The No.1 Ladies’ Detective Agency

By, Alexander McCall Smith

I feel like I start all of my blog posts about book reviews the same way: “This was a really good read!” Apparently I just like to read.

This is not a typical book that I would choose to pick up. It takes place in Botswana and I don’t usually choose books based in Africa or mysteries. I read a review of this book last year and it caught my eye so I decided to give it a go. I knew I could always put it down if it wasn’t something I was enjoying!

Mma Ramostwe is a single woman who decided to open a women’s detective agency has the title implies. The beginning of the book talks about her childhood early married life, and how she becomes single again. She sells her inherited father’s livestock and decides to open a detective agency! She has no credentials!

The rest of the book is about her everyday life and the cases she takes. A lot of the “detective work” is done using common sense, mind games, and a little bit of trickery! I found it very interesting and didn’t want to put it down.

After I finished the book I looked to see if the author had written anything else! And, much to my surprise, I found there are 10 more books in the series! I didn’t even know it was a series!!

I’ve since started the next book called Tears of the Giraffe. It’s more of the same and continues the progression of her life and the cases she takes. It’s enjoyable and I’ll probably finish the book, but I don’t necessarily feel the need to complete the series! I guess it depends on the ending and how much of a cliff hanger it is!!  

This is an easy and quick read that I certainly don’t regret the time spent reading it!!!