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The no 1 Ladies' Detective Agency Review

Precious Ramotswe has had a tough life. Her father has passed away after a long, painful illness. She's survived a disastrous marriage to a ne'er-do-well musician, and miscarried a child. What should she do with the modest legacy her father has left behind?

Start a detective agency, of course.

It's the first detective agency in Botswana run by a woman, and after a little hoopla and media attention, she settles down into the routine of a small businessperson trying to meet the monthly expenses. Who in Botswana is going to want to hire a lady detective, anyhow? Lots of people, it turns out. Precious is a natural detective. She has a sharp eye for detail and a good memory. She listens patiently and sympathetically to people's problems, and the clients begin coming to her, in ones and twos, then more regularly. She handles a variety of small cases-unfaithful husbands, rebellious children, con artists and embezzlers. She gains a reputation as somebody who solves problems.

One day, she encounters a more serious mystery-a missing child may have been murdered, and powerful people are implicated. Memories of her own lost child haunt her, and this case becomes an obsession. She must find the answers, no matter what the cost.

Alexander McCall Smith lives in Scotland, not the sort of fellow you'd expect to pen The No.1 Ladies' Detective Agency, first in a series of detective novels featuring a woman in Botswana, but he was born not far away, in Zimbabwe, and taught law at the University of Botswana. He visits regularly. His affection for Africa and its people comes through loud and clear. This is a story that savors the slow pace of life on the edge of the Kalahari Desert, the summer's relentless heat and broad blue skies.

Precious is a fabulous character. A woman of progressive ideas, and a "traditionally-built African lady," she moves through the male-dominated culture of Botswana with grace and style. She's comfortable in her own skin, proud of her accomplishments, and filled with unquenchable love for her homeland and its people. No obstacle is insurmountable, given a little thought, and patience, and a good cup of bush tea. She obtains guidance from an obscure book on private investigation, and inspiration from Agatha Christie, but she doesn't really need it. Precious has all the intellectual tools a good detective needs, plus the confidence and audacity to stick her nose in where society says it shouldn't be allowed. She gains many admirers along the way, including two very eligible bachelors, but she insists she's through with husbands and wants to focus on her new career.

There are no sensational crimes, intractable puzzles, or drawing-room confrontations in this book. The cases Precious handles might seem rather mundane, but they are of paramount importance to her and her clients. She solves them mostly through persistence, keen observational skills, and old-fashioned common sense, leavened with compassion for both victims and perpetrators. It's a very human story, and I was fascinated by the interactions among the characters. I didn't care so much about the crimes--Precious was going to figure out what happened, no doubt of that--I wanted to find out who she was going to meet along the way, and what they were going to talk about.

Smith has written a very charming story, with an insider's feel for the people and territory of Botswana and its neighbors. Like much of Africa, the story moves at a tranquil pace that allows the reader to savor its images and characters. It's a great book for a sunny summer afternoon.

HBO has produced a television series based on the No.1 Ladies' Detective Agency novels, but I haven't seen it, and I don't really have any plans to. The book's good enough on it's own.

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Customer Reviews

If you want a chilling mystery look somewhere else - J. L. Mills - Portland, OR USA
The reviewers who wrote this off as a series of short stories without much plot missed the point. It was clearly never intended to be "Agatha Christie meets southern Africa." It is instead a lovely, thought-provoking story of a woman and her country, told by unpealing the layers (some humorous, some more weighty) of their lives, and revealing how they have both come through darkness to find quiet, justifiable happiness and dignity.

I expected this to be a lightweight, mindless summer afternoon read. And true, it was a great choice for an idle summer day. But it was not mindless (or painless). The author, having been born in neighboring Zimbabwe, and taught at the University of Botswana, gives us enough glimpses into the history and culture of this little neighbor of South Africa, that I found myself online for the next week seeking more info on this uniquely stable and successful diamond-rich African democracy, wondering how they have managed to sustain peace and wide-spread prosperity surrounded as they are by countries ravaged by greed-driven violence. My sense is that this reaction on my part was not the least of the author's motives in writing this first of his series.

An extremely enjoyable read - W. T. Door - United States
Each mystery encountered by Precious opens a window onto a different aspect of the world she inhabits; it strikes me as a light-hearted version of Carl Mueller's short stories set in Sri Lanka.

THE No. 1 LADIES' DETECTIVE AGENCY - Becker -
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This novel has been on my reading list for a long time, and I was excited to finally have the time to read, The No.1 Ladies Detective Agency. I wanted to like it, however...I didn't, not really. Yes, it was charming enough, in a cute way, but nothing about it grabbed a hold of me, and motivated me to keep reading. It was mostly a series of short stories about Mma Ramotswe, a women living in Africa who owns her own detective agency. Most chapters consisted of a different client with a mystery to solve, and ended with Mma Ramotswe cleverly figuring it all out. None of the chapters relate to each other, and I didn't think the individual cases were at all exciting or interesting. However, I did finish it, and it wasn't horrible, so I'm giving it 2 ½ stars.

Come with me to another place...... - Jeanne Tassotto - Trapped in the Midwest
There are many detective series featuring women sleuths, ranging from gentle Miss Marple and not so gentle Agatha Raisin in the quiet English countryside, Amelia Peabody in Egypt, various others scattered throughout the United States and Canada but this series takes us to a place few stories have taken mystery readers to before - Botswana. Our sleuth/guide is Precious Ramotswe, a woman built to traditional African proportions, who after an unhappy marriage took the money left to her by her father and opened up a detective agency. Her specialities were mostly the small everyday matters that touched the lives of her neighbors, the wandering husband, the rebellious teenager to name a few. What sets this apart from the usual woman detective cozy is that it is set in Botswana, a landlocked nation in southern Africa. Precious is very much an African woman, and not just in her 'traditional build'. Her outlook on life and her approach to solving her cases are also African - she seeks out the truth in her cases but also considers what is in the best interests of all parties involved.

This is very much a cozy series in that the story of Precious' life both past and present is as important as her cases. This is the first book in the series so there was a great amount of time spent on establishing back stories for the main characters. There are quite a few subplots that promise to be dealt with in later books. This has been made into an HBO series, one that diverges slightly in some details from the books.

This is a delightful series of charming stories told in a gentle voice. The stories are G, or at most mild PG stories making this a great choice for cozy fans ranging from young teens to senior citizens while still engaging those in between.

*** Product Information and Prices Stored: Aug 25, 2010 12:33:05

Books Reference

Wednesday, August 25, 2010