The Full Cupboard of Life   by Alexander McColl Smith

Another episode in the rosy life of Mma Ramotswe. Like all the others it is naive, quaint, quirky, mildly funny, and immerses itself in the tiny nuances of life in Botswana. The series has grown on me like the TV programme Last of the Summer Wine: at first refreshing and funny, then plain silly, then worn and tired like the OAPs who get the most joy out of it. More to the point, this book is boring.

The lady detective is asked to scout out four suitors for a rich lady, to ascertain if they only want her for the money. Two are discretely interviewed, but then it turns out that the whole thing was a waste of time as the woman has already made up her mind. As a backdrop, a pushy friend arranges for the detective to marry her long-standing fiance, who spends most of the book fretting over a parachute jump (which is eventually taken by one of his apprentices) and a quarrel with a local (rival) garage.

Yawn.