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The No.1 Ladies' Detective Agency | 
| Author: Alexander Mccall Smith
Publisher: Pantheon
Category: Book
List Price: $21.95
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Avg. Customer Rating:  398 reviews
Sales Rank: 435906
Format: Bargain Price
Media: Hardcover
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 256
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.8
Dimensions (in): 8.2 x 5.7 x 1
Dewey Decimal Number: 823.914
ASIN: B000W0NO5Q
Publication Date: November 1, 2005
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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Amazon.com
Penzler Pick, July 2001: Working in a mystery tradition that will cause genre aficionados to think of such classic sleuths as Melville Davisson Post's Uncle Abner or Robert van Gulik's Judge Dee, Alexander McCall Smith creates an African detective, Precious Ramotswe, who's their full-fledged heir. It's the detective as folk hero, solving crimes through an innate, self-possessed wisdom that, combined with an understanding of human nature, invariably penetrates into the heart of a puzzle. If Miss Marple were fat and jolly and lived in Botswana--and decided to go against any conventional notion of what an unmarried woman should do, spending the money she got from selling her late father's cattle to set up a Ladies' Detective Agency--then you have an idea of how Precious sets herself up as her country's first female detective. Once the clients start showing up on her doorstep, Precious enjoys a pleasingly successful series of cases. But the edge of the Kalahari is not St. Mary Mead, and the sign Precious orders, painted in brilliant colors, is anything but discreet. Pointing in the direction of the small building she had purchased to house her new business, it reads "THE NO. 1 LADIES DETECTIVE AGENCY. FOR ALL CONFIDENTIAL MATTERS AND ENQUIRIES. SATISFACTION GUARANTEED FOR ALL PARTIES. UNDER PERSONAL MANAGEMENT." The solutions she comes up with, whether in the case of the clinic doctor with two quite different personalities (depending on the day of the week), or the man who had joined a Christian sect and seemingly vanished, or the kidnapped boy whose bones may or may not be those in a witch doctor's magic kit, are all sensible, logical, and satisfying. Smith's gently ironic tone is full of good humor towards his lively, intelligent heroine and towards her fellow Africans, who live their lives with dignity and with cautious acceptance of the confusions to which the world submits them. Precious Ramotswe is a remarkable creation, and The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency well deserves the praise it received from London's Times Literary Supplement. I look forward with great eagerness to the upcoming books featuring the memorable Miss Ramotswe, Tears of the Giraffe and Morality for Beautiful Girls, soon to be available in the U.S. --Otto Penzler
Product Description
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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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.
“The Miss Marple of Botswana.”
THE NEW YORK TIMES BOOK REVIEW “The author’s prose has the merits of simplicity, euphony and precision. His descriptions leave one as if standing in the Botswana landscape. This is art that conceals art. I haven’t read anything with such unalloyed pleasure for a long time.”
ANTHONY DANIELS, THE SUNDAY TELEGRAPH “The writing [is] very accessible, yet the prose so beautiful.... I choose books that give me pure joy, whose world I want to stay in for a long time.”
AMY TAN, FOR THE TODAY SHOW BOOK CLUB “General audiences will welcome this little gem of a book just as much if not more than mystery readers.”
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY “Smart and sassy...Precious’s progress is charted in passages that have the power to amuse or shock or touch the heart, sometimes all at once.... Thoroughly engaging and entertaining.”
THE LOS ANGELES TIMES “One of the best, most charming, honest, hilarious and life-affirming books to appear in years.”
THE PLAIN DEALER (CLEVELAND)
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| Customer Reviews: Read 393 more reviews...
 Warm, witty, and wise July 2, 2008
First book in the No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency series.
Precious Ramotswe, in the face of many doubts, starts a detective agency after the death of her father. Her response to these skeptics is, "Haven't you ever heard of Agatha Christie?"
However, the true beauty of this book is not the mystery (though her cases are solved in satisfying ways). What I found most engaging is the glimpse into the culture of Botswana. Precious is a delightful character whose wisdom and humor will keep readers entranced throughout this quiet little book.
Dr. Komoti and the Others June 18, 2008
I get a little kick out of thinking about Mma Ramotswe (a.k.a. Precious) driving all over Botswana and South Africa in her little white van. Whether in pursuit of straying husband, solving the mystery of a doctor with on and off again abilities, tracking down a kidnapped boy, exposing the farce of an elderly "father," or spying on a teenager for her father, Mma Ramotswe is a remarkable lady who knows her stuff. Always a curious child who "watched everybody and everything will her wide, solemn eyes," her bent for detective work was nurtured by a cousin who wanted her to be clever.
In addition to regaling the reader with Mma Ramotswe's investigative experiences, Smith includes a history of the likeable sleuth's earlier life, including a painful early marriage. He also tells the story of Precious's father Obed who worked in the mines, thus letting us know more about the history, culture, and geography of Botswana. A line preceding this section is particularly stirring: "His life was unrecorded; who is there to write down the lives of ordinary people?" Indeed, who?
Although one doesn't ordinarily think of detective work as amusing, Smith has managed to write a delightful novel about an absolutely charming person who feels that she was called to help her brothers and sisters solve the mysteries of their lives. I felt a little sad when I finished it and have already ordered the next in the series. I must know if she marries J.L.B Matekoni and lives happily ever after.
 Not really a mystery... May 18, 2008
Take one heaping cup of African history, culture & lifestyle, add in a half a cup of basic wisdom, philosophy & elementary dialog , then mix it up with a scant eight cup of a little bit of mystery, and you have this novel. I finished it because it was interesting & fairly entertaining., but in no way was it a mystery. Doubt if i'll buy any more of the series.
Mma Ramotswe is Worthy and Wise and An Enjoyable Storyteller May 16, 2008
6 out of 6 found this review helpful
If you find yourself needing a little uplifting relaxation and a fun read, pick up a copy of Alexander McCall Smith's The No.1 Ladies' Detective Agency, the first book in the overwhelmingly series. A perfect break from an overdose of too many noir crime novels!
The story tells how Mma (aka Precious) Ramotswe struggles to get the only detective agency run by a woman in Botswana off the ground. Smith, a native of Zimbabwe, intermixes several story strands, including Mma Ramotswe's back story. She deftly solves mysteries large and small without violence or high-tech equipment. Smith uses the stories to take the reader to a little bit of southern Africa.
A very enjoyable read. Often compared to Agatha Christie with some justification, Mma Ramotswe is a worthy and wise fictional character in her own right. She narrates her own tales with a delightful light and commonsensical tone. Highly recommended.
Pleasant, quick, easy...and quite predictable May 9, 2008
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
I appreciated this story because it was a quick read, easily comprehended, pleasant and entertaining. It was fun to watch Mma Ramotswa reasoning her way through her investigations as a rookie private investigator with no previous sleuthing experience. And given the apparent perceived gender inequalities in Botswana, she navigated the waters of gender prejudice quite well.
However, a couple aspects of the story were difficult for me to get past. My first hang-up was the predictability of her investigations. In most (but not all) of the cases that arrived at her agency, the apparent (and inevitably final) solution to the mystery was fairly clearly obvious before she ever got close to solving it. Most notably, the eventual solutions to the situation of Dr. Patel's daughter's activities, the case of the outstanding/inept doctor at the hospital, and the missing finger at the machine shop were quite obvious as soon as the complainant laid out the case to Mma Ramotswe.
Secondly, there were some unreal aspects to Mma Ramotswe's investigative activity that even a fictional novel could not allow for. For example, the surveillance activity conducted by Mma Ramotswe of her investigative suspects. As a single individual she was able to conduct effective surveillances of her subjects without ever "getting made," and only infrequently did she lose her subject. In real detective work, it can be exceptionally difficult to effectively follow the subject of an investigation with a single vehicle. Such a surveillance technique would typically result in losing the subject in heavy traffic, at stop lights, etc. Following a vehicle in lighter traffic runs the risk of discovery, effectively tipping-off the subject that they're being followed.
Finally, it's quite apparent that McCall-Smith is a big fan of Botswana, but I found the chapters and deviations devoted to Botswanan life, culture, etc, a bit distracting. I found myself wanting to get on through apparent reflections of African life and the author's musings of life in Botswana, to Mma Ramotswe's next life saving adventure.
I realize these are probably minor criticisms and shouldn't detract from the overall pleasantness of the story, but I personally had a hard time getting past them. That said, I would recommend this story if one is in the mood for a quick, simple and not particularly involved or complex group of short mysteries. I would also continue to the next books of the series.
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