content: While the characters are mildly engaging, the plotlines in this book are rather uninteresting. I found the solutions to the mysteries glaringly obvious, and I am not one of those people who can routinely figure out whodunit by page 15. Precious Ramotswe is a likable but bungling detective who repeatedly gets found out by the people she is supposed to be trailing (yes, I know it's part of the plot, but it's rather irritating). The novel is just barely worth reading for the pleasant local color, but as far as intelligent mystery fiction goes, I would rather reread any Dorothy Sayers novel--except the execrable _Thrones, Dominations_, completed posthumously by another author--for the umpteenth time, than continue following Mma Ramotswe's career.