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.
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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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