This is the first in series of mysteries that take place in Botswana. It's good to start with volume one because you learn about Mma Ramotswe's father and how she came to set up her agency. (Her father's mining career was a particularly interesting chapter.)

You learn about life in Botswana through what might be garden variety detective cases. Botswana, like places everywhere has worried parents, suspicious spouses, and employers who sometimes need a detective. In addition, Botswana also has crocodiles and witch doctors.

It was an enjoyable read. The books in the series have interesting titles. I will try one that appears to focus on one case.

Set in Gaborone, Botswana, this is the first book in a series that introduces private investigator Precious Ramotswe. She uses her inheritance from her father to buy a house and setup a detective agency. Precious is a great character. She’s smart and likeable and it is easy to root for her to succeed. She is up against traditions and a patriarchal society. The plot entails several clients asking Ramotswe for help. Some are small jobs, easily solved, and others are more complex. One longer thread of the story involves a missing person, a witch doctor, and a wealthy businessman. It was a quick, fun read, and a nice break from some of the heavier books I have been reading lately.

I read this years ago but why not share this little memory with you...

Perfect beginning to a cozy series.

The question is, do the continuing books in the series still hold their own?

I listened to this book on CD! The woman reading it is awesome! And the African Music in the background sets the scene perfectly! This is the perfect, lighthearted book to listen to in the car. I drove around daydreaming that I was driving through the Kalihari! Loved it!

2004 review: Not sure what McCall Smith's series did to pee me off so much back when I first read it in 2004, but I gave it and its subsequent volumes a measly Two Stars, but that's what I did. Looking back on this series I found it enlightening and interesting getting into the nitty gritty of Botswana life and the trials and tribulations of a woman trying to set up and run her own detective agency. The only thing I can think of is that the background/setting was pretty good but the actual detective cases lacked imagination? 4 out of 12.

I have not read very many books set in Africa or featuring African culture. In fact, I can only think of one other one off the top of my head, and I didn't care for it much. But both of them were similar in that they both told their story by way of mini-stories, and each one of those has something of a moral or message.

I've read so little in this niche that I don't know if that's something that is common in Africa-based storytelling, or if it just happens to be coincidental, but I can say for certain that I liked it much better in this book than in that other one. For one, they really were more like chapters that each detailed their own very focused content, rather than a collection of stories that were only related by characters. Here, the stories did progress the overall plot, and showed us who Mma Ramotswe is, and who the people she knows are, and where she's from, and how she grew up, etc. It does this by kind of jumping all over the place, both in time and in narrative tense, as well as sometimes shifting perspectives. To be honest, I didn't mind that so much, but I could see how it could throw someone off if they are looking for a kind of straightforward cozy mystery.

It is that, but it also isn't. There's not really much mystery here, and the plot is pretty weak. But I don't think that this is a story (or series) that one reads for the plot. It's one of those books that you read for the journey, not the destination. The fact that this book was touted as being "charming, honest, hilarious, and life-affirming" is admittedly one of the reasons I picked it up right now, having just read some really horrific stuff recently. But, I'm not the type who really enjoys that kind of thing. I don't really seek out charming stories full of hope and happiness. It usually just bores me. And unfortunately, this book didn't do much for me in that regard.

I was only mildly interested for most of it. I was most interested in the story of the boy who was kidnapped, and that was barely present at all in the book. I was one of those people who came to this story thinking that it really was a mystery - as well charming and funny, etc. So that was a bit disappointing... But mainly it was disappointing not because it wasn't resolved, but because everything was resolved so incredibly easily. There wasn't a single case that Mma Ramotswe didn't solve almost immediately, after having all the luck go her way and nary a snag or difficult person to impede her. She would just think for a bit, come up with her solution, give it a try, and then it was done. Presto! If there was a culprit, as soon as she accused, he'd fold and take full responsibility.

It was just... unrealistic. People are shitty. They don't just say "Oh well, you guessed correctly! I guess I have to own up and admit my crimes and take my punishment!" Life doesn't work like that. Furthermore, while the kidnapper may have been discovered, they certainly weren't dealt with or stopped. In fact, most of the people just got a stern look and a "don't do it again!" from Mma Ramotswe, and then just got to go on their merry way.

Speaking of Mma Ramotswe, she was a very inconsistent character for me. We're told how smart she is - honors at school, a great artist, intuitive and perceptive and patient. All leading up to me thinking that she's perfect in every way, even down to her being the perfectly plump traditionally large African woman (not a twig like they show on the advertisements, right?). She supposed to be honest, except when it behooves her to lie. She's supposed to be anti-marriage, except when she decides to marry again, out of the blue, after having turned down at least three men who are all in love with her for some reason. She gives a false name to people who can in no way hurt her, while giving known dangerous people her real name. And she's supposed to be a good judge of character, and can tell when people are lying, yet falls for a lie from a teenager, while believing the story of a known fraudster. I don't get her.

Anyway, there were some beautiful descriptions of Africa, and the passion for home and country does shine through this book, for sure. I also thought that segments of it were very insightful, but overall, I just can't say that this book was for me, and I probably won't continue the series. This wasn't a bad book, but I am definitely not the target audience for something like this. I'm too analytical and judgemental, and I can't just enjoy the story, I end up nitpicking things like this to death.

This book is written in a style where it's not clear whether the narrator is just being very understated, or whether the characters are all just kinda simple-minded. I love that style in Daniel Pinkwater when he's writing about New Jersey, but I feel reservations about it when it's a white guy (even one raised in southern Africa) writing about Africa.

Granted, when the narrator makes sweeping generalizations about Africa as a whole (which happens a number of times), they are generally positive (except when the subject is traditional healers, who show up only as kidnappers or worse).

I guess, if I want to learn something nuanced about Africa from fiction, I should get off my butt and find a writer currently dwelling in Africa.

This is more a drama than a mystery; it’s a love letter to Africa. Precious Ramotswe starts up a detective agency in Botswana and helps clients with a variety of problems, often involving finding out if someone is honest or not.

Some parts were slow and dull, others quite exciting. I was most interested in the cases. It’s written in an episodic style. It has a light tone overall but has some dark moments. It also has a major misandry vibe.

“We are the ones who first ploughed the earth when Modise (God) made it,” ran an old Setswana poem. “We were the ones who made the food. We are the ones who look after men when they are little boys, when they are young men, and when they are old and about to die. We are always there. But we are just women, and nobody sees us.”

Language: None
Sexual Content: Some non-graphic rape/domestic abuse
Violence: Hints of domestic violence
Harm to Animals:  A cobra gets killed
Harm to Children:  Rumors of kids getting killed by witch doctors
Other:  Lots of men cheating on wives. Lots of comments about how fat Precious is. She is proud of it.

** Review #700 **

5★
A new favourite! I know, I know. I’m late to Precious Ramotswe and her wonderful business, and I shouldn’t have waited so long to enjoy these books. I loved this first book in the series. Funny, good-natured, good-hearted and poignant.

How a white Scotsman got into the head of a black lady in Botswana (or vice versa) is beyond me, but thank goodness for us readers that he did. She is absolutely delightful. “Mma Ramotswe was not tall—being blessed with generous girth, rather than height…”

Precious’s beloved father has worked all his life in the mines to amass an impressive cattle herd, and when he dies too young, she is scathing of the mining industry. She describes his terrifying life underground and how the wealthy owners take advantage of black workers.

“The Sotho miners used to sing ‘The mines eat men. Even when you have left them, the mines will still be eating you.'”

When she decides to cash up the cattle herd and establish the first detective agency run by ladies (well, A lady and a secretary/clerk), she is very business-like. She does things herself, approaches the bank, finds a house, finds an office, hires a secretary, and looks for business. Her first clients do end up being ladies checking up on husbands, but she quickly graduates to fraud and kidnapping, often for men's clients who are comfortable talking to her.

We never forget this is Botswana, specifically Gaborone, on the edge of the Kalahari Desert and all that represents, including the wildlife, really wild – life. She shoots a croc, suspecting it’s responsible for a disappearance.

“She took a knife and slit through the creature’s belly. The leather was soft, and the stomach was soon exposed.”

She deals with a cobra and then there are witch doctors.

But it’s hers. Standing under the night sky she’s drawing “the dry clear air into her lungs. And she thought: I am just a tiny person in Africa , but there is a place for me, and for everybody, to sit down on this earth and touch it and call it their own.”

Another time: “Dusk was approaching, and the sky was streaked with gold. This was her favourite time of the day, when the birds went dipping and swooping through the air and the insects of the night started to shriek. In this gentle light, the cattle would be walking home and the fires outside the huts would be crackling and glowing for the evening’s cooking.”

There are plenty of flashbacks to bad episodes in her life, but her overall attitude is one of finding the joy in everything. She doesn’t complain, but she certainly wonders why some people are so ignorant or mean-spirited.

I enjoyed the various characters, the descriptions of a very different part of the world from mine and why Mma Ramotswe loves it so.

Disclaimer – I had seen the TV series so was predisposed to like the books, but if they’d fallen short of expectations, I’d say so. Nope. Terrific book.

How do I even begin to review this book? It is an amazing book, so different from what I expected and yet it didn't leave me feeling disappointed. Now that's saying something, right?

From the title, I presumed, it would be a lovely cozy mystery, something, which despite not being a Poirot, would nevertheless keep me intrigued by the twists and turns. How wrong was I and yet how happy I am that I was wrong! Feeling confused? Well let me explain.

This is a lovely book, the first in the series, of a detective agency, set up by a lady, in Botswana. She wants to use her time and effort in solving the mysteries or crimes that take place in her town. I was okay with the first few chapters being dedicated to the setting up of the agency and also talking about her personal history, well because it was the first book in the series and that was to be expected, right? After a few more chapters, I started wondering about the mystery and the wonderful detective skills being employed and I started getting a little irritated! A few chapters later, I was totally drawn into the book, all my initial irritation forgotten and it felt as if I was taken to Botswana and was living that life with Mma Ramotswe and from then on, I fell in love with the book and its truly different style of writing and approach.

Moral of the story being that if you go into this book expecting a Poirot-esque mystery or crime solving, you will be disappointed. However, if you go into this book expecting to be taken into worlds unknown, crimes that are small, often petty and crime solving that is ridiculously simple and yet brilliant in its own way; well then you will emerge a lover of this series, just like I did.

The author, and I must take time to mention this, has done such a wonderful job in beautifully weaving a tale that is unlike any other. He has made Botswana and the Africas alive for us in this book, right down to the smallest superstition or quaint feature, which just puts a smile on your face as you read this book. I loved the interactions that were depicted in this book, the small tidbits of information about the place, its people, its culture, its natural habitat and just about everything that told the reader about Botswana. He managed to turn a mystery story into a human story and yet made it so compelling that one did not forget the mysteries that were solved and one was actually sad to see the book end.

Well, as it is the beginning, I am sure the rest of the series will keep me entertained. So while I go to read the next book in the series, why don't you check this out? Who knows, you may like it too, if like me you are fond of human stories set in different parts of the world, albeit with a touch of intrigue and mystery added to it.

Yes, I’m very late to reading this. A wonderful lead character and interesting insights into life in Botswana makes this an entertaining read.

I'm no fan of mystery, crime or detective books - the bore me, generally, though I loved Kerry Greenwood's Phryne Fisher books in high school and Agatha Christie's Ten Little Niggers gave me chills (since renamed And Then There Were None, for obvious reasons - but I've got an old edition).

The No.1 Ladies' Detective Agency is a real gem, however. I absolutely loved it. Wise, funny, intelligent, insightful and blushing with vigour and a heartfelt love of Africa, I'm not in the least surprised this series - of which this is the first book - has done so well.

Set in Botswana, it features thirty-five year old Mma Ramotswe, a cunning, content and large (in the "traditional" way) woman who, after her father dies leaving her many head of cattle, sells up and opens a detective agency. Hired to track missing husbands, cheating husbands and thieving husbands, as well as daughters, sons and witch doctors, Precious Ramostwe has her hands full. Woven amongst the cases are beautiful descriptions of the land, insights into African culture in all its myriad forms, the life of her father, a miner in South Africa, and her own disastrous marriage which ended many years ago, and a sweet offer of love from one of her best friends, a successful mechanic.

What is especially intriguing about this book, for me, is its seemingly chaotic structure. It follows no neat format, employs chapters within chapters, retells the past without incorporating it into the plot, shifts perspective between characters (though Mma Ramotswe has the focal perspective) whenever desired, and could sometimes be mistaken for short stories. And it all works, superbly so. It's new and refreshing and extremely well written, every word and sentence and paragraph there for a reason, the small plotlines and overarching plot spun out with perfect timing and deft handling. It is serious and wise and thoughtful when it needs to be, and light and ironic at other times. I kept thinking "this'd make a great tv show!" only to find that the BBC have already jumped on that bandwagon - shame it hasn't made it to Canada.

Mma Ramotswe is a fantastic protagonist, a woman who stands up for herself and loves Africa despite its problems. I'm always interested in reading books set in Africa - the continent fascinates and intrigues me, its beauty draws me, and its the closest place to Australia, in terms of landscape and climate, that there is, which makes me feel like it's a kindred spirit. There are many places there that I would love to visit.

I could go on for ages highlighting all the great things in this book - I have absolutely nothing negative to say or complain about, and it was wonderful to read a book with proper English spelling intact (except, at one point, the word "humour", which was very odd). The proof-readers should be careful about looking for wrong dialogue punctuation though - end quotation marks before a paragraph break within someone's speech. I'm seeing it occur in almost all the books I've been reading lately, it's very shoddy.