphuti, owner of the Double Comfort Furniture Shop?
One thing you may count on with McCall Smith is a reasonably happy ending. At least, there are no serious tragedies to cope with. This one is no different, except in the sense that "miracles" must be openly defined. That is, after all, how real life works. The author brings you to his conclusions with his usual grace and wit. Applying many depths to his stories and their protagonists, a McCall Smith can be taken up again with no regrets. This one is unquestionably one of those. [stephen a. haines - Ottawa, Canada]
Another delightful read from the number one ladies detective agency May 31, 2008
Mrs. K. A. Wheatley (Leicester, UK)
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
A typically gentle tale by the author of The Number One Ladies Detective Agency. If you've never read them before I highly recommend starting with the first one. There is little in the way of what fans of crime fiction will think of as 'detecting' here. Instead we slow the pace and become embroiled in the lives of Mma Ramotswe, her assistant Mma Makutsi and a whole host of supporting extras. The story moves on in tiny increments through each volume and if you haven't followed it from the first it can be hard to immerse yourself in what at first seems like such a slow pace.
Once you gear down into the Botswana way of doing things you will find these books charming, entertaining and at times profound.
Mma Ramotswe relies on the detective's bible by Clovis Anderson and copious pots of redbush tea to see her through the ins and outs of the problems people bring her. She becomes entangled with tracing the relatives of an orphan, discovering the author of some poison pen letters and helping Mma Makutsi deal with the trauma of a ruined marital bed. In the meantime, Mr. J.L.B Matekoni thinks he may have found a miracle to help him cure their adopted daughter Motholeli.
A lovely, thoughtful and delightful read.
A cup of tea, a slice of cake, and thou May 13, 2008
Amanda Richards (ECD, Guyana)
4 out of 4 found this review helpful
The ninth book in the series brings both woes and wisdom for the ladies of the No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency. This time there are only two clients with cases to solve, but the domestic affairs of Mma Ramotswe and Mma Makutsi take centre stage.
Mma Makutsi and her splendidly named fiancé Phuti Radiphuti are closer than ever to setting a date for the wedding, but when she picks out a snazzy new bed with red hearts on the headboard, she gets more heartache than she bargained for.
Mma Ramotswe is concerned over the growing outspokenness and self-confidence of Mma Makutsi, who after all, is soon to be married to the owner of a thriving furniture store, but she can't stop to dwell on the situation, because her own husband Mr. J.L.B. Matekoni has been talked into spending a fortune on a miracle cure for their daughter.
As far as the cases go, Mma Ramotswe has to find the family of a client who doesn't know her own real name, her birthday, or even if she has any family at all. Mma Makutsi's case is to find out whether a tenant is pulling a fast one on his landlord. At the same time, both ladies are trying to solve the mystery of the menacing letters.
After lots of awkward moments due to wrong conclusions, mistaken beliefs, incorrect information and erroneous assumptions, the ladies realize that the best road to happiness is to be true to yourself, honest to others, and to recognize the everyday miracles that we often take for granted.
For those now starting the series, the titles so far are:
The No.1 Ladies' Detective Agency
Tears of the Giraffe
Morality for Beautiful Girls
The Kalahari Typing School for Men
The Full Cupboard of Life
In the Company of Cheerful Ladies
Blue Shoes and Happiness
The Good Husband of Zebra Drive
The Miracle at Speedy Motors
Easy to read, and overflowing with the gracious charm of its traditionally built central character, this series is ideal for people on the go who need a couple of hours to get away from it all. Chatty, relaxing and familiar, make sure you save some time to kick back with a cup of tea and the ladies of the No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency.
Amanda Richards
Definition of a Miracle May 11, 2008
Marion Marchetto (Florida USA)
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
The latest installment in the No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency Series brings us back together with the unforgettable characters of Precious Ramotswe (owner of said detective agency), her capable assistant Mma Makutsi, her calm and understated husband Mr. J.L.B. Matekoni, and of course those irrepressible garage apprentices.
Most everyone tends to think of a miracle as something grand and extraordinary. The people who work at or near Speedy Motors are surely due for something grand to happen in their lives and we are not disappointed.
The first miracle we encounter is the start of the rainy season bringing with it a downpour of biblical proportions. Within a day the parched and thirsty countryside is turned from brown to a lush green and gives the promise that the crops will produce abundantly.
Mma Makutsi and her fiance find a wonderful piece of furniture in their newly bought marriage bed which becomes destroyed when Mma Makutsi has the deliverymen leave it outside her home because it won't fit through her doors. Of course it was the life-giving rain that destroyed the beautiful red brocade heart-shaped headboard. How will she ever tell her fiance what she has done?
Mma Ramotswe has undertaken to find the family of a woman who became orphaned while trying to ascertain the author or nasty letters that arrive at the agency. Could it be that Precious Ramotswe has somehow offended a former client and how can she make things right? This situation is resolved by Charlie the garage apprentice who spots the culprit and a chaplinesque chase through the grocery store ensues.
Thanks to the rain, Mr. J.L.B. Matekoni has been summoned to help start the car of a doctor who believes that there is hope for the wheelchair-bound adopted daughter of the garage owner. Mr. Matekoni finds himself applying for a mortgage on the garage to take the child to Johannesburg and to a clinic there where it is hoped they can help her walk again. Indeed, I found myself hoping wholeheartedly that this would be the miracle promised by the title.Alas, Mr. Matekoni and his daughter return home with her still bound to her wheelchair.
Mma Makutsi learns that her fiance is a forgiving man when she tells him of the destroyed bed. And Mma Ramotswe's client, who at first learns that she has a brother, is quite happy with the turn of events at learning that our intrepid lady detective was the recipient of incorrect information.
It seems that along with everyone in Gaborone, and especially at Speedy Motors, we are reminded to look for the miracles in our everyday lives: seeing the sun upon awakening, hearing the call of a bird in the tree, having a roof over our heads and someone with which to share a cup of bush tea.
I highly recommend all of the books in this series and look forward to the next one.
Gentle and Evocative May 5, 2008
Wendy Jones (Southampton, England)
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
I have loved reading every one of the No 1 Ladies Detective Agency books, including this latest offering. I sometimes find myself wondering how Alexander McCall Smith keeps up such a high standard book after book, but yet again he has delivered a masterpiece. The gentle philosphising of Mma Ramotswe is evocative of a way of life we would all like to have. The mysteries that she solves in some ways take a back seat to the life stories of the characters, but this does not in any way detract from the enjoyment. Precious and Mma Makutse continue to work well together despite their obvious differences and the exchanges between them are an entertainment in themselves. Despite this the agncy manages to always get their man, or woman, with not a hint of violence to be found. I have to admit I am on tenterhooks waiting for the marraige of mma Makutse I am so caught up in the lives of the characters. I would heartily recommend this book for all Alexander McCall Smith fans. However, if you have not read any others start with the No 1 Ladies Detective Agency.
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