Di ’E ,' .VE- DRAMA

ALEXANDER MCCALL SMITH The Full Cupboard of Life

l)-';..g';" 9809. 0000

The greatest, most gripping crime fiction has always, at heart, been about something other than a tangle of clues and suspects and an elaborate drawing-room denouement. Wilkie Collins' The Woman in White, for all its justifiable claims to be the first detective story, provides a broad insight into the fears and hypocrisies of Victorian society, while the investigations of Raymond Chandler’s Philip Marlowe took place against the compelling backdrop of a brilliantly fictionalised Los Angeles.

In more recent times, Alexander McCall Smith‘s remarkable No 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency books and the sleuthing of heroine Precious Ramotswe have provided the perfect excuse for a wry, warm portrayal of Botswana’s people and her traditions. The fifth novel in the series opens in characteristically sleepy style, with Mma Ramotswe - still engaged to Mr JLB Matekoni, proprietor of Tlokweng Fload Speedy Motors, and guardian of two youngsters from the Orphan Farm - pouring bush tea for a wealthy client, and carefully pondering her latest professional conundrum. Mma Holonga, the owner of a successful chain of hair braiding salons, is in the market to get married, and has narrowed down her army of suitors

POPUl AR SClt‘NCi

Smith creates another dreamy, didactic table

to a shortlist of four. To Mma Ramotswe‘s delight, her assignment is to track down these men and suss out their motives, honourable or otherwise - the ideal test for her wily intuition.

Of course, the proposed investigation proves to be something of a red herring in The Full Cupboard of Life's overall scheme. Among the many beautifully drawn subplots are Mr JLB Matekoni's dilemma over how to restore the esteem of his profession by confronting the cowboy mechanics at Speedy Motors, and Mma Ramotswe exploiting a young man‘s vanity in order to rescue her fiance from a charity parachute jump. Meanwhile, Assistant Detective Mma Makuti is about to collect the keys to her first two-roomed house. And then, of course, there is the niggling question of Mma Ramotswe's own seemingly interminable engagement . . .

As ever, there’s something of the dreamy, didactic fable about Alexander McCall Smith's tale. The author writes in prose so clear and spare that it is almost invisible with the effect of dropping the reader directly into the dusty heat of his setting. Then, taking the poignant individual anecdotal strands of his story, he unhurriedly teases out an irresistibly broad portrait of an enchanting country and a group of wholly believable characters still proudly embracing tried and tested traditions and coming out on top. (Allan Radcliffe)

' Sill ... ._,' K '.-:.":', ril‘r't unrest) I A Short History of Nearly Everything Wu l} 7 (t' M ' r" . .m lira-x,- t’; (DOUmedar‘ 5‘1299, .... reread tr‘t; :xH ;.a'a(_)'al)" if) lair, gram, .‘.t in: () " ‘alw’: .a’:..r.'mn. At oxer 500 pages; 'e'tg} :"i Hearth}: lllf)I(\/1‘:‘Hi"flfs .r‘e'r‘eya lll17‘1.5)°."t: .It:llllll|0ll cf the 2r: '7' ma, Dr: a (:r arrgarne '! 't.:;..' .es. little off. : ..t " .:, (ilrlifl‘. t .'.~r.i‘.(? a good That the "(‘tev irrrmxr'arnr, aw: 'rtriex

,arr: rs in; Sunltehe.)

A Short History of

.::. eer Not content \.'.<th {:ZJ'tilL.(:llrtg the globe (ghawte'e 'e.eaii‘. an .f3r. neefz tt; k'res.

are target t’nr't we a<:tua

h) h r n ‘00! and j", the >' ‘- "r‘ e" a' 3; Qt ~ . 'l.€' r»?- rC‘” Nearly Everythlng (t J r t . ( iagt up. , .t, x as , .5t,.i . .Bat has east his "re. unmet. iii-emit; in the the t l,:é,as,.rrr h it w ' erttrre urtr.er'se. From the preterts autumn; this. .as; k't:,.-.lef:{;e. before

Be half-blinded by science

102 THE LIST 1:) Jun—3 Jul 2333,

rest of us. keeps IS the facts ~ ar‘: the most interesting; ones at that

that made up the Bag; Bang thug/g" rastyrrg t 1:; leatates; an,

dinosaurs to meciern DNA exrfe'rrrw‘tss. 5.,rrtratrj. A. rria, 'ta 1; for the 1mg;

no Stone has gone ‘..rtt..r't-::;2 hows s:;e"f tr‘ Etrarres. Ann Or at least that's “ton. rt seems as .'."trle the ita'tEL-l'ta'k

Ems." s saal, rt. 3

layfolk, In reality. this hcek beam arse t1: as :37e.€:e"f as r‘ "-5; .ra.e1 (Lamas. he called Saence ft" 32;: v.0rkrng Sirrctl, e". a neetrtC-knas.

has's. He could eaal, haze tamer‘ an.

Still ’l"ilt: Tent t; MN»: ‘aets such as Ne.-.'t:;r‘ stem v::: a "eerile t". "ts; L“.€: just

2: see .'."at yak: t‘aprx—z". and that

Q -- V?‘ 8" ("\r\

number of 5 (16- 'ea;::; mame: Bulb. "e 6C 9" nama" ;}{3"£:: are the same as a but. haung Suffered n 8360 :rxe the t}, s. I‘, wke rite. ,rxj spent ears :lT the

l" t: 5., U"..t: K1,“. ALA,”

books@list.co.uk

Shelf life

Classrc novels revrsrted. Thrs Issue: Paddy Clarke

Ha Ha Ha Published ' .

Whats the story \. .' in: .t"‘\ ‘1. "HM" p 1.} XL.“

‘_a[ ' A: ' "rJ ut‘arl'xl 'r' v "r‘

l\v‘ I In",

lazy {\ H, "H‘ ‘r

".>~tlvrtg)\'i\trrr; tail arts; iirrtl ‘1'“) .ifi'H‘fr‘t‘lt

.rel‘, .t’N'ow-

{taut-"t! "1.1mm, ‘-v :‘

art/.1 flu: tun". Li't'th;!ar‘.t rr:

am: sensu- :rt rt

IUUHII’Q, arr: (gnallerrtrui What the critics said

Carolyn See at ‘.'~./( f;/P//){}T()’I M)

Illa:

5;! saw) Ii)? the

book, “It mat, lit? nne ()l the

great lll(>(l(?lll lr Key moment i tragically funny Paddy. having l hrs parents! ma

ifsl‘. 'rrr‘wlu

wally realm-art

rrtal

(llfllClillltffS. stays .m an nrriirt

eavesxlrop; )rnr;

On their

argument, in the naive belief that such a SilKZl ‘.’l(}ll '.'.’lH

prevent further

upheaval

Postscript Roddy Doyle};

exceptional |llf$|

gltt into the

HUB anri downs; of .‘mvkrnr;

Class farnil; lite

stems from

the fact that. aside from a

couple 0‘ odd Spells;

abroad. the ant

her has iavert

almost his entire life Within three miles; of garnere he

grew up. First line test

'We were

(:0rnrng down our mart. Kevin stopped at a gate arvl

bashed rt mth l lAlIan RiidCllfft'fl

Rtl'illll'

tr“, fater

00“

{Ha Ha Ha