The Colors of All the Cattle by Alexander McCall Smith

The Colors of All the Cattle: The New No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency Novel by Alexander McCall Smith --- 228 pages

Heading back to Botswana with Mma Ramotswe and her friends is always a  pleasant change from the stress and upset of modern life. In this latest book, number 19  in a series spanning 20 years, Precious Ramotswe, owner of the No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency, is inveigled into running for a seat on the Gaberone City Council by her good friend Mma Potokwane, the Matron of the local Orphan Farm: Mma Potokwane is not a woman who takes no for an answer, and Mma Ramotswe agrees that someone should stop conniving property developer Gobe Maruti from building the Big Fun Hotel right next to the local cemetery and disturbing the resting place of the late. 

Mma Potokwani is convinced that Mma Ramotswe, with all her detective experience, will be able to stop the developer in his tracks. But Mma Ramotswe is not so sure that she is cut out for a political career, which involves public speaking, and argument, and being constantly in the public eye, but as her friends rally around her she decides to leave it all in God's hands. Her campaign slogan is simple: "I can't promise anything but I shall do my best." And as always, she does.

Another heartfelt and lyrical adventure from master storyteller McCall Smith.

Click HERE to read the * review from Publishers Weekly.

Click HERE to read the review from Kirkus Reviews.

Click HERE to read the review from the New York Journal of Books.

Silken Prey by John Sandford

Silken Prey: A Novel by John Sandford --- 406 pages

In the latest of Sandford's best selling thrillers featuring Lucas Davenport of the Minnesota State Bureau of Criminal Apprehension, Sandford posits the theory that it takes a sociopathic personality to succeed in contemporary politics.

When a right wing Republican Senator is the target of a particularly vicious sex scandal on the eve of a too tight to call election, Lucas Davenport is tasked by the Governor for a quick and quiet investigation.

When Lucas discovers a possible link between the dirt that was planted on the Senator and a minor political operative who's suddenly dropped out of sight, he follows a trail that leads him to the inner circle of the Senator's Democratic opponent.

Fast-paced, tightly plotted, morally ambiguous; Sandford's books are totally addictive. Save this one for the weekend, because you won't put it down until you're done.