This is the twenty-third in the series, and I was apprehensive before jumping in. Maybe this caution was the main reason that my interest flagged in the very beginning. The setup is introduced, and the story takes a while to take off. When I finally got back to the story after a lengthy gap, I restarted the book, and it was like I had never stopped reading the series in the first place.
I would not recommend anyone starting the series at this point. I might lose a few (of the very few who see my reviews) at this point because this review is for those more familiar with the recurring characters and their interpersonal behaviour.
Mma Ramotswe is her usual self, but her friend and coworker Grace seems to be trying for yet another change in their balance at the agency. This story is all about Grace and her husband's issues. Charlie's problems with his teeth are a hilarious diversion that I actively chuckled about.
Starting off as a slow-moving tale (no wonder after so many books!), it suddenly veers into the familiar and comfortable. I enjoyed watching the issues with Violet (obviously, she had to appear) resolve themselves and how Mma Ramotswe talks to herself to figure things out. I was more than pleased with the two ending parts - one on the agency front and the other about the oh-so-comfortable chair.
I would recommend this series to people with patience and willingness to revisit an oft-visited setting. I actually feel interested in the series and might even pick up the next! Whether the author loves the land he writes about or not, it feels that way when reading these books, and it is the main reason I keep coming back to it whenever I get the chance.
I received an ARC thanks to NetGalley and the publishers, but the review is entirely based on my own reading experience.

Thank you Netgalley and the publishers for this ARC for an exchange for an honest review.


Great book, I like it.

As a huge fan of AMS, I thoroughly enjoy his first ladies detective series. They are real love stories to Botswana. You don’t read them for the action or suspense, but the kindness the characters show for each other.

I'm a huge fan of Alexander McCall Smith, but have never read a book from his No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency series. I was lucky enough to receive the latest installment of the series, A Song of Comfortable Chairs, from Netgalley to review! I was worried about starting at the 23rd book in the series, but it was easy to jump right in. This book is filled with the warmth and humour I have come to love in all of Smith's books. I alternated between the audiobook and physical copy, and the audio narrator Lisette Lecat was excellent! Reading an Alexander McCall Smith series is like visiting old friends in a beautiful town every time you pick up a book, and I can't wait to visit Mma Ramotswe in Botswana again!

Thanks to Netgalley, Recorded Books, Penguin Random House Canada and Knopf Canada for the copies to review!

This book was not for me. I contemplated dnf'ing it several times. Normally I'm able to read a book that might be apart of a series, like it and go on to read the rest of the books. That will not happen with this particular story. It was very slow, I felt like there were several stereotypes that were presented, I did not really like most of the characters, and it dragged. For a detective agency, there was a small snippet of them actually doing detective work, This makes me not want to go back to any of the previous stories, and there are no guaranties that if i do, that It will change my mind about this story.

2.5 comfortable stars, rounded up to 3. (Nothing thrilling, no wow, but a relaxed enjoyable read.)

“Tea had remarkable calming properties when administered mid-crisis.”

At 25% through the book I noted – nothing has happened. There were a few conversations, a visit to the grocery store. Slow is normal for The No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency Books, but A Song of Comfortable Chairs brings ‘comfortable formula’ to a new level.

“That was the way things had always been done in Botswana, and as far as Mma Ramotswe was concerned, the way that things had always been done in Botswana was the way they should always be done.” IMO - Fine, if you are starting with this book in the long series, but if you’ve read most of the others, even the gracious reader needs some freshness.

As in the past, McCall doses his books with gentle humor. “It was not a healthy lunch by any stretch of the imagination, but Mma Ramotswe had always believed that the psychological boost given by delicious but unhealthy food went at least some way to compensating for the negative effect of all the carbohydrates and fats and other undesirable ingredients that made such food so tasty.” A subsequent chapter did not advance any sort of plot but simply told a lame story of eating chips and pie.

Tidbits about Botswana culture make these books special. “’I see you.’ It was the oldest and simplest of African greetings: I see you. It implied so much more than it said, though, because it meant that Mma Ramotswe saw not only the person standing before her, but all that lay behind her – who she was, where she came from, how she felt.”

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for providing an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I would say you need to read the first few books in the series to understand what is going on in this book. Alexander McCall Smith writes beautiful, entertaining books and if you like his others you will very much enjoy this series.

3.5 Stars

Thanks ##NetGalley and Knopf Doubleday Publishing (Pantheon) for a complimentary e ARC of #ASongOfComfortableChairs upon my request. All opinions are my own.

A Song of Comfortable Chairs is installment 23 in the No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency series and can be read as a stand alone.

Year after year, fans of the easy reading and “uplit” series eagerly anticipate catching up with the characters and enjoy spending a few lovely hours in Botswana.

The tone of these stories is gracious, warm-hearted, meandering, and philosophical. There is always time for tea with good friends and an abundance of kindness.

This entire series is character-driven with an emphasis on problem solving rather than intense detective work. Some of the books have more substantial plots than others, and there is always a sprinkling of humor. Overall, these are gently written stories and I consider them my annual comfort read.

EXCERPT: Mma Ramotswe sighed. There was so much wrong with the world. There were so many cases of people behaving badly in one way or another, of people doing things that they should not do, and the more we scrutinised what was going on around us, the more we discovered of just this sort of thing. Under every stone, she sometimes thought, there is bound to be a scorpion.

ABOUT 'A SONG OF COMFORTABLE CHAIRS': Grace Makutsi’s husband, Phuti, is in a bind. An international firm is attempting to undercut his prices in the office furniture market. Phuti has always been concerned with quality and comfort, but this new firm seems interested only in profits. To make matters worse, they have a slick new advertising campaign that seems hard to beat. Nonetheless with Mma Ramotswe’s help, Phtui comes up with a campaign that may just do the trick.
Meanwhile, Mma Makutsi is approached by an old friend who has a troubled son. Grace and Phuti agree to lend a hand, but the boy proves difficult to reach, and the situation is more than they can handle on their own. It will require not only all of their patience and dedication, but also the help of Mma Ramotswe and the formidable Mma Potokwani in order to help the child.
Faced with more than her fair share of domestic problems, Mma Makutsi deals with it all with her usual grace. That, along with the kindness, generosity, and good sense that the No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency is known for, assure us that in the end, all these matters will be set right.

MY THOUGHTS: This was not at all what I expected and, to be quite honest, I felt cheated. Does it not say #1 Ladies Detective Agency? There is not much detecting takes place.

Initially I found the characters quite charming, at least while I still surmised that there was going to be a mystery of sorts to be solved. But eventually I became bored by the lack of anything happening. Sorry, but the domestic drama angle just didn't cut the mustard.

I did have a laugh at the lunch debacle.

I love this author's Isabel Dalhousie series and I was looking forward to discovering another wonderful series by him. Instead, I was disappointed by the slow pace, and the repititiousness in the characters. It's odd, but the very things that I love about Isabel Dalhousie just don't work for me here.

⭐⭐.4

#ASongofComfortableChairs #NetGalley

I: @alexandermccallsmith @doubledaybooks

T: @McCallSmith @doubledaybooks

#contemporaryfiction #friendship #domesticdrama

THE AUTHOR: Alexander McCall Smith is professor emeritus of medical law at the University of Edinburgh in Scotland and has served on many national and international bodies concerned with bioethics. He was born in what is now known as Zimbabwe and he was a law professor at the University of Botswana. He lives in Scotland.

DISCLOSURE: Thank you to Knopf Doubleday via Netgalley for providing a digital ARC of A Song of Comfortable Chairs by Alexander McCall Smith for review. All opinions expressed in this review are entirely my own personal opinions.

For an explanation of my rating system please refer to my Goodreads.com profile page or the about page on sandysbookaday.wordpress.com

This review is also published on Twitter, Amazon, Instagram and my webpage

Mma Ramotswe is at it again! This is a fun story of Mma Ramotswe working behind the scenes to solve problems in ways that no one but she can think of. With the help of Mma Makutsi, Mma Potokwani, and Charlie, in this 23rd episode of the No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency, Phuti Radhiphuti’s Double Comfort Furniture Store is saved, and a teenage boy is kept from ruining his mother’s life.

It is always fun to reconnect with Precious Ramotswe and her cast of friends and family to see how they are getting along in Gaborone, Botswana. And again, I was not disappointed!

I’d like to thank NetGalley, Alexander McCall Smith, and Pantheon for the advanced reader's copy in exchange for my unbiased review.

I have loved this series since the very first book. And, despite there being so many volumes, each new one still arrives with an interesting plot filled with charm and humor. Precious Ramotswe and her colleague Grace Makutsi run a detective agency in Botswana, and are constantly busy helping people to solve their problems. In this episode, they are trying to help a woman whose teenage son does not like her new boyfriend, as well as trying to help Grace's husband to keep his business afloat in the face of unfair competition. As always, the story is filled with lots of personal interactions, humorous moments, and heart-warming results. Love, love, love this book! Can't wait for the next one!

Thank you NetGalley and Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group for sending this book for review consideration. All opinions are my own.

Rating 3/5

Maybe because I’m new to this series it was harder for me to get into, but I really just didn’t find the beginning of A Song of Comfortable Chairs to be approachable or paced well enough to continue reading.

I got halfway through before I decided to DNF, but I think it was the lack of perspective I have from the earlier novels. I’m hoping to revisit this again in the future with a fresher perspective.

Thanks to NetGalley, Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group / Pantheon & Alexander McCall Smith for the digital copy in exchange for my honest review.

Unfortunately I really struggled to get into this book. It does have its own unique charm, however I found myself struggling to get through it. I would recommend people try it and like to think they’ll enjoy it more than I did.

Another charming story from Botswana and the Number One Ladies Detective Agency. You can always count on a slow story that always works out in the end!

What is not to love in the adventures of the No.1 Ladies Detective Agency in Botswana. MMA Ramotswe and MMA Makutsi are wonderful characters as are all the regular people in the books. I feel like I know all the characters and look forward to the next one in the series.

Twenty third book in the No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency series! Love the scene that Alexander McCall Smith sets in his books about a few citizens of Botswana. In this story, one of the younger apprentices comes into this own as Mma Ramotswe and Mma Makutsi solve the current mystery. A new book in this series is always welcome here! Thank you to Netgalley for the ARC.

A Song of Comfortable Chairs is the 23rd instalment in Alexander McCall Smith's adored No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency series. This is the second one I've read in the series, and I've been holding back in this collection, thinking that they should all be read in sequence, but that isn't really the case. I've read book one in the author's Isabel Dalhousie series so I'm familiar with Alexander McCall Smith's compelling writing.

An upbeat, easygoing novel set in Botswana, I found the philosophical ponderings and moral dilemmas of the characters appealing to read and very reassuring. Mma Ramotswe and Grace Makutsi are wonderful characters and the story is so entertaining. With the author's gentle humour and evocative writing, this entertaining book left me uplifted and immensely pleased to have read.

A special thank you to Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group, Alexander McCall Smith, NetGalley and Pigeonhole for the opportunity to read. This review is my unbiased opinion.

I've read every book in this series multiple times, and they're all lovely, warm, comforting reads. This one is no exception to that. All the familiar characters, with a few new ones, and Mma Potakwane's excellent cakes and advice. I'm still not sure why the author, over the books, changed Mma Makutsi's character to such an extent, and I'm sure that someone like Phuti Radiphuti who's run a successful business for so many years, would probably be able to come up with better ideas than Mma Ramotswe would, but these are minor quibbles for what's ultimately a delightful story. Perfect return to that world!

McCall Smith always delivers a good story. In this case, the mystery is not as prominent as in other books but the great enjoyment of the characters (even when they are not very likeable) and their interactions is more than enough to make this great entertainment.

Another hit in the Ladies Detective series. I wish I liked Grace better, but sadly find her irritating at times. Otherwise, I enjoyed this one and highly recommend this book, series and author.