Some viewed it positively, termed it "endearing",[1][2] and considered the novel to have its strength in the characters and their love of Africa, rather than the deductions needed to solve the mysteries.

[1][2][3] By contrast, one reviewer considers this novel to show the reasons for the longevity of the series, with its sweet aspects but not omitting the harsh facts of life; "Forgiveness and generosity .

[8] Mr JLB Matekoni and Mma Ramotswe notice that Grace Makutsi is pregnant, and has not mentioned it to her employer.

Mma Ramotswe visits her friend Gwithie, who has also heard Liso say "my mother" when referring to his aunt, opening a new idea.

The dark family secret is that the boy is the result of Edgar sleeping one night with his sister, the reason for her pregnancy.

Mr JLB Matekoni hears from two sources about a university class called How to Be a Modern Husband (Level 1), so he attends the first session.

His wife is coping without Mma Makutsi for the days after the baby arrives, but finds her to be irreplaceable, even with her various odd and annoying habits.

Reviewers find the strength and attraction of the novel in the way the author describes Africa and how the main characters are deeply involved in their culture and love the place where they live.

Publishers Weekly finds the main appeal of this novel to be the "irrepressible characters" and the deep love of Africa.

The review sums up this novel by saying “A little slower-moving and more diffuse than many of the 13 preceding volumes in this celebrated series (The Limpopo Academy of Private Detection, 2012, etc.

), but it’s no more than you’d expect from a heroine whose fleetness has never been as big a draw as her wisdom.”[3] Yvonne Zipp writes that this novel "is a particularly endearing entry in the long-running series, which has lost none of its gentleness or its love for Botswana, of which McCall Smith clearly has fond memories."

She notes the efforts of Mr JLB Matekoni to be a modern husband, going so far as to sit in one session of a class at the university, and Mma Ramotswe's musings on the status of her business, not losing money but not making a profit, as showing her wisdom.

The author "takes his time with the plot, sprinkling in plenty of musings about what makes a good detective and what really constitutes “profit.”"[2] In a thoughtful review, Clea Simon suggests that this novel shows the reason for the "longevity" of The No.

1 Ladies' Detective Agency series: "Forgiveness and generosity, she [Mma Ramotswe] ultimately concludes, are the answer to most of life’s ills.

[4] A "pervasive melancholy", as Mma Ramotswe reviews her long association with her assistant and thinks about her own lost baby and her first painful marriage, is balanced by the description of her "practice of “Optimistic Accounting,” in which blessings are often tallied.

[5] Muriel Dobbin found that the author "indulges in several delightful plot twists in his latest portrayal of life" in the small African nation of Botswana.

[6] Then he tries to make a meal at home, where "In a hilarious scene, Mma Ramotswe has to explain to her perplexed husband that his favorite mashed potatoes must be cooked first."