This is the story of the genesis of the No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency, set up by the ‘traditionally-built’ Precious Ramotswe assisted by her thin secretary Mma Makutsi.

The episodic tale is centered around Mma Ramotswe's appealing relationship with mechanic J L B Matekone. They are both older people rich in experience and discretion. Their lives meld pleasingly and logically towards engagement - a love story with snooping: 'the curious case of the twin doctors’, one good, the other hopeless and distributor caps.

McCall Smith captures contemporary Botswana with its diamonds, new professionals (teachers, lawyers, ‘the missing finger scam’ and sinister power brokers) as well as more old-fashioned types, anchored in the capital Gaborone, right on the border with South Africa. There are old enmities with the Zulu and the relationship with South Africa can be uneasy. Independence is still within living memory for some, coming in 1966, ending the time of the Bechuanaland Protectorate (just lucky that the country has the diamonds and Sir Seretse Khama, the first President*).

Old values, where wealth is counted in cows, are represented by Obed Ramotswe, the father of Precious, disabled by the dusty mines and disturbed by his daughter’s decision to become a detective, but reassured that she has taken on his values of judgement, caution and politeness. The actual detection, once we get to it, fits comfortably into this schema. In action Mma Ramotswe is made of the right stuff; she talks to people, she listens and she is intuitive, practical and logical. The detective is not so fortunate in romance and should have known better than to fall for a jazz trumpeter, at home with the spotlight on them alone, in my experience.

Charming tale.

*I would like to note that the fourth President of Botswana, from 2008 to 2018, was Ian Khama, son of Sir Seretse Khama and Ruth Williams, a rare instance of a national leader called Ian.

Not much gives me more joy that reading about the detectives I wish were my friends. Everyone are so lovely, kind and intelligent. I love how Botswana is described, especially the wonderful people there. The moral dilemmas presented just made sense and I loved how the detective always manages to solve them in an empathetic way.

I found The No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency to be a bit mediocre. I know that it’s not intended to be a thriller, but it was just a little too “tame” for my taste. While the way that Mma. Ramotswe solves the mysteries that she encounters is interesting and I did keep reading to find out how she would solve them, I was not overly engaged with the characters or plot for much of the story. I did like the description of Botswana and the details of the African culture.
I have the next two books in the series and am debating whether or not I should read them or not.

Pleasant and somewhat interesting, but not compelling.

It's my impression that mystery novels are part puzzle and part vehicle for depicting a cross-section of life in some locale. The puzzle part in No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency was never very elaborate. Most mysteries arose and resolved in the span of one chapter. In fact it seemed like the point was to showcase Precious' subtle knack for zeroing in and keeping things from being more complex than they need to be. Precious and her approach to sleuthing were charming and pleasant, but not page-turning for me.

The slice of life aspect was interesting because I know almost nothing about Botswana. I got a sense of the landscape, the pace of life, the economy, and the culture.

I might pick up another book in this series one day, but I'm not making it a priority right now.

i am probably the only person in the whole world who thinks this but these books are singularly underwhelming. Nothing ever happens. The characters are annoying. To be honest I did only read this first one but couldn't face another. Have refrained from putting this on my list till now cos I always thought I might try another and find it more interesting but then I thought there are enormous caverns of books as yet undiscovered. Why force myself to read another book of this just because I feel I should. So Mr McCall Smith, have a good life

Nice to finally read this one. Interesting that Precious never goes by her first name ever again.

I will definitely continue to read about this detective agency! There were some excellent cases, and I love the girl power element.

3.5 Stars rounded up to 4.

It was a completely different story than I expected. But to my surprise I liked it.

I was expecting a classic detective story, only set in Africa. Meanwhile, it is not quite like that. The main character, Precious Ramotswe, is indeed a detective, she opened the first detective agency in Botswana. But this book is not only about the cases that she is solving, but also about her life and what brought her to the point where she is now.

I also expected that there would be only one mystery case for Ramotswe to solve. But I found a lot of short stories from cases she was solving as a detective. Some are only one chapter long, others take two or three chapters. But all of them are quite short. I usually don't like it, but here not only did it bother me, but I liked this variety.

But as I mentioned, this is first and foremost a story about Ramotswe’s life. From her father's story to the friendships Ramotswe makes in her adult life. Ramotswe is a strong and independent woman who can fight for hers and who believes to find her place in the profession perceived as male. And I must admit that she does it quite well. Even if she has to improvise a lot because she lacks skills.

Finally, it is a story about Africa and Botswana. From the pages of this book you can clearly read the love for this continent, its traditions and culture. Still, the author does not hesitate to openly show what is ugly and cruel. It is a loving picture of Africa, but devoid of illusions. Ramotswe loves her country and that love spreads to the readers.

I've heard so much good about this series before and now understand why. This is a really great and unique story. I will definitely read more books in this series.

I love this series. More about relationships and life than mysteries.

The characters are just so real, people I actually wish I knew. It's full of warm friendly humor. She solves her cases with common sense and woman's intuition.

I remember one favorite scene. Mma Ramotswe is interviewing a client. She is a woman of "traditional build". She thinks to herself that the woman she is speaking to needs to admit her girth and buy a larger size dress. McCall Smith then moves to the point of view of the client and she is thinking the exact same thing about Mma Ramotswe.

Oh what a sweet book. Anxious to continue with the series!

The first and possibly one of the strongest in McCall Smith's hugely entertaining series of books. Unfortunately it does seem as though the series has now outrun it's course and really should be drawn to a suitable conclusion - enjoyable though it has been.

Много приятна малка книжка за Африка, с лек и доста ненатрапчив хумор в нея.

Получило му се е на господин Смит, а след прочита ѝ осъзнах, че освен една купчина сухи факти, аз не знам почти нищо за Африка и за хората, които я населяват. И най-лошото е, че нямам никаква идея, как мога да понаваксам знания по темата. Ще се разтърся в нета все пак.

Поредицата е отлична за прочит по време на работната седмица.

Продължавам с втората част.

Цитат:

"Полицията не проявяваше голям ентусиазъм при разследването на престъпления, а към някои видове престъпления изобщо не проявяваше интерес."

До болка познато, а?

P.S. Изгледах сериала направен по част от книгите от тази серия, който си е останал само с един сезон - жалко, защото на мен доста ми хареса!

If you are looking to watch over a detectives shoulder. During investigations while being introduced into Botswana culture. This Afrikaan author does a nice job of it