Review: The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency

"Mma Ramotswe had a detective agency in Africa, at the foot of Kgale Hill. These were its assets a tiny white van, two desks, two chairs, a telephone and an old typewriter. Then there was a teapot, in which Mma Ramotswe - the only lady private detective in Botswana - brewed redbush tea. And three mugs - one for herself, one for her secretary and one for the client. What else does a detective agency really need ?"

The No 1 Ladies Detective Agency is the first in a series of four so far books by a Scot called Alexander McCall Smith (who appears to have spent a large chunk of his life in Botswana), about a very small detective agency in Botswana. They aren't really conventional mystery books, being episodic to the point of almost being collections of short stories. The crimes Mma Ramotswe is called on to solve are mainly the sort that just get mentioned in passing by other detectives - missing husbands, credit checks, employee fraud, unsuitable boyfriends, and parasitic imposters posing as fathers. And shooting the odd crocodile.

I like these books for the very pared down writing, for the dry humour, and for the total lack of explanation of events. Stuff happens because that's what Botswana is like. There is no attempt to provide travelogue descriptions of Africa, no extensive explanations of the relationships between different tribal groups, no dry histories. Everything comes out in people's actions or thoughts - for instance, when Mma Ramotswe muses on the fate of bad people after death she concludes "they were sent to some terrible place - perhaps a bit like Nigeria, she thought - and when they acknowleged their wrongdoing they would be forgiven".

Well, I laughed, anyway. And Carol enjoyed No 1 Ladies' Detective Agency enough to read Tears of the Girraffe immediately afterward, which is unusual and therefore a definite recommendation.

There are three follow ups - 'The Tears of the Giraffe', 'Morality for Beautiful Girls' and 'The Kalihari Typing School for Men' which are just as good.

Reprinted with permission. Do Not repost without permission from the author, Rik Shepherd - RAM

Book Review: The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency