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A Word About McCall Smith’s African Cozies

Dec 21, 2012
by Caroline Miller
Alexamder McCall Smith, The Saturday Big Tent Wedding Party
2 Comments

Sometimes luck happens. I found a used edition of Alexander McCall Smith 11th novel, The Saturday Big Tent Wedding Party, which I’ve been wanting to read. It’s part of his series about a lady detective who resides in Botswana and opens the first agency in her small country. As I lived a portion of my life in that part of the world, the scenes Smith depicts, the rhythms of life he describes, flood back to me like a warm breeze through an open window.

To anyone who has yet to read the series, I heartily recommend it, but suggest the books be consumed in chronological order. Over the years, the characters have developed a patina of idiosyncrasies that are best savored in proper sequence. Starting at the beginning is good. “That is a well known fact.”*

 In the 11th novel, Mma Makutsi, the assistant lady detective and a woman well along in years, is about to marry. The ceremony is planned with care but life gets in the way. Mma Makutsi ruins her wedding shoes while chasing a tiny white van her employer has sold and now regrets. A young man, who works for her employer’s husband, gets himself into trouble with a women, and the detective agency is charged with catching the miscreant who is attacking a farmer’s cattle. Happily all is resolved before Mma Matkuti’s wedding day.

 If the series were set in England, rather than Botswana, one would describe these books as “cozy” mysteries. The plots have their intrigues but are free of violence. What drives the characters are their petty flaws rather than their passions. Most often, the villains are more to be pitied than judged. Smith exposes the vagaries of life and the folly of our choices. In so doing, he forces us to view our human frailties with tolerance and humor.

 *a phrase repeated by Smith’s characters over the years.

The Saturday Big Tent Wedding Party

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Courtesy of www.bookdepository.com)

 

 

 

 

 

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2 Comments
  1. Tilly Gaillard December 21, 2012 at 4:07 pm Reply
    Your column reminded me of how much I liked the series ... so I just ordered the five I haven't read yet. Just the idea of snuggling with those books makes me smile and laugh. Tilly
    • Caroline Miller December 21, 2012 at 5:38 pm Reply
      Happy to have been a reminder for you. I'm jealous that you have 5 to go. I have only one unread book to look forward to.

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Contact Caroline at

carolinemiller11@yahoo.com

Portland, Oregon author Caroline Miller had distinguished careers as an educator, union president, elected official and artist/advocate.

Her play, Woman on the Scarlet Beast, was performed at the Post5 Theatre, Portland, OR, January/February 2015

Caroline published a serialized novelette, Marie Eau-Claire, on the website, The Colored Lens.  She also published the story Gustav Pavel,  a parable about ordinary lives, choice and alternate potential, on the website Fixional.co.

Caroline has published four novels

  • Ballet Noir
  • Trompe l’Oeil
  • Gothic Spring
  • Heart Land

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