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The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency (Today Show Book Club #8) (Paperback) (平装)
by Alexander McCall Smith
| Category:
Detective, Fiction |
| Market price: ¥ 148.00
MSL price:
¥ 138.00
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| Stock:
In Stock |
MSL rating:
 Good for Gifts |
| MSL Pointer Review:
The novel highlights the spirit of a strong woman and the life in Africa. Hilarious passages highlight issues such as gender relations, respect for elders and the importance of a leading balanced life. |
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AllReviews |
  1 2 Total 2 pages 15 items |
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Carolyn Rowe Hill (MSL quote), Ann Arbor, Michigan
<2007-01-23 00:00>
Oh, how I love these stories. I read Tears of the Giraffe first (see Amazon review of 5/24/05), and loved it. I would recommend, as with all series, that you begin here with The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency. This is where you get the full background about how the agency got started, about its proprietress, Precious Ramotswe; Mma Ramotswe's beloved Daddy, Obed; and her friend J.L.B. Matekoni, and others. You'll fall in love with Mma Ramotswe's Africa as well.
The story takes place in Botswana, a country just north of South Africa. Botswana is a democracy and has done very well for itself since the mid-sixties when it gained its independence. Precious Ramotswe, who is always called Mma Ramotswe, opens the first and only detective agency in Africa run by a woman, after the death of her father. She is a very clever woman, quite plump, too, which is a good thing...she refers to her build as the "traditional" build of the Botswana female. She is very proud of her size and her brain, which she puts to good use in helping people solve the "problems in their lives."
The book is a series of events of a social, personal, and business nature and moves easily along and keeps the reader interested. The best way I can describe McCall Smith's writing is that it has class, from his vocabulary to his style. The story flows smoothly from one page to another; one chapter to another; and even horrible events in people's life are served up with a kind of dignity as presented from the viewpoint of Mma Ramotswe. While Mma is a very gracious and polite lady, she can be ruthless when dealing with vile, evil, and unscrupulous individuals. In the end, she is not afraid of anybody or anything! I'd love to meet her...if she were only real!!
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Mary Seale (MSL quote), Northern Virginia, USA
<2007-01-23 00:00>
I absoutely loved this book. The Lady Detective (Precious Ramotswe) is one of the most charming, smart and savvy characters to grace the pages of a novel in a long while. The writing is so colorful that you can imagine that you are riding along with Precious in her "little white van" across Botswana or wherever her detective adventures take her. Out of a need for work, Precious opens a detective agency. He clients run the gamet from those who don't have a lot of money to those who live behind gated walls and own several businesses. She takes on all clients-as long as they don't want her to do anything illegal. She solves the cases with determination, grit and yes, a little luck. Precious is a very strong, yet kind and compassionate person. There are so many mean and unkind characters in novels now, it is refreshing to see someone writing a novel with such a nice central character. I have already bought the next three novels in No.1 Ladies series and am looking forward to reading them as well.
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Groth (MSL quote), Chicago, IL USA
<2007-01-23 00:00>
I loved this book. I was enchanted with Precious Ramotswe and her family, especially the very centered approach she took to her career and personal life. I am looking forward to reading all the rest of Mr. McCall-Smith's oeuvre. Even if it deals with times past.
Everything changes. Even the Kalahari. There are diamonds under the bush, and the Bushmen from "The Gods Must be Crazy" are now on a reservation, with nothing to do. The Botswana government in Gaborone is a partner with the diamond company in a joint venture, and the Bushmen have been rounded up. According to Mother Jones earlier this year, some have even volunteered to work the mines, just to be able to return to their Kalahari. They are expressly not allowed.
Precious Ramotswe has a good heart and a fine mind, and I think she would find this development even more intolerable than I do.
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Mr. Wind-Up Bird (MSL quote), Honolulu, HI USA
<2007-01-23 00:00>
Mma Ramotswe inhabits a very different world from our's, a continent so foreign, and yet, she brings a very familiar and comforting human touch to the barren plains that stretch out and nearly cover her native country of Botswana.
Though Alexander McCall Smith's charming detective series is on the surface a series of mysteries, as the title would suggest, it is so much more than that. Mma Ramotswe is perhaps one of the most likeable characters to grace modern popular fiction, at least recently. Bold, confident, patient, and sensible, she brings her intelligence and perceptive human insight into every 'case' she tackles. The way she deals with her cases and makes judgments are fair and clever, and often times humorous, as her attempts to observe her subjects seem less than successful.
As enjoyable and well-written as the book is, however, the mysteries are not full-fledged mysteries in themselves and they are by no means the most complicated, complex ever written. But here that was not the point. The cases serve as a kind of supplement for the story of Mma Ramotswe, and the country she loves so much, all written in Alexander McCall Smith's engaging and light narrative, which could be enjoyed by readers of all ages.
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Bill Jordin (MSL quote), Smyrna, GA USA
<2007-01-23 00:00>
The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency is the first volume in this series. Precious Ramotswe is a Botswana woman, the daughter of Obed Ramotswe. Her mother was killed by a train when she was very young and she had been raised by various aunts and a cousin. Precious was married for a short time to Note Mokoti, a jazz trumpeter, but left him after the death of their premature baby.
When Obed Ramotswe died, he left Precious a herd of 2000 cattle. Not wanting to raise cattle, she sold most of the herd, bought a home on Zebra Drive, and acquired another building just off the Lobatse Road where she opened the No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency. Of course, the agency accepted men as well as women clients, but it was run by Mma Ramotswe and Mma Makutsi.
When Precious called the Botswana College of Secretarial and Office Skills to hire a secretary, they immediately recommended Mma Makutsi, an honor graduate, who had achieved an unprecedented score of 97% on the completion examination. Despite her fine qualifications, Mma Makutsi was having difficulties finding a job; the best jobs seem to go to beautiful girls who had only barely passed the examination. Mma Ramotswe liked her immediately. Mma Makutsi proved to be a very competent typist and efficiently handled all aspects of the agency business. Moreover, she made a very good cup of bush tea.
In their first case, Precious is asked to find the husband of Mma Malatsi, who disappeared while attending a church service. Then they are asked to find a missing boy and the boyfriend of a young girl. In another case, they are asked to determine whether a certain man is the father of their client. They do well and the success of the agency is assured for a while longer.
In this novel, Precious refers to Agatha Christie when she declares her intentions to start a detective agency and many reviewers have since compared her to Miss Marple. While it is true that Precious Ramotswe has the folk wisdom of her people, she is also only in her mid-30's. She has had several suitors whom she has refused, but she has only regretted one denial: Mr. J.L.B Maketoni, owner and operator of the Tlokweng Road Speedy Motors garage.
This novel is a true gem, written by a talented and prolific author who was born in Zimbabwe and has lived and taught in Botswana. The author now teaches medical law at Edinburgh University, but apparently has had practical experience in forensic medicine within Botswana. The writing is so authentic that the reader can almost smell the dust in the hot afternoon sun and the characters come alive as you read the stories.
Highly recommended for anyone who enjoys interesting people, exotic locations, and realistic detective stories.
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1 2 Total 2 pages 15 items |
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