Alexander McCall Smith's "The No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency" - A Fun and Engaging Detective Story

Christiane Günther: Gute Unterhaltung!

Germany on Oct 21, 2023

Kay Bee: A window into another world where the pace of life is a bit gentler- love all of the books in the series.

United Kingdom on Sep 16, 2023

Amazon Customer: I like to read these books as they bring joy

United Kingdom on Sep 08, 2023

Lucy: This was an easygoing, enjoyable read. There was an element of historical fiction which was woven into the story and I enjoyed learning little more about Botswana. There were some heavy moments but nothing too hard going (although may cause distress to some) but also moments of humour. I'll definitely look at reading others in the series in future.

United Kingdom on Feb 22, 2023

browse shop review: 'Mma Ramotswe had a detective agency in Africa, at the foot of the Kgale Hill. These were its assets: a tiny white van, two desks, two chairs, a telephone, and an old typewriter. There was a teapot, in which Mma Ramotswe - the only lady private detective in Botswana - brewed redbush tea. And three mugs - one for herself, one for her secretary, and one for the client. What else does a detective agency really need?'

A few economically descriptive lines of introduction, and the scene is perfectly set...

As well as the perpetually endearing, big-hearted, and big-bodied Mma Precious Ramotswe herself. there is of course a whole host of deliciously appealing characters still waiting in the wings. There's the agency's formidable secretary, Mma Makutsi ('Miss ninety-seven per cent', though perhaps the character is a little under-used in this initial instalment); there's Dr Maketsi (a close friend from Mma Ramotswe's home village of Mochudi); there's Mr J L B Matekoni (the ever-helpful proprietor of 'Tlokweng Road Speedy Motors', hailing also from Mochudi, and so hopelessly in love with our very own lady detective); there's Note Mokoti (our lady detective's worthless first...

United Kingdom on Aug 06, 2015

illiandantic: I just don't understand it. My wife loves Alexander McCall Smith's "The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency" (this specific book and the series, too). I look at the ratings here and fully half of them are five star. Most of the rest are good ratings. Yet, the highest I can rate this book is a Pretty Bad 2 stars out of 5. What am I missing? It's easy enough to say what I don't like about the book:

- First, the biggest issue is that there's no plot. The book consists of nothing but a series of almost completely unrelated vignettes or anecdotes that form a slice-of-life of the main character: Mma Precious Ramotswe (and that's definitely Mma (female honorific in Botswana), not Mme).

- Second, the most disappointing issue is that even though the title says "Detective Agency," there's really no mystery in the book. Those vignettes, above, are just short, easy cases that the protagonist solves in a straight-forward, even trivial, manner.

- Third, and most irritating, is the language. For some reason, McCall Smith has every character in the book speaking in a short, choppy, words-of-one-syllable form (almost a pidgin or baby-talk). Considering that the official language of...

United States on Feb 21, 2014

darswords: No text-to-speech. Luckily the library had the CD set. So I bought the Kindle version to read while the lovely voice of Lisette Lecat narrated the story to me. I think her voice added a taste of the culture to the reading of the story. Even still, I think I might have been just as happy with the robot voice on my Kindle. This is an expensive read for me. It is hard to try and get the whole package from the library on anything. When a part comes in that's what you have to drop other reads so as to get it done on time. I don't do well with just the audio version, I have to immerse myself in a book to finish. And because of all that I just said, this story leaves me not caring if I read any more of these books.

The story was of a sing-song feel and I often found myself drifting to sleep or off to other thoughts. The author did capture the love of country and the evils that still exist. It reminded me of reading missionary books at my grandmother's house. I loved seeing a different world than the one I live in. But sad to say the attitudes of men seem universal. I was so disappointed in the ending. I thought we had finally grew a strong self-sufficient woman. Meh!

Unless...

United States on Sep 17, 2012