The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency (No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency, #1)

by Alexander McCall Smith

Fans around the world adore the bestselling 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 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.

• ISBN10: 1400031346
• ISBN13: 9781400031344
• Publish Date: 3 September 2002 (first published 1 January 2001)
• Publish Status: Out of Stock
• Imprint: Anchor Books
• Format: Paperback (US Trade)
• Pages: 235
• Language: English

Reviews

[wcs53]

This book has probably been on my shelf unread for about 5 years. I had heard lots of good things about it and picked it up along with the next nine books in the series at book sales and used book stores with the intention of slowly working my way through the series.

It was a fairly enjoyable read, with lots of little stories joining together the main story as a whole. In this one we learn a lot about the back story of the main character, Precious Ramotswe, and those who are part of her life. She's a very strong character, with a very sharp mind, and it's hard not to like her as the book progresses. There's a lot of subtle humour in the book as well and I found myself chuckling to myself on a number of occasions.

I'm not sure when I'll get back to the rest of the books in this series, but hopefully I won't leave them for as long as I left this one.

[mbtc]

Interesting stories within the story. Felt it was a little harder to relate to this book, probably because of the cultural aspects. I didn't love this book, but it was a nice read.

[empressbrooke]

Cute, but not really my sort of book. I read it for a book club and won't be reading more in the series.

If you watched the first season on HBO, you've seen all the mysteries that are in this book. Strangely, I liked the show much better than the book.