I am sure that neither Alexander McCall Smith or Donna Leon need a review of their books on Random Jottings to help boost their sales which are enormous, and rightly so, but I do like to write about them here.
The Double Comfort Safari Club is the latest No 1 Ladies' Detective Agency and, as with the others in this series, nothing much happens. Precious Ramotswe is asked to track down a beneficiary of a far away
American lady's legacy on a distant safari camp, an old friend thinks her husband is having an affair and asks Precious to investigate and Mme Makatsi's fiance is injured and an unpleasant aunt seeks to supplant her at his bedside. It rambles along at meandering pace with gentle philosophising along the way, the beauties of Botswana are once more described to us (so endearing that AMS obviously loves this country so much he cannot resist rhapsodising about it in every book), and Precious drinks Red Bush Tea and drives her new van.
And that's it really.
A Question of Belief by Donna Leon - I had this book for several weeks before I read it. I wanted to save it up as a treat and when I was feeling a bit low a few days ago, I decided the time had come. Venice is in the midst of a debilitating heatwave and Guido Brunetti decides to take his family to the mountains on holiday and get away from the city. Before he leaves he has a visit from a friend who works at the Commune and it seems that discrepancies have been occurring at the courthouse involving Judge Luisa Coltellini and an usher, Araldo Fontana, who has worked there all his life and has a faultless track record. Signore Elletra is asked to see what she can find out while Guido is away.
He never makes it to the mountains as he is called back to Venice when the usher Fontana is found murdered. It seems he has a side to his life that nobody knew about and his death migh not be linked to
the irregularities at the Courthouse as initially suspected.
As always, Donna Leon recreates the sights and sounds of the Venice where she lives and which she obviously loves so much, the reader sinks back happily into the family life of Guido and Paola. And then there is the food "Paola answered on the third ring - 'if you can get here in fifteen minutes, there's prosciutto and figs and then pasta with fresh peppers and shrimp'. 'Twenty' he said and hung up.
I have come to the conclusion that when reading either of this series of books, the crime is almost incidental to the ambiance. I say almost, because it is not quite there yet in the Donna Leon books and they still have a sharper edge, but the No 1 Ladies' Detective Agency stories definitely appeal to me because of the comforting and relaxing background, we know nothing nasty is going to happen and that we can sink back and just enjoy.
I have bracketed these two books together because both these authors have created characters who are as far away from the embittered, maverick detectives normally found in so much crime fiction nowadays. Good to find a nice kind warmhearted lady like Precious Ramotswe. Good to find a detective who loves his wife and children. Good to read.
