Blue Shoes and Happiness – Alexander McCall Smith

It felt like a while since I'd read any of the Alexander McCall Smith books on my shelf, so I decided to pick up the next in the No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency series in the new year.

Blue Shoes and Happiness follows the similar formula of the others in the series, but after a bit of a break it felt great to catch up with Mma Ramotswe and Mma Makutsi. Mma Makutsi found herself a fiancé in the previous book and this one sees her getting used to being a woman who is going to be married. When Mr Phuti Radiphuti asks her if his wife to be is a feminist he is quite shocked when she proudly says that she is. Poor Mma Makutsi simply didn't realise that a response like that may concern a traditional man.

As always seem to be the case in these books, it doesn't take much for the two ladies of the detective agency to be happy and this time round a pair of (impractical) blue shoes are the answer. To Mma Ramotswe they look like an instrument of torture, but to Mma Makutsi they are something quite special. 

After receiving more comments about her status as a traditionally built Botswana lady Mma Ramotswe also starts to wonder if maybe she is a bit too traditionally built and, much to the shock of those around, her decides to go on a diet. But can Mma Ramotswe really resist the lure of a slide of cake with her cup of bush tea? You'd better read and find out!