The Miracle at Speedy Motors
by: Alexander McCall Smith
Published by: Pantheon Books (July 22 release)
Buy From Amazon.com
Reviewed by Sarah van Ingen
An anonymous letter threatens the lives of detective Precious Ramotswe and her assistant Grace Makutsi; a woman without a family searches for her past; and a girl in a wheelchair is given dangerous new hope. The ninth installment of the No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency Series is packed with all the adventure one might expect from a detective novel. And yet there is more—oh, so much more.
Alexander McCall Smith is known for his superb character development, and The Miracle at Speedy Motors is another delightful encounter with the men and women who make their home under the large Botswana sky. You need not have read the other books in the series to enjoy this latest book. However, if you have read those books, you will find yourself even deeper into the hearts of the characters that you have grown to love.
McCall Smith’s writing here is both lyrical and meaningful. It’s not only the plot that drives this novel, it’s also a compulsion to discover more about the human heart. Page after page, McCall Smith uses his beloved characters to open windows into the human soul. The vision of humanity that he creates is not only insightful, but it is fundamentally hopeful.
These characters are attractive because their weaknesses are so familiar and their pain so tangible. They can’t help but hope for healing miracles to sweep through their lives. If the book were sentimental, they might receive the miracles for which they hope. Instead, they do experience the miraculous, but in ways quite unexpected.
While contemplating a difficult turn of events, Ramotswe thinks, “What does it matter if businesses are left unattended, if people are not always as we want them to be; we need the time just to be human, to enjoy something like this: a boy chasing ants, a dry land drinking at last, birds in the sky, a rainbow.” Yes, we all need time just to be human and to enjoy something—something very much like this book.
Armchair Interviews says: The joy that you experience in reading this novel might be its own little miracle!
Author’s Web site: http://www.AlexanderMcCallSmith.com
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