Book Recommendations
The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency
By Alexander McCall Smith
Fiction, Mystery & Detective, Women Sleuths, Women, Humorous, General | 256 pages
3 recommendations
NATIONAL BESTSELLER • 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.
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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Jane Irwin
"The No.1 Ladies Detective Agency is set in Botswana in southern Africa. Botswana is an extraordinary country in Africa...it has the magical African scenery that takes your breath away, with mesmerising red gold sunsets like nowhere else in the world. It has the wildife -the elephants in Chobe, the birds on the Okavango, the shy desert creatures. It has the vibrant vibe of busy markets and playing kids and a culture bursting at the seams. But is also has the integrity and steadfast values and goodness of a country where Seretse Khama the first President, led his people into the modern world.
Mma Ramotswe, the No.1 Ladies detective loves Seretse Khama...he (along with her beloved daddy, now sadly late) is mentioned with reverence in every book in the ongoing series, as she seeks to live with the same uprightness he had, in her fight for justice. No murders and violence here, but the sort of complex questions and mysteries that make up life in Africa.
Every time I read one of the many books in the No1 Ladies Detective Agency series, (and I have read them all) I am transported back to that simply wonderful country of Botswana, (where I have been blessed to visit a few times over the years), and I re-live my experience of joy and wonder and awe...I breathe in that African air, I feel the African silence and vibrancy, I see the exploding colours, I hear the rumbles of the bush at night, and I give thanks for the blessing of the Africa that has well and truly got under my skin."
Mma Ramotswe, the No.1 Ladies detective loves Seretse Khama...he (along with her beloved daddy, now sadly late) is mentioned with reverence in every book in the ongoing series, as she seeks to live with the same uprightness he had, in her fight for justice. No murders and violence here, but the sort of complex questions and mysteries that make up life in Africa.
Every time I read one of the many books in the No1 Ladies Detective Agency series, (and I have read them all) I am transported back to that simply wonderful country of Botswana, (where I have been blessed to visit a few times over the years), and I re-live my experience of joy and wonder and awe...I breathe in that African air, I feel the African silence and vibrancy, I see the exploding colours, I hear the rumbles of the bush at night, and I give thanks for the blessing of the Africa that has well and truly got under my skin."
Claire Branfield
"The book is set in Gaborone, Botswana, and really evokes a sense of time and place. The author, Alexander McCall Smith, spent some years living in this city, and his affection and respect for both country and inhabitants shine through the stories. An easy read, easy to pickup and put down, make this book, and the subsequent books in the series, ideal travelling companions. Precious and Grace, the main protagonists at the head of a large cast of characters, begin to feel like our old friends, despite all their faults and character flaws. Gaborone becomes as familiar to us as our our town!"
Michelle Bisang
"A charming series of books that follows Mma Precious Ramotswe on her adventures as a private detective in Botswana. The characters, areas and plots are well described and really take you on a mystery solving journey with the only lady private detective in Botswana. Loved it!"
