A tale of life in Botswana (The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency - Alexander McCall)

Member Name: Holidaying

Product:	The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency - Alexander McCall
Date:	21/01/09 (29 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Unusual.

Disadvantages: Slow to get going, can be simple.

The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency is a work of fiction written by Alexander McCall Smith.

Why did I want to read this book?

I was browsing in a bookshop a while back and I saw this and picked it up. I had heard of it before and thought that the title made it sound interesting, and unusual. However, what helped me make the decision to buy it was the cover- it just looks so exciting! From the picture above you can see the small traditional house, and a crocodile!

The beginning

I was very surprised with this book when I started to read it! I had not imagined anything in particular about what the story would be, but I certainly had not imagined it to be set in Botswana! This was a nice surprise and added to the fact that I wanted to read it. I stumbled over the Batswana names though, and this slowed my reading down quite a lot! I also thought that at the start of the book the writing is very basic, and that the only thing it has going for it is the fact that it is set in a country that I have never, and most people have never been to, so it is exotic.

Also at the start of the book, I found that the story was about very mundane things. After about fifty pages, I wondered whether I wanted to keep reading this...

The middle!

As the book gets in to the middle section, the main character, Mma Ramotswe, goes about the business of her detective agency. This involves some fairly interesting cases, and it is interesting to read about her experiences as a woman in a land where only men do such work. She is very headstrong and always successful in proving that she can be a detective!

In the second part of the middle of the book, the cases really do get more interesting. For example, Mma Ramotswe deals with wayward children and bad husbands. There is also a case that begins here that goes on to the end of the book. Most of the cases only last for one or two of the twenty-two chapters, and I thought that that made the book very bitty.

Mma Ramotswe's personaly life gets a little more interesting in this part of the book as well!

The end

I won't spoil the ending for you, but I will say that this is the best part of the book! Mma Ramotswe is still working with her community in Botswana, solving mysterious cases and proving that she does run the No.1 Ladies Detective Agency.

After some of the incidents earlier in the book, I was very surprised by the ending, but it was a good one!

In Summary and recommendation

At only 226 pages, this book is a very short read. I did enjoy it but as I said at one point I really thought about putting it down. If you start to read it and don't enjoy it, persist at least to the midpoint because it really does get better as it goes on.

I enjoyed learning about Botswana and its people, and the simple account of this woman's life is actually quite refreshing. This story is certainly unusual, and in summary, I would recommend it.

Summary: Mma Ramotswe is waiting for you!