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BookBrowse Reviews The Full Cupboard of Life by Alexander McCall Smith

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The Full Cupboard of Life by Alexander McCall Smith

The Full Cupboard of Life

More from the No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency

by Alexander McCall Smith
  • BookBrowse Review:
  • Critics' Consensus (6):
  • First Published:
  • Apr 1, 2004, 208 pages
  • Paperback:
  • Jan 2005, 208 pages
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Mma Ramotswe returns!
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Comment: McCall Smith is back with another totally soft-boiled mystery set in Botswana. In this episode Precious Ramotswe, of the No.1 Ladies Detective Agency, is on the case again, this time assisting the self-made founder of a chain of hairdressing salons who wants to unearth the real intentions of her four suitors, each possibly more interested in her money than her heart.

The chances are you're already familiar with this series, but if you're not, I do encourage you to give it a try; as Bill Ott, writing for Booklist says, 'The tremendous appeal of this delightful series comes from the unique manner in which Smith mixes the charm of both traditional and contemporary village cozies (from Miss Marple to the Maggody novels) with a comical Runyonesque formality of language and a grasp of human relations that is very like Jane Austen (Mma Ramotswe, in fact, has a lot of Emma in her)'.  

The first book in the series - 'The No.1 Ladies Detective Agency' was published in the UK in 1998 but didn't arrive in the USA until 2001, and unfortunately we're still lagging behind; this is the fifth in the series.  The 6th has already been released in the UK but won't be released in the USA until April this year (see sidebar).

This review first ran in the February 2, 2005 issue of BookBrowse Recommends.

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Read-Alikes

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If you liked The Full Cupboard of Life, try these:

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    In the third novel of this bestselling series, London investigator Maisie Dobbs faces grave danger as she returns to the site of her most painful WWI memories to resolve the mystery of a pilot's death

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    'With its intriguing plot, chilling conclusion and characters who exhibit universal and timeless feelings, this fresh first has all the potential to evolve into a series as enduring as Ellis Peters's Brother Cadfael books.'

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