A case that isn't a case

When Precious Ramotswe attends a wedding and sees an old friend she thought was dead — or late, as the good people of Botswana prefer to say — she unsuspectingly begins a new case that, at least officially, isn't a case at all.

Alexander McCall Smith's 20th entry in his wonderful The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency series, To the Land of Long Lost Friends (2019), is hardly the best of the lot. Still it makes a fine read.

The old friend turns out to be very much alive, the victim of confusion because another woman with the same name had died. She confides to Mma Ramotswe that she is troubled because her grown daughter has ceased contact with her. She doesn't understand why, and it breaks her heart. Although not asked, let alone hired, to look into the matter, our favorite traditionally built detective nonetheless begins a puzzling investigation that involves a diamond factory, a charismatic preacher and a sparkling Mercedes Benz.

Subplots are fewer than usual this time out, the main one involving Charlie, the part-time mechanic and part-time assistant detective who finds himself, without even trying, engaged to the lovely daughter of one of the richest men in Botswana. And poor Charlie can't even afford to take Queenie-Queenie out to dinner.

Fans must read this book to catch up with all those charming characters, including Mma Makutsi and Mr. J.L.B. Matekoni, even if the story itself falls a wee bit short of the standard.