Further flashbacks show her past, including her father’s youth and time working in the mines, the death of Precious’s mother, and her past abusive marriage. Her first successful case, looking into the true identity of a man posing as a client’s father is described. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency opens by summarizing how Precious Ramotswe inherited the money and will to be an independent woman from her late father, and how she used both to start the first detective agency in Botswana run by women.
#Number 1 ladies detective agency books in order series#
It was adapted into an HBO television series starring Jill Scott, which ran for one season from 2009 to 2010. The original series has been praised for its optimistic, leisurely tone and its well-researched depiction of the culture of Botswana. In 2010, a spin-off aimed at young readers, Young Precious Ramotswe, was released in five installments. The series is overall a hit, although it became much more popular when the second and third installments were released in the United States in 2002. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency explores themes of national identity, women’s rights and liberation, the role of animals in African society, and the skills needed to be an effective detective. Narrated alternately by Precious and her late father in flashbacks, The No. Hiring a secretary and taking on cases, she seeks to honor her father and make a name for herself in a society that does not believe a woman can do this sort of work. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency focuses on Mma Precious Ramotswe, a Botswana woman from Gaborone, the capital city of Botswana, as she starts the first detective agency in the city after her father passes away. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency (1998) is the first book in the series of the same name, which, in 2016, includes seventeen novels. Maybe those of you who are familiar with Alexander McCall Smith’s work can tell me if it’s necessary to read this series in order or if you can just dip in and out.British author Alexander McCall Smith’s detective novel The No. I haven’t been left wanting to rush out and buy all the other books in the series, but I would be happy to try another one at some point. And yet, somehow, it does work! I really enjoyed getting to know Mma Ramotswe and picking up a little bit of knowledge of a country I previously knew nothing about. The novel is disjointed and messy and, apart from one slightly more involved case to which we return several times throughout the book, there is no overarching plot. Sometimes she makes mistakes, but more often than not she is successful and proves that those who tell her women can’t be detectives are most definitely wrong!Īs well as the mysteries, there are also chapters relating earlier episodes in Mma Ramotswe’s life, descriptions of Botswana – its scenery, its wildlife and its people – and some insights into African culture. Mma Ramotswe takes a practical approach to her detective work, based around common sense and logic, and following the guidance of The Principles of Private Detection by Clovis Andersen. They are not particularly complex – I often managed to solve them myself, which is unusual for me – and deal mainly with cheating husbands, rebellious teenagers and cases of insurance fraud, for example, rather than more serious crimes. This is not a straightforward detective novel with one central mystery to be solved instead, there are lots of separate little mysteries, with only a few pages devoted to some of them, although a few are longer. They do come, eventually, and Mma Ramotswe finds herself with an intriguing selection of cases to investigate. She hangs a sign above the door, employs a secretary, then sits back and waits for clients. When her father dies, leaving his herd of cattle to Precious, she sells them and uses the money to buy herself a house and an office which becomes the headquarters of her very own detective agency. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency is set in Botswana and features thirty-four-year-old Mma Precious Ramotswe.
It didn’t help that whenever I noticed some on the library shelf, they tended to be the later books in the series and my personal preference is always to start at the beginning if possible…so when I had the chance, earlier this year, to read the first book in the series via NetGalley, I thought it would be a good opportunity to finally see what it was like. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency books seem to have been around forever, but I have never really felt tempted to try one.
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