Book Review – The No.1 Ladies Detective Agency

The No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency by Alexander mcCall Smith

Published: 2003 by Abacus

Genre: Fiction, cultural – Africa (Botswana)

Pages: 233

“I am just a tiny person in Africa, but there is a place for me, and for everybody, to sit down on this earth and touch it and call it their own.”

I have never been to Africa, but when I picture it, this is what it feels like. A little exciting, funny, down to earth and warm. Warm in the way that it warms your heart. Warm in the way that you can feel the heat through the pages. Warm in the way that it’s comforting. My favorite part, without a doubt, being the introduction to how things came to be how they are for the main character in this book. About her father, an ordinary man, and who writes the tales of ordinary men? It almost brought tears to my eyes. Ok, fine, I cried a little!

“That is the problem with governments these days. They want to do things all the time; they are always very busy thinking of what things they can do next. That is not what people want. People want to be left alone to look after their cattle.” 

After the introduction we get to follow Mma Rambotswe around as she solves mysteries and deals with the task of managing her own start-up and a possible love connection. You can sense it, it’s the beginning of a journey and I’m in the white beat up van ready to go where it takes me! This is just the first book of a series, and as a true book lover I bought the consecutive 4 books too! I’m going to savour them, cause they are worth spending time with, but they are short and easy reads. I can’t wait to see what more places we’ll go and what more mysteries lies ahead, both in crime and in love. (And let’s be honest, aren’t they often the same child with a different name?)

“You can go through life and make new friends every year – every month practically – but there was never any substitute for those friendships of childhood that survive into adult years. Those are the ones in which we are bound to one another with hoops of steel.” 

I found that a series was made of the books and I’m dying to watch it, but I haven’t found any provider in Norway that has optioned it. Hopefully I’ll see it someday. For now, I’ll enjoy the books, and if you haven’t already heard about them, I highly recommend you look into them!