The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency

I loved escaping to Botswana with Mma Ramotswe and sharing the mysteries she solves with the help of her friends.
It's a gentle and cosy read but it does have a surprisingly cutting edge. The love for her country and fellow citizens shines through (and I learnt a lot about Botswana because the author made me want to find out more) but there is a dark side too.
I can't wait to read more in this delightful series.

I have heard so much about this book, but had no idea what to expect.  I thought it would be a story that had nothing to do with the picture on the cover (as seems to be the trend lately) but it is actually a collection of small stories surrounding a woman who opened a detective agency in Africa.   The smaller stories are connected but can stand alone, and work together to give a picture of her life and the lives of the people around her.  Halfway through the stories shift to the people involved in the cases she is solving.  Some of it is told from her POV, some is not.  It's a neat approach, but I don't know if I enjoyed it well enough to read more of the same series.  I'll take a break from it and see.

No 106 in my World Reading Quest - Botswana.

Botswana:

A landlocked country in the centre of Southern Africa, Botswana is bordered by Namibia, Zambia, Zimbabwe and South Africa. Although most of the country is covered by deep Kalahari sand, there are rocky hills to the south-east. A large inland river delta in the north-west has a rich variety of wildlife.

This book takes place in Gaborone, the capital. Its people are known as Batswana. Before its independence in 1966, Botswana was a British protectorate known as Bechuanaland.

The main character is Mma Precious Ramotswe—the only lady private detective in Botswana. "A good woman in a good country, one might say." She is good hearted and intelligent; logical in her thinking and deductions.

I would describe McCall's writing style as 'quaint'. Endearing too. Mma Ramotswe is described as a 'good fat woman'. Not every heroine has to be svelte to be successful!!

The book includes 22 chapters. The first 5 chapters describe the first years of Precious' life. Starting in Chapter 6, the reader is treated to descriptions of her cases. They all read clearly, are entertaining and end in a decisive way.

I really liked this book and will read more!!

5 stars

Covid, and the medication I used, had some weird aspects on my brain. It led to my first day of not reading after a 300-day streak. It also left my concentration all over the place. I had days of amazing reading, and days of almost no ability to concentrate. An LT friend left me a note that simply said, "find yourself an old favourite book, or a light and easy one". I took this to heart. I looked around in my isolation room, our guest room, and found this book on the shelf. (It was my daughter's, a book I helped her pick-out when she was looking for mysteries. I had rescued it from her discard pile earlier this summer. She told me she had started it at one time.)

Well, it's actually kind of slow, dwelling on setting, and so my initial response was mixed. I liked it, but it was still difficult for my mindset. But I found I kept coming back to it whenever everything else seemed too difficult. And it provided an enjoyable escape every time. So success. It‘s a nice book, thoughtful in its sort of simple-life wisdom. I‘m not sure I‘ll pursue more books from the series, but I‘m glad I met Mma Ramotswe and read this one.

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38. The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency by Alexander McCall Smith
published: 1998
format: 235-page paperback (49th printing of a 2002 edition)
acquired: 2017 read: Aug 6-21 time reading: 5:01, 1.3 mpp
rating: 4
genre/style: Mystery theme: none
locations: Batswana
about the author: born in 1948 in Bulawayo in the British colony of Southern Rhodesia (present-day Zimbabwe). Helped co-found the law school and teach law at the University of Botswana in the 1980’s and 1990’s.

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

Mma Ramotswe sits in her office, the Number 1 Ladies Detective Agency. She has a secretary, and she has clients. She is in Gaborone the capital of Botswana, a place of which she is proud. She is the only child of Obed Ramotswe, a man who worked long years in the mines in South Africa, until one day he witnessed a crime, and knew he had to leave the mines.

He had married a year or two earlier, and their daughter was born in Mochudi. He was wise with the money he earned in the mines, using it to buy cattle and slowly grow his herd, watched by a cousin while he was in the mines.

Not long after he returned, his wife died. A cousin, left by her husband because she was barren, came to help him raise his daughter Precious.

The cousin taught her well, caring for her until a second man asked her to marry him, when Precious is about 10 years old. Precious continues at school until she is 16.

Her father wants her to pursue more education, but she wants to stop school and does. She itches to see new places. She lives with her cousin and cousin's husband. He has a business running buses, and is doing well. She takes a job in the firm, and uncovers thievery by another employee, defrauding the company.

Each weekend she takes a bus home to Mochudi to see her father. On one bus trip she meets a boy, a musician named Note Mokote.

Soon he proposes marriage to her, going to her father for his permission. Precious is already pregnant at the marriage, but Note is not pleased at being a father. He beats his wife as part of his lovemaking, for any reason. Once she must see a doctor for treatment after a beating.

On return home, he has left her. Her child lives only for five days. She heads back to Mochudi to be with her father until he dies from the lung disease he got in the mines, just after she is 34. Her father's herd is large, and the price was good.

She sells some of the good herd of cattle to set up her office in Gaborone and buy a house there. The house is on Zebra Drive. The office is well-located. She hires Mma Makutsi from the Secretarial College and the first client appears directly. ...

عنوانها: «اول‍ی‍ن‌ آژان‍س‌ ک‍ارآگ‍اه‍ی‌ زن‍ان»‌؛ «دفتر کارآگاهی شماره یک بانوان»؛ «‫دفتر شماره‌ ی یک کارآگاهی بانوان»؛ نویسنده: ال‍ک‍س‍ان‍در م‍ک‌‌ک‍ال‌‌ اسم‍ی‍ت‌؛ تاریخ نخستین خوانش: روز شانزدهم ماه اکتبر سال 2004میلادی

عنوان: اول‍ی‍ن‌ آژان‍س‌ ک‍ارآگ‍اه‍ی‌ زن‍ان‌؛ نویسنده: ال‍ک‍س‍ان‍در م‍ک‌‌ک‍ال‌‌ اسم‍ی‍ت‌؛ مت‍رج‍م گ‍ودرز ج‍وادی‌زاده‌؛ ت‍ه‍ران ج‍ی‍ح‍ون‌، ک‍ت‍اب‌‌س‍رای‌ ن‍ی‍ک‌‏‫، 1383؛ در 255ص؛ شابک 9789648664386؛ موضوع داستانهای پلیسی از نویسندگان زیمباوه تبار بریتانیایی - سده 20م

عنوان: دفتر کارآگاهی شماره یک بانوان؛ نویسنده: الکساندر مک‌کال‌ اسمیت؛ مترجم: میرعلی غروی؛ تهران کتاب هرمس‏‫، 1388؛ در 256ص؛ شابک 9789643634964؛

عنوان: ‏‫دفتر شماره‌ ی یک کارآگاهی بانوان؛ نویسنده: الکساندر مک‌کال‌ اسمیت؛ مترجم: طاهره بهادران؛ تهران نشر قطره‏‫، ‌1390؛ در 286ص؛ شابک 9786001193569؛‬

فهرست مطالب: فصل اول: پدر؛ فصل دوم: تمام سال‌های گذشته؛ فصل سوم: درس‌هایی دربارۀ پسران و بزها؛ فصل چهارم: زندگی با برادرزاده و شوهرش؛ فصل پنجم: برای باز کردن آژانس کاراگاهی به چه چیزهایی نیاز است؟؛ فصل ششم: پسر بچه؛ فصل هفتم: خانم مکوتسی نامه را دریافت می‌کند؛ فصل هشتم: گفتگویی با آقای جی.ال بی متکونی؛ فصل نهم: دوست پسر؛ فصل دهم: خانم رموتسوی درحالیکه به سمت فرنسیس‌تون می‌راند به سرزمینش فکر می‌کند؛ فصل یازدهم: جرم ماشین بزرگ؛ فصل دوازدهم: خانۀ خانم رموتسوی در اتوبان زبرا؛ فصل سیزدهم: چرا با من عروسی نمی‌کنی؟ فصل چهاردهم: مرد جذاب؛ فصل پانزدهم: کشف آقای جی.ال.بی متکونی؛ فصل شانزدهم: بریده شدن انگشتان و مارها؛ فصل هفدهم: سومین استخوان کف دست؛ فصل هجدهم: دروغ‌های بسیار؛ فصل نوزدهم: آقای چارلی گاتسو؛ فصل بیستم: مسئله پزشکی؛ فصل بیست و یکم: همسر جادوگر؛ فصل بیست و دوم: آقای جی.ال.بی متکونی؛

خانم «پرشس رموتسوی» زنی باهوش و جذاب هستند، که در دامنه ی کوه «کگله»، در «آفریقا»، با فروختن گله ی گاو میراث برجای مانده از پدرشان، یک دفتر کارآگاهی باز کرده‌ اند، کل دارایی ایشان یک کامیون کوچک سفید رنگ، دو میز، دو صندلی، یک تلفن، و یک ماشین تحریر قدیمی است، و البته یک قوری که با آن چای دم می‌کند و سه لیوان، یکی برای خودش، یکی برای منشی، و دیگری برای مشتری؛

خانم «رموتسوی»، تنها کارآگاه زن منطقه است؛ او یک زن خوب، و یک کارآگاه است، و کشورش را هم با تمام مشکلاتش، دوست میدارد؛ او پس از تاسیس دفترش، مشتریان بسیاری داشته؛ پس از یک شروع سریع، او با خوشحالی متوجه شد، که خدماتش متقاضیان بسیاری دارد؛ او درباره ی شوهران گمشده، ارزش شریک‌های تجاری، و کلاهبرداری شرکاء، مشورت می‌دهد؛

در بیشتر موارد، ایشان اطلاعاتی برای مشتریانش پیدا می‌کند، و در مواردی که هیچ اطلاعاتی نتواند پیدا کند، از دستمزد خویش چشم ‌پوشی می‌نماید، و به این ترتیب، همگی کسانیکه از ایشان مشورت میگیرند، راضی بوده اند؛ ایشان کفهمیده که مردمان «بوتسوانا»، دوست دارند، حرف بزنند، و این موضوع که او یک کاراگاه خصوصی است، باعث می‌شود که داده های گوناگونی به سویش سرازیر شود؛ در میان پرونده‌ های گوناگونی که خانم «رموتسوی» دارند، پرونده‌ ای بیش از همه، نظر او را به خود جلب می‌کند، و او را به خطر می‌اندازد، پرونده‌ ی گم شدن پسر یازده ساله‌ ای که ممکن است، به‌ دست طبیبانی جادوگر دزدیده شده‌ باشد

تاریخ بهنگام رسانی 17/07/1399هجری خورشیدی؛ ا. شربیانی

The start of this book was a little rocky for me. It starts with a mystery, then we're thrown back into Precious Ramotswe's backstory all the way back to childhood. And we have several chapters of that before we actually get back into the story.

That said, I ended up really enjoying this. Yes, each of the chapters seems more or less like a standalone case, but the way everything was woven together in the end was delightful. Definitely looking forward to seeing how this series progresses!

I should have paid more attention to the reviewer who said that this is not a mystery. It's not. And that's what I was after. This is a collection of tales about people and their problems. The main character solves their problems in unconventional ways, and so maintains a private detective agency.

It is told in simplistic language, distancing me from the stories, which are rambling and random. There is little cohesion to the plot. It's a more realistic ebb and flow of lives that cross each other once and probably won't again. There are some sad, heartwarming, and amusing stories, but I felt like I was listening to an old man recounting tales that mean more to him than to me.

So for me, this was just ok. Several times it peaked into slightly interesting, but mostly not. I don't intend to read more of the series, and now I'm going to go find myself a real mystery, which is what I wanted in the first place.

Precious Ramotswe sets up a detective agency in the African country of Botswana, and in come the customers, all with a difficult problem for her to solve.

Simple as a children's story, but full of old wisdom.

Recommended.