In this seventh installment in the internationally bestselling, universally beloved series, there is considerable excitement at the shared premises of the No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency and Tlokweng Road Speedy Motors.

cobra has been found in Precious Ramotswe's office. Then a nurse from a local medical clinic reveals to Mma Ramotswe that faulty blood-pressure readings are being recorded there. And it looks as though Aunty Emang, the advice columnist in the local newspaper, may not be what she seems.

It all means a lot of work for Mma Ramotswe and her inestimable assistant, Grace Makutsi, and they are, of course, up to the challenge. But there's trouble brewing in Mma Makutsi's own life. Her greedy uncles are demanding an extra-large bride price from her well-to-do fiancé, a man of substance, Phuti Radiphuti, and though money may buy her that fashionably narrow (and uncomfortable) pair of blue shoes, it won't buy her the happiness that Mma Ramotswe promises her she'll find in simpler things — in contentment with the world and enough tea to smooth over the occasional bumps in the road.

"Readers will find happiness and remember it too, long after closing Blue Shoes." USA Today

"Enchanting." The New York Times Book Review

This newest entry in the No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency series continues the adventures of Precious Ramotswe, Botswana's leading, and only, female private detective.

From universally beloved author Alexander McCall Smith, comes this seventh installment in the bestselling No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency series featuring Botswana’s best-loved detective.

Life is good for Mma Ramotswe as she sets out with her usual resolve to solve people’s problems, heal their misfortunes, and untangle the mysteries that make life interesting. And life is never dull on Tlokweng Road. A new and rather too brusque advice columnist is appearing in the local paper. Then, a cobra is found in the offices of the No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency. Recently, the Mokolodi Game Preserve manager feels an infectious fear spreading among his workers, and a local doctor may be falsifying blood pressure readings. To further complicate matters, Grace Makutsi may have scared off her own fiancé. Mma Ramotswe, however, is always up to the challenge. And Blue Shoes and Happiness will not fail to entertain Alexander McCall Smith’s oldest fans and newest converts with its great wit, charm, and great good will.

Alexander McCall Smith has written more than fifty books, but he is best known as the author of the internationally acclaimed series, The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency, of which Blue Shoes and Happiness is the seventh volume. He has also written the Isabel Dalhousie series, the Portuguese Irregular Verbs series, the 44 Scotland Street series, as well as children's books. He was born in Zimbabwe, then called Southern Rhodesia, and educated there and in Scotland. He returned to Africa to help set up the new law school at the University of Botswana. He was also a Professor of Medical Law at Edinburgh University. He lives in Scotland.