The No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency - Alexander McCall Smith

Precious Ramotswe would like to be the Miss Marple of the African continent. When her father dies, she does as he has asked – as any good daughter would – and sets up a business. Mma Ramotswe's business is not exactly the one her father had imagined, though. Precious sets up the very first ladies' private detective agency in Botswana. Its assets are modest: an office; an old white van; two desks; two chairs; a telephone and an underworked secretary. Unambitious this may seem but the real asset to Mma Ramotswe's detective agency is Mma Ramotswe herself. An ample woman – "Hey fat lady, what are ... more

Faced with a long train journey to London a week or so back, I asked my work colleague to recommend a good book I could take with me: something light, both to carry and in subject! She brought 'The No.1 Ladies Detective Agency' by Alexander McCall Smith to work the following day, along with the second book in the series “Tears of the Giraffe”, knowing I’d probably get through them both on the journey. I’m not a big fan of detective stories as such. I’ve read a few Agatha Christies, and I like Ian Rankin, but that’s about as far as it goes. I shouldn’t have worried. Despite the title, this is ... more

Sometimes you can judge a book by its cover. Browsing through Waterstone´s 3 for 2 offers I was magically drawn to ´The No. 1 Ladies´ Detective Agency´. The colours and the design have an ethno touch, the bush hut in the upper part and the crocodile in the lower part suggest Africa. Why is there an inlay in the beast´s belly containing a wrist watch? Mystery! Then the title; not short, not snappy, indicating maybe a slow-go, old-fashioned thriller. The blurbs on the back mention Botswana, a country which unto now hasn´t been on the world wide map of thrillers. Curiosity! The main character is ... more

I am an avid reader and have a particlar interest in Scottish fiction and work by Edinburgh writers. In recent months, Alexander McCall Smith has received a great deal of critical acclaim for his epsiodic series of books featuring Precious Ramotswe, a female private detective in Botswana. His works - there are currently five in the series - have dominated both the bestsellers list and the bookshop shelves. Whilst in Waterstones at the weekend, I wryly noted that his books are heavily displayed in several sections of the shop. So i thought i would add to the current and excellent reviews of the ... more

I had heard quite a bit about The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency, but had never really been interested in reading it. Then I saw a TV interview with the author Alexander McCall Smith. One thing he said really intrigued me. To paraphrase, he said people had enough worries in their lives, so he wrote books that were generally upbeat and where bad things didn't really happen. This surprised me. As a writer, I have been told many times that you need conflict to make a story or novel work. So I decided to read the book and see what I thought to it. It isn't really a novel I would have chosen ... more