The Great Hippopotamus Hotel

The Great Hippopotamus Hotel, a once-thriving boutique hotel in Botswana favored by wealthy travelers, has declined sharply in the brief time since the niece and nephew of the original owner took over. Subtle signs of neglect are everywhere. Fights have broken out in the kitchen. Laundry has been stolen. And, worst of all, a case of food poisoning leveled a group of visiting international food critics. The manager, suspecting sabotage, seeks help from Mma Ramotswe, founder and owner of the No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency in this 25th entry in the series of that name. Precious Ramotswe seeks to solve problems; not just criminal ones, but the kinds of real-life stumpers that her clients can't fix on their own. Longtime fans of the series will love revisiting Ramotswe and her comically ambitious assistant, Mma Makutsi, in their tiny office next to Tlokweng Road Speedy Motors Garage, where Precious' husband, a brilliant mechanic, oversees a couple of goofy apprentices. And they may inwardly gasp when Violet Sephotho, the man-manipulating villainess of the series, sashays into the plot once again. McCall Smith makes sure that new readers are well-oriented; they can start anywhere in the series and still get the full flavor of the rich characterizations, gentle humor, Botswanan atmosphere, and Ramotswe's wisdom.

Smith's breezy latest outing for Botswanan sleuths Precious Ramotswe and Grace Makutsi (after From a Far and Lovely Country) finds the pair digging into the operations of a struggling hotel. While Mma Ramotswe is shopping for socks one afternoon, a man named Quick Babusi approaches her with an inquiry: the well-regarded Great Hippopotamus Hotel, which Babusi manages, has recently fallen into disrepair, with the kitchen causing a spate of inexplicable food poisonings and guest rooms becoming overrun with snakes and scorpions. Mma Ramotswe taps Mma Makutsi and her best friend, Mma Potokwani, to help with the case, and together, they uncover a conspiracy targeting the hotel's reputation. Meanwhile, a wealthy client asks Mma Ramotswe's mechanic husband, Mr. J.L.B. Matekoni, to procure him a new South African sports car, which Matekoni fears the man will use to facilitate an affair. As always, the sleuthing takes a backseat to Mma Ramotswe and company's dryly funny musings (many of them focused on middle-aged men's difficulties with aging) and Smith's evocative descriptions of life in Gaborone. Series fans will get just what they came for. (Oct.)