The Limpopo Academy of Private Detection

220 Pages·2016·0.95 MB·English

by  Smith Alexander McCall

BOOKS BY
ALEXANDER McCALL SMITH
IN THE NO. 1 LADIES’ DETECTIVE AGENCY SERIES
The No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency
Tears of the Giraffe
Morality for Beautiful Girls
The Kalahari Typing School for Men
The Full Cupboard of Life
In the Company of Cheerful Ladies
Blue Shoes and Happiness
The Good Husband of Zebra Drive
The Miracle at Speedy Motors
Tea Time for the Traditionally Built
The Double Comfort Safari Club
The Saturday Big Tent Wedding Party
The Limpopo Academy of Private Detection
IN THE ISABEL DALHOUSIE SERIES
The Sunday Philosophy Club
Friends, Lovers, Chocolate
The Right Attitude to Rain
The Careful Use of Compliments
The Comforts of a Muddy Saturday
The Lost Art of Gratitude
The Charming Quirks of Others
The Forgotten Affairs of Youth
IN THE CORDUROY MANSIONS SERIES
Corduroy Mansions
The Dog Who Came In from the Cold
IN THE PORTUGUESE IRREGULAR VERBS SERIES
Portuguese Irregular Verbs
The Finer Points of Sausage Dogs
At the Villa of Reduced Circumstances
IN THE 44 SCOTLAND STREET SERIES
44 Scotland Street
Espresso Tales
Love over Scotland
The World According to Bertie
The Unbearable Lightness of Scones
The Girl Who Married a Lion and Other Tales from Africa
La’s Orchestra Saves the World

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the
product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to
actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

Copyright © 2012 by Alexander McCall Smith

All rights reserved. Published in the United States by Pantheon Books, a division
of Random House, Inc., New York. Originally published in Great Britain by
Little, Brown, an imprint of Little, Brown Book Group, an Hachette U.K.
Company, London.

Pantheon Books and colophon are registered trademarks of Random House, Inc.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
McCall Smith, Alexander, [date]
The Limpopo Academy of Private Detection / Alexander McCall Smith.
p. cm. (No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency)
eISBN: 978-0-307-90715-8
1. Ramotswe, Precious (Fictitious character)—Fiction. 2. Women private
investigators—Botswana—Fiction. 3. No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency
(Imaginary organization)—Fiction. 4. Americans—Botswana—Fiction. 5.
Botswana—Fiction. I. Title.
PR6063.C326L56 2012 823′.914—dc23 2011050788

www.pantheonbooks.com
www.alexandermccallsmith.com
Jacket illustration by Iain McIntosh

v3.1

This book is for Hilary Neville-Towle,
with gratitude.
Contents

Cover
Other Books by This Author
Title Page
Copyright
Dedication

Chapter One: On a Hot Day We Dream of Tea
Chapter Two: Food Cooked with Love Tastes Better
Chapter Three: Your House Has Got My Name On It
Chapter Four: I Shall Simply Look Up in the Sky
Chapter Five: I am Your Friend, and I am Asking
Chapter Six: The Things of Which a Mechanic Might Speak
Chapter Seven: The This Way Up Building Company
Chapter Eight: Mma Ramotswe Drives Clovis Andersen to Mochudi, and
Thinks
Chapter Nine: The Government Does Not Own the Air
Chapter Ten: She Was Like a Deflated Balloon
Chapter Eleven: An Innocent Man, a First Offender
Chapter Twelve: The Effect of Lime
Chapter Thirteen: There are Some Nice People on the Road
Chapter Fourteen: Gold Inside, Not Just Outside
Chapter Fifteen: How Many Cups of Tea …
Chapter Sixteen: The Habits of Lions
Chapter Seventeen: Have You Had Any Injections Recently?
Chapter Eighteen: A Lawyer Spills Tea Over His Shirt
Chapter Nineteen: You are a Visitor to Our Country
Chapter Twenty: Better Nails, Better Life
Chapter Twenty-one: Mma Ramotswe, I have a Confession to Make
About the Author
CHAPTER ONE