Rating: 
Summary: Agency is not quite "No. 1"
Review: "The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency" is a solid pleasant mystery book, centering on the chubby, pleasant, no-nonsence Precious Ramotswe, seemingly the most unlikely sleuth in Botswana. While a pleasant enough read, it isn't the best I've read. It's a bit like cotton candy -- sweet, but you'll feel hungry after.After a disastrous marriage and the loss of her child, Precious returns to care for her dying father. As he dies, she tells him that she plans to open a detective agency -- the "No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency." Already seasoned in sniffing out crime, Precious finds plenty of clients: A woman searching for her long-lost dad, a very rich and anti-woman client who asks her to find his daughter's boyfriend, a possible insurance fraud over the loss of a finger, a woman seeking proof of her husband's adultery, a woman whose husband converted to a small Christian church and vanished. But most harrowing of all, a young boy kidnapped and possibly murdered by witch doctors... "No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency" is a pleasant but not amazing read. The best aspects are the unusual -- sometimes humorous -- cases that reflect universal crimes and problems (fraud, adultery), and when giving glimpses of traditional and modern African society. How is it different from American culture? Well, you might get a better idea from this. The writing is plain and not extremely detailed. Smith takes care to make sure that the backgrounds are set up properly -- she gives a description, for example, of the harrowing mining in South Africa, through the eyes of Precious's father, who witnesses all sorts of crimes. A particularly sweet part is when Precious's second cousin (who is infertile and was dumped by her husband) finds true love with a kindly, scarred man. And the writing suddenly becomes deeply detailed and very haunting when Smith takes on the harrowing story of the kidnapped boy. Perhaps the biggest problem is that while Smith makes the book go at a brisk pace, it takes an effort to get to know Precious and the other characters (except Obed, who gets a first-person half-chapter). We don't get much of a glimpse inside their heads. This changes occasionally, mostly in the last chapters, such as when Precious thinks back to the death of her baby, or when Mr. Matekoni thinks about marrying her. But unfortunately through most of the book, the third-person narrative keeps readers distant from the characters. And most of the cases aren't too complex (the adultery one, funny as it was, wasn't really a case). Mma. Precious Ramotswe is a nice character, a break from the hardened or arrogant detective that populate a lot of detective fiction. Her outspoken secretary offers some chuckling humor, and Mr. Maketoni is a nice, doubt-filled love interest for Precious. The most three-dimensional character is Precious's dad Obed; the rest are pretty flat and interchangeable. A pleasant, diverting read. It wasn't entirely satisfying, but a nice enough read with some suspense and likable characters. Nice read.
Rating: 
Summary: Delightful stuff!!!!
Review: What a truly delightful little book with such life affirming actions and thoughts . It is just a fun read with the characters coming to life so that you can almost hear their wonderful African English!!!Gives you a real sense of the country and lands within.
Rating:
Summary: I Want to Visit Botswana
Review: This was such a nice surprise to find when doing my usual browsing at the book store! And so exciting to find there were three more books in the saga!
Right after reading all four, I met a woman who had been in the Peace Corps in the 70's and had stayed in Botswana for eight years. Her description reaffirmed my desire to visit.
It is not so much a description of the land and atmosphere that makes you want to hop on a plane, but of the people there and how straightforward and uncomplicated everything seems to be.
Rating:
Summary: A Stretch
Review: I'm sorry...but comparing this main character to Uncle Abner and Judge Dee is a real stretch...this is an OK book, but I don't think it will stand the test of time anywhere near as well as the Abner and Dee mysteries. It's "light."
Rating: 
Summary: Entertaining!
Review: First, I have to say that this is not a detective novel; at least, not in the traditional sense of having a murder take place at the end of the first chapter and then the rest of the book is spent by the detective solving the mystery. This is more of a novel with some snippets of mysteries thrown in for good measure. The writing style appears to be simple but as you read on, you realize that the prose is deceptively simple. There are layers beneath the surface that give an unexpected depth to the book. I find Precious Ramotswe, the "lady" of the Ladies' Detective Agency, to be an incredibly interesting character. She has suffered with a bad husband (now ex), the loss of a child, and the loss of a beloved father but is strong throughout and keeps her humanity intact. I cannot wait to read the further adventures.
Rating: 
Summary: A junior's book selection
Review: This "mystery" was placed in with the adult literature at the bookstore. It really is geared to about 5th or 6th grade with the exception of some discussion of almost explicit sex. I'm not sure of the author's intent, but the story and the writing was not of the complexity for an adult. I might rate it higher if thought intention was to gear for children, with a warning about the sex inferences. The story is set in Botswana. A middle-aged woman starts a detective agency and investigates the regular cases that a detective agency would investigate. No complex crimes, etc. The woman is pretty simple and leads pretty simple life. She solves the cases by using common sense, kind of like you would expect in Tom Sawyer or from Dear Abby.
Rating:
Summary: Great Series!
Review: The No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency books are great! They read quickly, and they are an excellent way to escape to a far away place without too much effort! Although the first book features a number of smaller cases, Tears of the Giraffe (book 2) and Morality for Beautiful Girls (book 3) focus on larger cases that aren't solved as quickly, easily keeping your interest for the length of the book. It isn't necessary to read the books in order, either. The author does a great job of filling in pertinent details as he goes. I would recommend reading the No. 1 Ladies Detective before reading the other books though. Important details about Mma Ramotswe's life are disclosed in the book, and those events are often referred to later in the series.
Rating:
Summary: Sister is on the case! Great but not trite beach book!!!
Review: I love this book. It is simple story telling about a sagacious African woman with a wonderful heart and spirit. Great summer reading.
Rating:
Summary: Satisfaction Guaranteed for all Parties
Review: This is a wonderful little book with engaging, memorable characters. Mma Ramotswe is a down to earth, unapologetically real woman doing what she wants to do instead of what people expect of her. Yes, this book is about a detective agency. Yes, there are concrete mysteries for her to solve, but I think the real beauty in this book lay in the larger mysteries, the mysteries we all face in life that Mma Ramotswe so eloquently voices. As Mma Ramotswe says: "How sorry she felt for white people...who were always dashing around and worrying themselves over things that were going to happen anyway. What was the use of having all that money if you could never sit still...? None, in her view; none at all, and yet they didn't know it. Every so often you meet a white person who understood, who realized how things really were; but these people were few and far between and the other white people often treated them with suspicion." I think this sums it up pretty well!
Rating:
Summary: Gentle, pleasant, amusing, life-affirming, & FUN to read.
Review: Mma Romatswe is the lead character and detective in this delightful series, and she is a joy to spend time with. This is the first book in the series, in which Precious Romatswe sets up her detective agency in Botswana. I enjoyed reading about her life, and her cases, and felt I'd visited a sunny and pleasant place, while reading this mystery. If you enjoy Agatha Christie and other cozy-type mysteries, and you enjoy learning about unfamiliar cultures, try it out.
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