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.
more
Love this series!
Really enjoyed the characters. They are not your usual detectives.
Really great series. I loved every book. In fact, I love most of everything that Alexander McCall Smith writes. I love his careful descriptions of the cattle and the rain.
I found myself really believing in these characters and enjoying the cultural differences. The mysteries are not incredibly complicated but the #1 Detective Agency solves them without sophisticated forensic tools or extensive manpower. Great beach reading with the twist of sound advice for life.
I loved the book. Precious Is a character that connects the reader
All of the No. 1 Detective Series books are wonderful. They are like a warm blanket on a cold night. The characters are interesting and often funny, and the mental picture of Botswana and its people is heartwarming.
This is truly a wonderful series. The characters are delightful in their simplistic life in Botswana. Oh what a life!
very “cute” predictable, boring characters
I feel in love with this series and enjoyed the HBO version as well. It has a formulaic pattern but I fell in love with the characters.
Perfect
I love this book serie. Very different from the usual read. There is good character development and I find myself caring about each character throughout the series. The events that occure are unique and are resolved, sometimes, in a comical way. Totally enjoyed this book.
This is the book that launched the No. 1 Ladies’ Detective series. Fall in love with the charming characters and then watch the HBO series.
Absolutely one of my favorite book series! Set in Botswana, Africa which is now my number one place to visit on my bucket list thanks to this book.
A real fun read!
I have read all of the Number 1 Ladies Detective series and enjoy AMS books
Love these books. After reading the first one, I continued the series. Character driven and light reading.
I absolutely loved this book. I have read through the fifth secquel and I intend to read all of them.
Loved the main character enough to read sequels. Heard Alexander McCall Smith speak. He was delightful.
MMa Precious Ramotswe is quite a character. When she uses the windfall from the sale of her father’s abundant cattle, she decides to start her own business. It seems unlikely that this will be a productive enterprise since she does not have detective experience, but the exposition of the characters shows the experiences that provide her with the things she will need in her new role, as well as a guide for investigative techniques that she consults in her cases. The cases that she starts with are lightweight, mainly following wayward spouses or looking in on the affairs of a daughter of an over-protective parent, but when a young child disappears, complications are introduced that will require more from a relatively inexperienced detective than she has been required to do in the lighter cases. The story tells of an unlikely character building the confidence and techniques that she needs to crack cases, but also gives a look into the Continent of Africa, especially two of the countries that are included in the narrative, and the culture in which the stories occur. The story exposes the expectation of women in the society. Precious has to work against the expectations of women being valued as wives and mothers in the society to build a business. The effect was a well-crafted story with a variety of characters that are not only entertaining but enlightening to the culture and times where the story takes place.
So fun to read. I plan on reading the whole delightful series!