Rating: 
Summary: A rare gem
Review: The No.1 Ladies Detective Agency is a treasure. It defies the usual boundaries of genre: While a work of fiction, it evokes memoir and spirit of place (eg Elspeth Huxley's Flame Trees of Thika or Rumer Godden's India stories). While the heroine solves mysteries, the emphasis is less on the mystery to be solved than on life in Botswana, the character of the resourceful and indomitable heroine, the innocence of the victims and the motivations of the perpetrators. While it is fine to read a good mystery, a good novel, a good memoir, a good travelogue--this book is all of the above. It is a truism to say
"This is a book you can't put down" but I do recommend that you abandon your workday schedule when you pick up this book as you will not want to put it down and will likely then seque into Tears of the Giraffe and McCall's other little masterpieces. It is a book that can transport you.
Rating:
Summary: Best Read with Bush Tea!
Review: The first thing that you might notice about this book (indeed, the whole series is the language. The no. 1 Ladies Detective Agency is written in this precise, methodical, but wonderfully melodic and wholly satisfying tone, that immediately reminded me of so many real people in former British colonies dedicated to using and mastering Queen's English. It only adds to the character of the novel as a whole. By the end of the first chapter I was even thinking in shorter, more precise sentences.The second wonderful aspect of this novel is its heroine, Mma. Precious Ramotswe. She has somehow managed in Gabarone, Botswana to cultivate the common sense of Miss Marple, the good manners of Hercule Poirot and the savvy and discretion of Hetty Wainthrop. Then there are the sort of cases that come her way and the people she encounters, but to get into detail might ruin it for someone else. My advice is to buy or borrow the bookand settle down with a nice hot cup of bush tea (this really heightened the experience for me - it's known as Rooibos or Ruibos in North America!).
Rating: 
Summary: Disappointed
Review: Having read so many glowing reviews, I picked this book up and promptly signed my name in it. When I was done - I wished I hadn't written in it, so that I could return it!!! I found this book slow moving, trite and uninspiring. Maybe if I had more knowledge of Africa and the every day slang used there, I would have become more involved in the stories. I'd say if you want a book to read that's "just a book to read", and not something you become immersed in, then this book would be ok.
Rating: 
Summary: Good beach read, I suppose
Review: It ain't great literature, but nobody promised it was, and besides, it's a great beach read, and you learn quite a bit about Botswana in the bargain.
Premise is that a woman sets up a one-lady detective agency, not only the #1 agency of its kind, but the ONLY agency of its kind. Written as a series of vignettes focusing on the cases that come along, the author explores and enlightens her readers at a leisurely pace, which is just perfect for sitting on the warm sand and glancing up every now and then to check on the children playing at water's edge.
Written with wit and wisdom, this is a book to be read, enjoyed briefly, and then passed on to a friend.
Rating: 
Summary: A good woman in Africa.
Review: McCall Smith creates a refreshing fictional world: a Detective Agency set in an African locale. Simple in style, brisk pace, agreeable characters, rich African ambience, less than complex mini-investigations, pleasant reading - The No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency very much falls within the softer side of crime detection fiction. Mma. Ramotswe, the plump Agency Detective, loves Botswana and its people. In Sunday school, she learned early in life about "good and evil". Later, she suffered a disastrous marriage and the pain of losing a child. Left a herd of cattle by her deceased father (a gripping section recounts his harrowing time as a miner), Mma. Ramotswe sells up and astonishingly opts to sink the proceeds into setting up in business as Botswana's first female private detective. With few assets, no track record, no client base, the Agency needs to establish itself quickly - or shut up shop. Mma. Ramotswe uses commonsense, wit and women's intuition to help people resolve "their difficulties" (not necessarily involving a crime); some cases are funny such as the woman who suspects her husband of playing around, some bizarre such as the inexplicable dramatic fluctuations in a hospital doctor's competence from one day to another, while others deal with missing persons, notably the disappearance of an eleven-year old boy, possibly linked to witchcraft. In resolving cases, Mme. Ramotswe's guiding principle is that Justice is paramount. These gentle mini-mysteries, entertaining in themselves, give fascinating glimpses into African life and culture. In this respect, The No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency, it could be said, is as much about modern Africa as it is about crime detection. Recommended!
Rating:
Summary: A novel from the shimmering heat of Botswana
Review: Botswana is the setting for the first in a series of detective novels by Alexander McCall Smith featuring Mma Precious Ramotswe, a 'traditionally built' women 'blessed with expansive girth rather than height'. When Mma Ramotswe's father dies from lung disease - the result of long years spent working in South African mines - she uses her inheritance to open her own business, The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency. We follow a progression of cases including the man who had joined a Christian sect and then vanished, a wealthy Indian business man determined to reign in an errant daughter with 'modern ideas', a factory worker suspected of committing insurance fraud, and a boy who may have been kidnapped by a witch-doctor. These delightful vignettes introduce us to a wealth of beautifully detailed characters described with humour, compassion and an obvious love of Africa and its people. The gentle pace of this book perfectly matches the wisdom and insight of Mma Ramotswe as she drives her tiny white van through the shimmering heat of Botswana.
Rating:
Summary: Charming little stories!
Review: This isn't your typical woman detective novel. You won't find the complexities of Nevada Barr or Sue Grafton. Instead, you get a charming, overweight, lovable woman in Africa who solves common, every day cases. From the case of a woman who thinks her husband is messing around to the case of a missing child, Mma Ramotswa gets the jobs done.
Rating:
Summary: Like Comfort Food
Review: Sweet book, likable characters, great descriptions of the country. Mr. Smith is a good writer, telling his story by simply describing the day to day activities of a nice lady and her friends. Nicely done.
Rating:
Summary: Mma Ramotswe, P.I.
Review: It was fun to read about Mma Ramotswe and her investigations. Her use of common sense and observation was a delight, as was the unique setting in Botswana. Some of the cases that Mma solved were very funny (the woman whose husband was going to bars to pick up women; the man who stole the Mercedes); and some were sad (the boy that was kidnapped). I did not think that there was anything grand and ground-breaking here, but nevertheless a fun, light read.
Rating: 
Summary: Short and silly
Review: I had to read this book because it was selected by my book club. Had I read it when I was 12 it might have been fun. The stories are written at a childish level and to market this as anything other than a Nancy Drew level book is astounding. Fortunately it is over and done with quickly.
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