THE NO. 1 LADIES’ DETECTIVE AGENCY – Book 1Fans around the world adore the best-selling No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency series and its proprietor, Precious Ramotswe, Botswana’s premier lady detective. In this charming series, Mma Ramotswe—with help from her loyal associate, Grace Makutsi—navigates her cases and her personal life with wisdom, good humor, and the occasional cup of tea.This first … of tea.
This first novel in Alexander McCall Smith’s widely acclaimed The No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency series tells the story of the delightfully cunning and enormously engaging Precious Ramotswe, who is drawn to her profession to “help people with problems in their lives.” Immediately upon setting up shop in a small storefront in Gaborone, she is hired to track down a missing husband, uncover a con man, and follow a wayward daughter. But the case that tugs at her heart, and lands her in danger, is a missing eleven-year-old boy, who may have been snatched by witchdoctors.
The No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency received two Booker Judges’ Special Recommendations and was voted one of the International Books of the Year and the Millennium by the Times Literary Supplement.
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I bought The No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency at a book store shortly after it was released in the USA. The title and cover grabbed my interest. I love mysteries set in distant and unfamiliar locations. McCall Smith’s characters become our best friends and neighbors.
I am a big fan of this series. I enjoy the characters and feel they are well-developed. This novel gives a glimpse into a culture I am unlikely to experience first hand but would love to because of these books.
The stories are fun to read, very entertaining, and original. Alexander McCall Smith is a wonderful story teller. The reader will feel good about these stories.
McCall captures a different culture but still makes the characters seem familiar and easy to live with.
My definition of a 5-star book is one that I want to begin again immediately after reading the last page. This delightful novel is about a woman who refuses to give up her dreams. Though raised in a patriarchal society, her father gives her courage to pursue her dreams. The is smart and canny and these add up to success when she opens her very own detective agency.
A great author, but why can he write so well for women I’ll never know!
my favorite series. Each builds upon the previous books. Have become old friends.
I enjoyed this book a lot with these characters. I have visited Botswana and could picture the scenery as I read.
Read the series! Excellent and uplifting.
Simple but effective writing of a gentler time and a different world.
Has a great meter. Very relaxing
The beginning of a wonderful series. Don’t miss it!
This book is one of my all-time favorites. It shows the Africa of real people and small towns. Too often the focus on Africa is on monumental problems. And yes those problems should be addressed but to get a sense of the life of good common people in this region is the gift of this book.
Mysteries with civility, kindness and respect.
I love this entire series. I have read most of them. The book offers a perspective on a world unknown to me. The dialogue between the people runs true to me. No aliens/murders/hot sex. Just lovely people.
Absolutely love this series.
This is a wonderful book which begins a warm and enjoyable series, now up to 17 books. The characters are endearing, and the descriptions of life in Botswanaland are wonderful.
The author has several other ongoing series; I do not think he ever sleeps! I recommend all of his books!
I read this book a few years ago and loved it. I’ve also read the other books in this series and would recommend it.
After you read this book – the first in a series – you will want to read the next book and then the next. Wonderful characters and good mysteries to solve.
A sort of whimsical study of what an old-timey African detective agency would be like. Loved the characters and found myself smiling as I read.