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The No.1 Ladies Detective Agency: Summary and book reviews of The No.1 Ladies Detective Agency by Alexander McCall Smith, plus links to an excerpt from The No.1 Ladies Detective Agency and a biography of Alexander McCall Smith.
First published in the UK in 1998, and in the USA in 2001 by Polygon. Republished in 2002 and 2003 by Anchor.
This first novel in Alexander McCall Smith's widely acclaimed The No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency series tells the story of the delightfully cunning and enormously engaging Precious Ramotswe, who is drawn to her profession to "help people with problems in their lives." Immediately upon setting up shop in a small storefront in Gaborone, she is hired to track down a missing husband, uncover a con man, and follow a wayward daughter. But the case that tugs at her heart, and lands her in danger, is a missing eleven-year-old boy, who may have been snatched by witchdoctors.
The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency received two Booker Judges' Special Recommendations and was voted one of the International Books of the Year and the Millennium by the Times Literary Supplement.
Book Reviews
Publisher's Weekly
Images of this large woman driving her tiny white van or sharing a cup of bush tea with a friend or client while working a case linger pleasantly. General audiences will welcome this little gem of a book just as much if not more than mystery readers.
Scotland on Sunday
Highly amusing, intelligent and heart-warming
Los Angeles Times
Smart and sassy...Precious' progress is charted in passages that have the power to amuse or shock or touch the heart, sometimes all at once.
The New York Times Book Review
The Miss Marple of Botswana.
John Lewell, Femaledetective.com
Why is this novel so good?…It is almost impossible to pin down such an inspired invention.
Barbara Peters, The Poisoned Pen
Practical, non-judgemental, filled with laughter but determination, Precious never quails....I loved every word.
The Wall Street Journal
One of the most entrancing literary treats of many a year…. A tapestry of extraordinary nuance and richness.
The Sunday Telegraph - Anthony Daniels
The author's prose has the merits of simplicity, euphony and precision. His descriptions leave one as if standing in the Botswana landscape. This is art that conceals art. I haven't read anything with such alloyed pleasure for a long time.
Gerald Kaufman, Chairman of the 1999 BOOKER Prize Jury
Indeed, the effort involved would have been justified by just one of them, The No.1 Ladies' Detective Agency
Amy Tan
...pure joy. It's about the mysteries of human nature. The writing is accessible and the prose is so beautiful; you can read this in one sitting.
You are about to travel to Edgecombe St. Mary, a small village in the English countryside filled with rolling hills, thatched cottages, and a cast of characters both hilariously original and as familiar as the members of your own family.
The Postmistress is an unforgettable tale of the secrets we must bear, or bury. It is about what happens to love during wartime, when those we cherish leave. And how every story-of love or war-is about looking left when we should have been looking right.
Masterfully blending true events with fiction, this blockbuster historical thriller delivers a page-turning murder mystery set on the sixteenth-century Oxford University campus.
Kostova's masterful new novel travels from American cities to the coast of Normandy, from the late 19th century to the late 20th, from young love to last love. The Swan Thieves is a story of obsession, history's losses, and the power of art to preserve human hope.
I read this book in two days and found it so refreshing. Although you will learn a great deal about barn owls by reading it, the book is not just ...
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I enjoyed reading this book, however, feel that this is not completely her own ideas. This books remembers me of a cross between 'ghost','Sixth ...
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Lisa See has written a great book! This story is satisfying on many levels, some scenes horrifying, but seemingly truthful, and her handling of the ...
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Amazon 'buy button' rumors abound(Mar 18 2010) Rumors swirled today that Amazon could revoke the buy buttons for books by Simon & Schuster, HarperCollins, Penguin, or Hachette if the major publishers can't...
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Amazon's e-pricing threats(Mar 18 2010) With Apple's iPad launch just weeks away, Amazon raised the stakes again when it threatened to stop directly selling the books of some publishers online...
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The No.1 Ladies Detective Agency
Publisher's Weekly
Gerald Kaufman, Chairman of the 1999 BOOKER Prize Jury
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