The House of Unexpected Sisters

With a lack of active cases Mma Ramotswe and Mma Makutsi are happy to investigate a case brought to them by Mr. Polopetsi. In The House of Unexpected Sisters by Alexander McCall Smith, it seems a woman has been wrongfully dismissed from her job and Mma Ramotswe, always one to believe in fair play, decides to investigate.

When they meet Mma Charity and hear her story, they feel they might be able to help her. Once Mma Makutsi learns Mma Charity is a graduate of the Botswana Secretarial College, she is sure she is innocent. Mma Ramotswe needs more evidence.

Mma Ramotswe decides to visit Mma Charity's mother, Mma Lentswe, in hopes of learning more about her daughter. She learns from Mma Lentswe that Charity can, in fact, be rude sometimes and has a bit of a temper. Saddened by this lack of confidence in her daughter by her mother, Mma Ramotswe feels the story of being dismissed for being rude to a customer, might, in fact, be true. Sorry to have to disappoint Mma Makutsi and Mr. Polopetsi, she plans to return to Gaborone.

Before Precious leaves Mma Lentswe remarks that she has seen a picture of Mma Ramotswe's father and another one of a young woman with the same last name. She rummages through her scrapbooks and finds the photo. It is of a nurse named Mingie Ramotswe who is about a year older than Mma Ramotswe. With this troubling news, Precious is determined to find the nurse with the same last name.

I have always enjoyed this series, but sometimes there is not much going on and it is a bit talky. That's how this book was but as always the story is sweet and the characters are so ethical.

For a review of another book in the series, Precious and Grace, click here.