The No,1 Ladies Detective Agency by Alexander McCall Smith

The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency by Alexander McCall Smith
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Time taken to read - 3 days

Pages - 233

Publisher - Abacus

Source - Bought

Blurb from Goodreads

Warm, humorous and uplifting, Alexander McCall Smith's hugely popular novels featuring Precious Ramotswe, proprietor of Botswana's only female private detective agency, have become international bestsellers, sold over seven million copies, and been translated into 26 languages. These acclaimed productions, complete with vibrant music, bring the exotic world of the books vividly to life.

The Daddy introduces us to Mma Ramotswe as she embarks on her first case and takes on a new secretary, the resourceful and talented Mma Makutsi. Together, they must find the truth about a Daddy who appears to have returned from the dead—as well as investigating a wayward teenage girl and attempting to find a vanished child. First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 on 10 September 2004.

The Bone sees the determined duo following Mr Patel's daughter to find out whether she has a boyfriend. They must also solve the darker and more frightening case of the finger bone found in a car—does it belong to a missing boy snatched by a witch doctor? First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 on 17 September 2004.

Starring Claire Benedict as Mma Ramotswe and Nadine Marshall as Mma Makutsi, these dramatisations are guaranteed to appeal to all fans of the engaging lady detective.



My Review

So I have read Smith before (the Bertie books) and assumed this one would be humourous too (it does say so), whilst there are snippets of "humour" there is a lot of dark issues within the book too. Domestic violence, spousal gaslighting, missing persons - it is a busy wee book.

The main character Mma Precious Ramotswe is a super strong individual, despite having some really hard situations to overcome she does, she is positive, has ideas galore and determined to make her business a success.

I love travelling to other places/cities/countries via books and in this one we hit Botswana Africa and I love descriptions of places/people and animals native to X place. Some of the things within the book may offend or upset some people, there are different cases explored and different topics. For being a thinish book it covers a lot, I believe this is a long series so will get book two when I come across it, 3/5 for me this time.

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