The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency

The first book in the series is a bit uneven since the author hadn't planned a series at all and hadn't found the form yet. The foreword is very interesting and you should by the book just to read that even if you have already read an earlier edition of the book.Mma Ramotswe, her friend the mechanic and her secretary are very interesting people for a white European as myself. The culture that the book conveys is warm and friendly and gives one hope in humanity. Several times I turned to other people in my vicinity and quoted the book. Sometimes I laughed out loud since the author describes things very witty.

“Don’t disregard a hunch. Hunches are another form of knowledge.” —Alexander McCall Smith, No 1 Ladies Detective AgencyThe ‘No 1 Ladies Detective Agency’ series is truly a love story of Africa! Book one is a heartfelt, emotional, humorous story about the adventures of Mma [Madam] Precious Ramotswe, Botswana’s premier lady detective. With the help of her associates and friends, Mma Ramotswe navigates her cases and personal life with a great deal of wisdom, creativity, and humor, not to mention an occasional cup of Bush tea. You’ll fall in love with this confident, stubborn, self assured, modern woman full of love for her country.I find it most interesting that the author of this delightful series, Alexander “Sandy" McCall Smith (McCall-Smith being his surname), is male, especially since he has managed to brilliantly write a very strong feminine voice perspective, a voice that I would have expected more from a female author. McCall Smith, a British-Zimbabwean writer and Emeritus Professor of Medical Law at the University of Edinburgh, is internationally known as a writer of fiction. He is an excellent gifted writer and storyteller, and this book is both educational and humorous. His interesting characters definitely do not disappoint. There is a bit of a plot hole that went unanswered at the end of book one, involving the superstitions of black medicine, but perhaps this was on purpose, leading into future storylines in one of the series 19 books. It’s a great read, so enjoy!!“Every man has a map in his heart of his own country and … the heart will never allow you to forget this map.” —Alexander McCall Smith, No 1 Ladies Detective Agency“There is no difference between white men and black men; we are all the same; we are just people.” —Alexander McCall Smith, No 1 Ladies Detective Agency“If we could go back and know then what we know now, … my goodness, I would live my life differently!” —Alexander McCall Smith, No 1 Ladies Detective Agency“How sorry she felt for white people, … who were always dashing around and worrying themselves over things that were going to happen anyway. What use was it having all that money if you could never sit still?” —Alexander McCall Smith, No 1 Ladies Detective Agency

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 the Kindle and Audible versions of the rest of the series fall into my lap, I will not seek out the rest of the series.Since Amazon won't let me review these books separately, the above was about the first book. The following is the second book, Tears of a Giraffe.***I didn't think I would go on and read the next book. But I saw that my library had the Kindle version AND the audio CDs to go along with it. And as luck would have it I was able to check them out at the same time!I can't tell you how marvelous it is to listen to the narration of Lisette Lecat and her accent. Yes, I could have read the Kindle version without the text-to-speech and no audio version to help me. After all, I did read three chapters before the CDs showed up for me to check out. But that voice brought a reality to the characters of Botswana's No.1 Ladies' Detective Agency.What a beautifully told story! It does stray from my goal of reading books written by females with strong female characters. By the way, that goal is swiftly narrowing down to wanting to read mostly OLDER females. I'm tired of Young Adult books. But, though this is written by a male, I find the older female and her co-characters written so well that I dearly love this series.I hear that it has been made into HBO series. I can understand why. Yet I can't imagine it is as wonderful as these books. How can visual arts capture inner thoughts? But I will watch them and give them a chance.Since I can't afford to buy this series I will have to take it slowly as the library has the copies of Kindle and audio available.

My friend recommended this author and to start with this book. Loved it. The Lady Detective Agency in Botswana... what an interesting idea and Mma Ramotswe is such a beautifully etched character! I turned the pages rapidly till I finished it - a smile on my face most times, feeling of tenderness towards most characters and an attraction to the country described by the author. I promptly ordered another book.The paperback quality was poor. Yellow and dogeared pages - did not feel like I bought a new book.

Very African and charming. This African lady decides to start a detective agency with an inheritance from her father. She uses her knowledge of the local people and customs to solve problems for customers and friends. Having lived in Africa I could relate to many of the descriptions and circumstances described.

Es un libro excelente, con un lenguaje adecuado para estudiantes y que además es fácil de leer y su trama "engancha", así que una suerte que se lo hayan mandado leer a mi hijo, porque después lo podemos compartir el resto de la familia. Según me comenta, a grandes rasgos , es un libro muy entretenido.Lo hay en varias versiones, incluso en kindle. Nosotros lo compramos con tapa blanda y nos lo trajeron de un día para otro, así que genial. Está bien encuadernado y la letra tiene un tamaño correcto. Se lee muy bien.

The narrative in this book is so simple yet so vivid that you can almost visualise the entire scene right in from of your eyes. It almost like a 3D-Pop up book! This is the first book in The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency series and it gives a heartwarming background about Mma Ramotswe, the only lady-detective in all of Botswana and an account of her initial few cases. An intelligent woman who relies on hunches, Ramotswe solves the most complicated cases in the most innovative way or using the oldest known method in the book; yet each encounter fills the reader with nothing but love for this brave lady. A must read for those wanting to experience a light, hearty, soulful book based in the amazing landscapes of Africa.

Unique problem solving abilities. Lots of common sense and a woman's intuitive wisdom. Charmingly told. Outcomes surprising and simple at times. Detectives need to be resourceful and brave. Confronting the guilty or using others to get her information takes courage.