Blue Shoes and Happiness & In the Company of Cheerful Ladies By Alexander McCall Smith

It just wouldn't be summer without a new novel by Alexander McCall Smith - a new story about Mma Ramotswe and her friends. The seventh in the series, Blue Shoes and Happiness is out in hardcover and the sixth, In The Company of Cheerful Ladies has just come out in paperback. This series just keeps becoming more and more popular with each new addition. Mma Ramotswe operates the Number 1 Ladies Detective Agency with her assistant Mma Makutsi. These venerable ladies spend their days drinking bush tea for refreshment and solving the problems - big and small - of the townspeople.

They are wise, they are funny, and they are comfortable. Reading these books is like putting on an old pair of flannelette pajamas and spending the day on the couch.

There are always a couple of little problems that need looking after but nothing too serious - except of course to the people being blackmailed or cheated - but it is all looked after very calmly and quietly.

The Company of Cheerful Ladies finds our heroine busier than usual at work and at home she is baffled by the appearance of a pumpkin - and an intruder in her house.

Mma Makutsi takes up dancing lessons and finds herself a boyfriend.

Meanwhile Mma Ramotswe's husband, Mr. JLB Matekoni has his own problems at Tlokwend Road Speedy Motors.

So many problems, but all solved by these clever women before the books' end.

Blue Shoes and Happiness find the ladies quite content in their personal lives.

Things are fairly calm in the home of Mma Ramotswe, but Mma Makutsi makes the mistake of admitting to her fiancé that she is a feminist - and fears she may become single again before she has even had a chance to be married. Mma Ramotswe, always proud of her "traditional build " is forced to think about dieting when faced with difficulty in getting in and out of her little white van.

These novels are skillfully written and conceived, and charmingly told - perfect for a day on the dock in the sun - you can almost imagine you are in Botswana and Mma is telling you about her day.