The No.1 Ladies' Detective Agency

A number of little character stories along the way to solving a bigger ones. This was a good airplane book for me.

I’ve never been anywhere in Africa and I know nothing about Africa so keep that in mind.

Kind of cute and charming but not a proper mystery with a main mystery that needs to be solved or something bad happens. Someone called it vignette styled writing and I agree 100%. Small little snippets aka cases. This style might not be for everyone but I was fine with it.

Not sure I’m fine with a man writing about “fat” women and “fatness” or “traditionally build women”, it rubbed me the wrong way.

I also didn’t like the comment from Sunday Times at the back, “Forget the library - the body is in the mud hut.” There are no bodies in this book and like 2 huts in connections to cattle stations, they have houses in Africa…

I like the setting and concept of this story but it's so painfully obviously written by a man that I couldn't get in to the story. Everything is in such gendered boxes, and even though the main protagonist is a convention bucking woman he just can't muster giving her a three dimensional inner life.

A delightful and brave female lead. It's wonderful to imagine mysteries in other countries.

Reading Challenge category: a book set in Africa

I enjoyed my visit to Africa and reading about Precious Ramotswe and how she came to start her detective agency. I loved reading about her father and was sad to hear about her marriage to a man who wasn't good to her. She drank a lot of “bush tea” so I looked it up and ordered some. I enjoyed trying something new.

This book was incredibly boring for me. Had I not had to read this for class, I wouldn't have finished it. As it was, I skipped paragraphs and sometimes even pages in order to get through it. The biggest problem is that I like action and an over-arching story and even adventure or something, while this is more of a character-driven story.

Now, one of my biggest problems is when the time within the book drastically changes, with almost no warning, or no reason. This mechanism to tell the reader about a character's past or about the consequences of actions, is rather annoying, especially when one is trying to keep track of a story. A book in a series told over time, should be linear, in my opinion. Jumping ahead one year into the future tells me we are now a year into the future, but immediately jumping back to ‘the present' was annoying. There are also whole chapters on the scenery or other side characters who may give background on Mma. Ramotswe's character.
So, 20% into the book I was ready to put it down, but I do see why people may enjoy this story.

For starters, for people who enjoy light, quick stories this is perfect. For the most part, Mma. Ramotswe takes a case and wraps in up within a chapter, so this can be read in those little moments of free time. The focus is also very much on the characters, so if people enjoy that sort of thing, then they will feel a deeper connection with the book. It is a charming little book that is not meant to hook people, but let them slowly sink in to.

low rating mostly because I was expecting a mystery book. even outside of that, would not really go above a 3.5.

I enjoyed this book immensely. I love the very atmospheric writing which details the setting and forms a very clear picture of a character's surroundings. I also love how each mystery is resolved in a chapter or two and are quite realistic unlike other books in the same genre. However, what kept it from being a 5-star book for me was the ending. I just felt that everything was tied so neatly at the end that the resolution to the overarching mystery felt kind of a cop out. Despite this however, I still want to read more about Mma Ramotswe's life and adventures as a lady detective. Now, if only I could find the next book in this series...

It was pretty good, but so not what I was expecting. I suppose with a title like this, I thought it would be more of a mystery novel, rather than a novel about a woman who is a detective.

Interesting stories within the story. Felt it was a little harder to relate to this book, probably because of the cultural aspects. I didn't love this book, but it was a nice read.

A quick, interesting, and amusing story.

I had started this book a few years ago but couldn't get interested. I picked it up again this fall and was able to make it all the way through this time. I didn't love it but I sort of understand the accolades for this series. It's a charming setting with characters who are somewhat likable. Probably won't read any more though.

Nice light enjoyable stories. If you prefer weighty stories with many layers and great depth in plot and character this may not be for you. As fun as that can be this book is a unique style that is beautifully worded to be enjoyed without draining your brain. Kind of like a calming meditation. Great for before bed!! I don't normally read books like this but I always enjoy good writing. It's nice to read stories that hold such strength of character, morality and common sense.

For fun, this is my favorite passage: “The problem, of course, was that people did not seem to understand the difference between right and wrong. They needed to be reminded about this, because if you left it to them to work out for themselves, they would never bother. They would just find out what was best for them, and then they would call that the right thing. Thats how most people thought.” (just change thought to think and you're describing the current state of the world, in my opinion)

Another exquisite surprise. Don't be put off by the genre: this is not a chewing-gum whodunnit. It's a gently meandering tale of hope and joy and hardship and wisdom set in an environment that, to most of us, is as foreign as Mars. McCall Smith writes richly, vividly. The reader on this audio CD is engaging. I never intended to read or listen to this... but I trusted a friend's recommendation and I'm glad I did.

This book deserves a high rating for its original setting, and also deserves a high rating for the character of Mma Precious Ramotswe. While reading this book, I kept my web browser close by to find photos and information about the areas in Africa the author describes. If a book intrigues me to the point that I want to learn real history and geography alongside it, I consider it a great read. This book has an overall mystery that doesn't get started until about midway through the story. In addition to the big mystery, there are several small mysteries that the author uses to develop Mma Ramotswe's character. There's a lot of action and thought-provoking prose throughout the book, and of course, Mma Ramotswe is just an awesome African private detective that I would love to sit down to dinner with. I am shelving the rest of this series in favor of others that I'm reading, but I will definitely come back to this series!

Reading The No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency, my overwhelming feeling was how very Holmesian the book felt. Each chapter dealt with a different mystery (excepting the earliest chapters, which instead were Precious' back story.) However, the whole book was in chronological order and themes and techniques that occurred earlier would recur in later stories – very evocative of Doyle's classic mystery works.

So the layout, was an initial draw for me. What kept me reading was the theme; most of the mysteries in this installation revolve around the relationships between women and men – dating, affairs, familial relationships, etc. McCall Smith paints Precious as somewhat of a feminist (a “modern woman”), while contrasting her with the mores of the more traditional people in her town. At times, I felt that the narrative swung the other way – depicting men as scoundrels and cheaters, which I felt was unnecessary.

Much has been made of McCall Smith's portrayal of Botswana, and this is where the book truly shines. I had no small amount of trepidation about reading a book with an African female protaganist written by a white man, but it turned out to be unfounded. McCall Smith depicts Botswana aptly, with no hint of Orientalism. It is clear from the outset that McCall Smith loves Subsaharan Africa, and his portrayal of such is fair, not veering into noble savages on one extreme, or war-torn, abject poverty on the other. In addition, McCall Smith takes care to show the reader Botswana itself, with the politics and history, rather than a generic “Africa” setting. This delicacy and honesty is what truly promotes the book from a three star rating to a four.

Cute and easy. I almost wanted not to like it, but I couldn't! It was just too cute.

A nice, light read.

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.