The “No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency” series has been going strong since the first release in 1998. Its popular and prolific author, Alexander McCall Smith, is back with another new addition to the series that made him a household name. The 26th book, “In the Time of Five Pumpkins,” is out—just in time for pumpkin season.
Precious Ramotswe and Grace Makutsi are the unlikely ladies who head the series. With Ramotswe’s common-sense logic and Makutsi’s more assertive line of thinking, the No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency has become Botswana’s go-to for help in solving tough cases.
The Client (or Clients)
It is a quiet day at the No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency office when an oddly dressed, middle-aged man enters its doors. Mr. Excellence Modise has a personal predicament, for which he enlists the help of Botswana’s popular detective duo. The mystery: why his wife is treating him coldly. Before proceeding with his case, Ramotswe reminds him that they are not marriage counselors. But, he asserts: She probably has taken on a lover. And with that, Ramotswe slides back in with her detective hat, as, unfortunately, “unfaithfulness is the bread and butter of [their] profession.”
Now, while Ramotswe is one who gets along and likes most people, Modise just rubs her the wrong way. Nevertheless, a case is a case, and Ramotswe agrees to take it on. However, she becomes truly stumped when the wife that she is supposed to be investigating also approaches her to investigate Modise’s own alleged affair. Since there are no other agencies she can refer Mma Modise to, she’s stuck in these intriguing cases, causing a conflict of interest.
To complicate things further, Mr. J.L.B. Matekoni, Ramotswe’s husband, has found himself a new business contact who suddenly wants to be buddies with him. Out of character for the laidback old-school mechanic, he agrees to be elected by his new friend to be a member of a powerful government board. When two weird encounters with a crocodile and a poisonous puff adder take place while the two men are together, his wife, Makutsi, and the young part-time assistant detective, Charlie, launch themselves into their own side investigation.
Beloved Characters
Readers who have followed the series will love how the main characters (Mma Ramotswe and Mma Makutsi) continue to hold the fort in their small, one-room office, solving crimes and mysteries without any fancy equipment or fancy degrees (Makutsi went to secretary school, and Ramotswe never went to college). After all, one needs to just heed the good advice of Obed Ramotswe (father of the sleuthing Ramotswe), when he said: “You could learn most things … by simply keeping your eyes open and listening.” More often than not, many problems can be solved if someone would just listen—something these two ladies do quite well. And, perhaps, that is why the slew of clients who walk through the detective agency’s office (hence the 26th book in the series) never seem to stop.
Readers who have never followed the series need not start from the first book and work their way through 20-something books to get to this one. McCall Smith leads off with a very brief but sufficient background of the two characters, a glimpse into their different personalities, and how they ended up running a detective agency.
Ramotswe is a steady figure in the series with her calm demeanor and rational thinking. With her loyal co-detective Makutsi, her husband Matekoni—who runs a car repair shop right next door to the detective agency—as well as good friend Mma Potokwani, who runs an orphanage, Ramotswe has plenty of sounding boards. This makes for a dialogue-rich, rather than a fast-paced action, story for those who want to pause and think things through.
I had taken a hiatus from the series, but after reading the first few lines of “In the Time of Five Pumpkins,” it was like sliding right in where I last left off. Being surrounded by the familiar characters and their spoken thoughts is like being reacquainted with old friends and picking up from the last conversation.
Ramotswe’s ponderings often lead to a wealth of witticisms and words of wisdom. These are gleaned from the diverse range of topics that crop up in her conversations with other characters. Whether it’s on the sanctity of marriage or old-school car motors or on modern furniture and livestock, the simple conclusions arrived at may make readers nod their heads in agreement (“Ah! Why didn’t I think of that before?”).
The African Landscape
Readers will be transported to the town of Gaborone, where the agency’s office is located. The town is a blend of the old and the new. Concrete office buildings and fancy hotels with “dusty paths through the bush” are set against the backdrop of an often cloudless sky during the day and the beauty of “flaming sunsets” as it gets dark. A lone tree sits in a concrete parking lot, providing the coveted shade against the heat of the Botswana sun.
The honorific “Mma” attached to their names (“Rra” is the same term of respect for men in the Botswana language) and their success in setting up their own business reflect the dynamic of straddling tradition and modern endeavors in this African locale. In an age of smartphones and the internet, the ladies use their wits and good sense (as well as advice given from the “grandmothers’ stories” of old) to solve cases, making the series—and these two beloved characters—endearing, hopefully, for many more books to come.
“In the Time of Five Pumpkins” is the perfect cozy read this fall, paired with your favorite cup of tea—redbush tea, if you have any handy—or a bowl of warm squash soup.
‘In the Time of Five Pumpkins’
By Alexander McCall Smith
Pantheon: Sept. 30, 2025
Hardcover, 224 pages
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