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#mystrangereading The No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency by Alexander McCall Smith ⭐️⭐️⭐️This book came in my cousin book exchange and had also been gifted to be by my dad a couple of Christmases ago, so I really needed to read it. Lol. 🕵️🏾♀️I loved Precious (Mma). I loved how strong and independent she was. I loved how she went after her dreams and I loved her cases. 🕵️🏾♀️ I loved how the culture of Botswana was ever present in each story told because you would not expect that from a white man wri...
As research for a novel I'm writing, I'm reading detective fiction and ripping off everything of value. My story takes place in L.A. of the early '90s, but I'm traveling to all eras and hiring all types of sleuth as tour guide. Published in 1998, The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency launched twenty novels and counting by Scottish author Alexander McCall Smith based in Botswana and centered around Mma "Precious" Ramotwse, a young woman who opens the country's first private detective agency run by l...
A lot of people are under the impression that Alexander Mccall Smith books are strictly for middle aged women. This is NOT the case at all. These books are for everyone. They are not even just for women. A lot of people are also under the impression that these books are mystery books. This is also a misconception. Mysteries are a very small part of these stories. These books are about humanity and the small things that make it so good to be both human and alive. I dare anyone who is not happy to...
This is where the series begins, there currently being twenty books in the series. The No.1 Ladies Detective Agency is a delightful work and a quick read to boot. Smith alternates between small bits of back-story for the central character, Precious Ramotswe, a woman of traditional build, young-middle-aged (30s?) divorcee, heavy with intelligence, gumption and cunning, and the mysteries she unravels as the sole detective of the title agency. Jill Scott as Precious Ramotswe and Anika Noni Rose as
When I bought this from the library book sale it caused a real excitement among the elderly volunteers.When I read it, I was like, oh. Makes sense, in hindsight. This is an old white lady book if ever I've read one.That's kind of all I have to say about it.Bottom line: This book's era and author felt obvious to me!clear ur shit book 30quest 14: read a book with a purple coverfind the other books here
The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency (No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency #1), Alexander McCall Smith Mma Ramotswe sits in her office, the Number 1 Ladies Detective Agency. She has a secretary, and she has clients. She is in Gaborone the capital of Botswana, a place of which she is proud. She is the only child of Obed Ramotswe, a man who worked long years in the mines in South Africa, until one day he witnessed a crime, and knew he had to leave the mines. He had married a year or two earlier, and their...
Just could not get past the very obvious fact that this book is written by a white guy, trying to tell a story through the eyes of a Botswana(ese?) woman. It felt a bit patronising, as in, look how simply these people live, just hanging out in the hot sun watching their cattle, oh to live so simply like this, oh look this woman is setting up a detective agency, can you imagine that, a woman? A black woman? How quaint and adorable, etc. etc. It was a cute story, but that was the problem, it was a...
I'm no fan of mystery, crime or detective books - the bore me, generally, though I loved Kerry Greenwood's Phryne Fisher books in high school and Agatha Christie's Ten Little Niggers gave me chills (since renamed And Then There Were None, for obvious reasons - but I've got an old edition).The No.1 Ladies' Detective Agency is a real gem, however. I absolutely loved it. Wise, funny, intelligent, insightful and blushing with vigour and a heartfelt love of Africa, I'm not in the least surprised this...
I read about Africa & quickly want to be transported there. For a simpler life?The heart of this novel is its feminist protagonist, Mma Ramotswe who lives in a precious town in Gaborone, still untouched by technology or South African cosmopolitanism. This book is extremely feminist, in a very good, positive and enlightening way, as much as it is anticolonialist. But to counter this notion there is a heartwarming case that Mma Ramotswe, the number one (and sole) female detective in Botswana, must...
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
5★A new favourite! I know, I know. I’m late to Precious Ramotswe and her wonderful business, and I shouldn’t have waited so long to enjoy these books. I loved this first book in the series. Funny, good-natured, good-hearted and poignant.How a white Scotsman got into the head of a black lady in Botswana (or vice versa) is beyond me, but thank goodness for us readers that he did. She is absolutely delightful. “Mma Ramotswe was not tall—being blessed with generous girth, rather than height…”Preciou...
Precious Ramotswe is a super nice woman, and the story told by the great McCall Smith is really fun, it was for me a perfect read after books with heavy narratives, violent and extreme, I needed to relax a bit and smile a lot 😉 , and so came Precious!Precious’s presentation is very meticulous, I loved how the writer presents her life, not only her wonderful qualities and talents, but also her weaknesses and sorrows of the past ( wrecked marriage and a child in heaven)Precious is well characteriz...
I put off reading this series for a long time until I found out that it wasn't a book for "ladies," but one to be enjoyed by readers of both sexes--and enjoy it I did. In its simple and conversational manner, this book taught me a little bit about many things: Botswana, African culture in general, working in the diamond mines of South Africa, and human nature. Through the first-person account of Precious Ramotswe we are treated to an assortment of quirky detective stories that are intertwined wi...
Precious Ramotswe is one Superbly Sly Sleuth - she learned it from her late, beloved daddy! She’s Proudly Black in a simple, peaceful, uncluttered Black Land…Alexander McCall Smith was ENCHANTED by Botswana in his youthful forensically-related career there. These pacifist folks Endeared themselves to him. As was indeed the case with my best childhood friend Doug...Doug Is now a prominent and very actively retired éminence grise of the Toronto psychiatric establishment. His has always been a deep...
“There was a teapot, in which Mma Ramotswe -- the only lady private detective in Botwana -- brewed tea. And three mugs -- one for herself, one for her secretary, and one for the client. What else does a detective agency really need?”Alexander McCall Smith's The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency is a quick and fun read. I felt transported to a Botswana with a slower pace of life reflected in folksy good-natured lady detective Precious Ramotswe. Precious solves a number of cases, but it's not the cas...
When Precious Ramotswe’s father died and left her with his cattle, the sale made her quite wealthy. Her decision to open the first Ladies Detective Agency in Botswana – in fact the only detective agency – was an easy one. And of course, she had to have a secretary, even though she had no clients (as yet). She hired Grace Makutsi and together they enjoyed many cups of tea between the occasional case.Mma Ramotswe was admired by many, but her intuition and stubborn desire to solve people’s problems...
This collection of vignettes disguised as a novel was a great read. The main character is a gentle African woman who decides to be a detective to help other people. She is a delightful character, with light humor and a big heart. Agency isn't like any other detective novels...the characters are much more developed and the "mysteries" aren't the usual murders, whether cosy or hard-boiled. If you'd like a sweet trip to another culture, calmer and gnetler than ours, this is a book for you.
Just wonderful! I wish I could meet the heroine in real life. I see that many readers shelved this book under mysteries. I would say if you picked this book expecting a crime/mystery genre, you would be disappointed. Yes, the heroine solves mysteries as part of her business of being a private detective. But the mysteries are very small part of the story and they are not why I loved the book. What really is wonderful is how these detective stories turn into little pieces full of fascinating descr...
If you have had a rough week, if your day has been hectic and you feel frazzled, I recommend sitting down with The No.1 Ladies’ Detective Agency for a while. I would describe the feeling of reading it to be “calming.” It is very unlike the North American or Scandinavian crime fiction genre.I’ve never been to Botswana, but I felt like I had taken a mini-holiday there by the end of the book. And you get an insight into the people and their culture than you would never get as a tourist—a sense of h...
Upon the death of her beloved father, Precious Ramotswe sold the cattle he'd left to her and opened a private detective agency. She had no education in the field; no experience, no mentor. What she did possess was an active intellect, knowledge of human behavior, and a heart filled with the desire to help her brothers and sisters solve the mysteries of their lives. As hers is a small town in Botswana, that just might prove to be enough.Alexander McCall Smith takes his reader through this bold de...