[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"doc-detail-116359-en":3,"doc-seo-116359-105":29,"detail-sidebar-cat-0-en-105":90},{"code":4,"msg":5,"data":6},0,"success",{"doc_id":7,"user_id":8,"nickname":9,"user_avatar":10,"doc_module":4,"category_id":11,"category_name":12,"doc_title":13,"doc_description":14,"doc_content":15,"file_id":16,"file_url":17,"file_type":18,"file_size":19,"view_count":4,"is_deleted":4,"is_public":11,"is_downloadable":11,"audit_status":11,"page_count":20,"language":21,"language_code":22,"site_id":23,"html_lang":22,"table_of_contents":24,"faqs":25,"seo_title":26,"seo_description":14,"update_tm":27,"read_time":28},116359,4398048950312,"Violet","https://ap-avatar.wpscdn.com/avatar/400002538284de19e3c?_k=1778320343897328908",1,"Story & Novel","In the Time of Five Pumpkins - Alexander McCall Smith","In the Time of Five Pumpkins follows Grace Makutsi, long-time secretary of the No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency, as her insistence on professionalism brings tension and conversation with Mma Ramotswe about the future of their small business. The opening chapter introduces the agency’s modest offices, its local reputation, and the importance of trust, organization, and practical systems like filing. It sets a warm, observant tone where everyday people and routines carry deeper meaning.","B O O KS BY A L EXA N D E R M C CA L L S M IT H  \nI N T H E N O . 1 LA D I E S ’ D ET E CT IV E A G E N CY S E R I E S  \nThe No. 1 Ladies’Detective Agency Tears of the Giraffe  \nMorality for Beautiful Girls The Kalahari Typing School for Men The Full Cupboard of Life In the Company of Cheerful Ladies Blue Shoes and Happiness The Good Husband of Zebra Drive The Miracle at Speedy Motors Tea Time for the Traditionally Built The Double Comfort Safari Club The Saturday Big Tent Wedding Party The Limpopo Academy of Private Detection The Minor Adjustment Beauty Salon The Handsome Man’s De Luxe Café The Woman Who Walked in Sunshine Precious and Grace The House of Unexpected Sisters The Colors ofAll the Cattle To the Land of Long Lost Friends How to Raise an Elephant The Joy and Light Bus Company A Song of Comfortable Chairs From a Far and Lovely Country The Great Hippopotamus Hotel In the Time of Five Pumpkins  \nOT H E R S E R I E S  \nThe 44 Scotland Street Series  \nThe Corduroy Mansions Series  \nThe Detective Varg Series  \nThe Isabel Dalhousie Series The Paul Stuart Series The Perfect Passion Company Series The Professor von Igelfeld Series  \nOT H E R W O R K S  \nThe Girl Who Married a Lion and Other Tales from Africa La’s Orchestra Saves the World Trains and Lovers The Forever Girl  \nEmma: A Modern Retelling Chance Developments  \nThe Good Pilot Peter Woodhouse Pianos and Flowers Tiny Tales In a Time of Distance and Other Poems The Private Life of Spies and The Exquisite Art of Getting Even The Winds from Further West  \n[OceanofPDF.com](OceanofPDF.com)  \n[OceanofPDF.com](OceanofPDF.com)  \nFIRST AMERICAN EDITION  \nPUBLISHED BY PANTHEON BOOKS 2025  \nCopyright © 2025 by Alexander McCall Smith  \nPenguin Random House values and supports copyright. Copyright fuels creativity, encourages diverse voices, promotes free speech, and creates a vibrant culture. Thank you for buying an authorized edition of this book and for complying with copyright laws by not reproducing, scanning, or distributing any part of it in any form without permission. You are supporting writers and allowing Penguin Random House to continue to publish books for every reader. Please note that no part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner for the purpose of training artificial intelligence  \ntechnologies or systems.  \nPublished by Pantheon Books, a division of Penguin Random House LLC, 1745 Broadway, New York, NY 10019. Originally published in hardcover in Great Britain by Abacus, an imprint of Little, Brown Group, a Hachette UK Company, London, in 2025.  \nPantheon Books and the colophon are registered trademarks of Penguin Random House LLC.  \nLibrary of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data  \nLCCN 2025942822 (hardcover)  \nISBN 978-0-593-70178-2 (hardcover)  \nISBN 978-0-593-70179-9 (ebook)  \nEbook ISBN 9780593701799  \n[penguinrandomhouse.com](penguinrandomhouse.com | pantheonbooks.com)[ | ](penguinrandomhouse.com | pantheonbooks.com)[pantheonbooks.com](penguinrandomhouse.com | pantheonbooks.com)  \nCover illustration by Iain McIntosh  \nThe authorized representative in the EU for product safety and compliance is Penguin Random House Ireland, Morrison Chambers, 32 Nassau Street, Dublin D02 YH68, Ireland, [https://eu](https://eu)  \n[contact.penguin.ie](contact.penguin.ie).  \nep_prh_ 7.3a_ 153157671_c0_r0  \n[OceanofPDF.com](OceanofPDF.com)  \nContents  \nDedication  \nChapter One: Termite Man  \nChapter Two: AVery Polite Boy  \nChapter Three: Listen to Your Shoes  \nChapter Four: We Are a Bit Like Ants  \nChapter Five: The Weaker Brethren  \nChapter Six: The Real Business. Big Time.  \nChapter Seven: All Men Seem Handsome  \nChapter Eight: I Am So Fortunate  \nChapter Nine: Big, Big Danger  \nChapter Ten: A Lady Who Had Some Hens  \nChapter Eleven: Government Crocodiles  \nChapter Twelve: Rain, Mma, Rain  \nChapter Thirteen: We Must Love One Another  \nChapter Fourteen: Everybody Likes Looking at Cattle  \nChapter Fifteen: The Smell of Disinfectant  \nChapter Sixteen: People Can","cbCaijzTqNNU1Z1R","https://ap.wps.com/l/cbCaijzTqNNU1Z1R","pdf",2752063,196,"English","en",105,"# Contents\n## Chapter One: Termite Man\n## Chapter Two: A Very Polite Boy\n## Chapter Three: Listen to Your Shoes\n## Chapter Four: We Are a Bit Like Ants\n## Chapter Five: The Weaker Brethren\n## Chapter Six: The Real Business. Big Time.\n## Chapter Seven: All Men Seem Handsome\n## Chapter Eight: I Am So Fortunate\n## Chapter Nine: Big, Big Danger\n## Chapter Ten: A Lady Who Had Some Hens\n## Chapter Eleven: Government Crocodiles\n## Chapter Twelve: Rain, Mma, Rain\n## Chapter Thirteen: We Must Love One Another\n## Chapter Fourteen: Everybody Likes Looking at Cattle\n## Chapter Fifteen: The Smell of Disinfectant\n## Chapter Sixteen: People Can Be Hard on Men\n# About the Author","[{\"question\":\"What is the setting of In the Time of Five Pumpkins?\",\"answer\":\"It centers on the No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency, described through its single-room offices and the local environment in Botswana.\"},{\"question\":\"Who is Grace Makutsi in the story?\",\"answer\":\"Grace Makutsi is the secretary of the agency, and she is portrayed as insistent on professionalism and practical business organization.\"},{\"question\":\"Why does Mma Ramotswe discuss having a secretary?\",\"answer\":\"Mma Ramotswe weighs the need for trust and confidence from clients against the limitations of a small business budget.\"}]","In the Time of Five Pumpkins - Alexander McCall Smith | PDF",1785658514,302,{"code":4,"msg":30,"data":31},"ok",{"site_id":23,"language":22,"slug":32,"title":13,"keywords":33,"description":14,"schema_data":34,"social_meta":85,"head_meta":87,"extra_data":89,"updated_unix":27},"in-the-time-of-five-pumpkins-alexander-mccall-smith","",{"@graph":35,"@context":84},[36,53,67],{"@type":37,"itemListElement":38},"BreadcrumbList",[39,43,47,50],{"item":40,"name":41,"@type":42,"position":11},"https://docshare.wps.com","Home","ListItem",{"item":44,"name":45,"@type":42,"position":46},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/","Document",2,{"item":48,"name":12,"@type":42,"position":49},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/story-novel/",3,{"item":51,"name":13,"@type":42,"position":52},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/in-the-time-of-five-pumpkins-alexander-mccall-smith/116359/",4,{"url":51,"name":13,"@type":54,"author":55,"headline":13,"publisher":57,"fileFormat":60,"inLanguage":22,"description":14,"dateModified":61,"datePublished":61,"encodingFormat":60,"isAccessibleForFree":62,"interactionStatistic":63},"DigitalDocument",{"name":9,"@type":56},"Person",{"url":40,"name":58,"@type":59},"DocShare","Organization","application/pdf","2026-08-02",true,{"@type":64,"interactionType":65,"userInteractionCount":4},"InteractionCounter",{"@type":66},"ViewAction",{"@type":68,"mainEntity":69},"FAQPage",[70,76,80],{"name":71,"@type":72,"acceptedAnswer":73},"What is the setting of In the Time of Five Pumpkins?","Question",{"text":74,"@type":75},"It centers on the No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency, described through its single-room offices and the local environment in Botswana.","Answer",{"name":77,"@type":72,"acceptedAnswer":78},"Who is Grace Makutsi in the story?",{"text":79,"@type":75},"Grace Makutsi is the secretary of the agency, and she is portrayed as insistent on professionalism and practical business organization.",{"name":81,"@type":72,"acceptedAnswer":82},"Why does Mma Ramotswe discuss having a secretary?",{"text":83,"@type":75},"Mma Ramotswe weighs the need for trust and confidence from clients against the limitations of a small business budget.","https://schema.org",{"og:url":51,"og:type":86,"og:title":13,"og:site_name":58,"og:description":14},"article",{"robots":88,"canonical":51},"index,follow",{"doc_id":7,"site_id":23},{"code":4,"msg":5,"data":91},[92,95,99,103,108,113,118,123,128,131,135],{"id":11,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":45,"category_name":12,"show_sort_weight":93,"slug":94},90,"story-novel",{"id":46,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":45,"category_name":96,"show_sort_weight":97,"slug":98},"Literature",80,"literature",{"id":52,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":45,"category_name":100,"show_sort_weight":101,"slug":102},"Exam",70,"exam",{"id":104,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":45,"category_name":105,"show_sort_weight":106,"slug":107},5,"Comic",60,"comic",{"id":109,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":45,"category_name":110,"show_sort_weight":111,"slug":112},6,"Technology",50,"technology",{"id":114,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":45,"category_name":115,"show_sort_weight":116,"slug":117},7,"Healthcare",40,"healthcare",{"id":119,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":45,"category_name":120,"show_sort_weight":121,"slug":122},8,"Research & Report",30,"research-report",{"id":124,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":45,"category_name":125,"show_sort_weight":126,"slug":127},9,"Religion & Spirituality",20,"religion-spirituality",{"id":126,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":45,"category_name":129,"show_sort_weight":126,"slug":130},"World Cup","world-cup",{"id":132,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":45,"category_name":133,"show_sort_weight":132,"slug":134},10,"Lifestyle","lifestyle",{"id":136,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":45,"category_name":137,"show_sort_weight":104,"slug":138},19,"General","general"]