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Binding: PaperbackDewey Decimal Number: 823.914 EAN: 9781400034772 Edition: Today Show Book Club ISBN: 1400034779 Label: Anchor Manufacturer: Anchor Number Of Items: 1 Number Of Pages: 235 Publication Date: February 06, 2003 Publisher: Anchor Release Date: February 06, 2003 Studio: Anchor Editorial Review: Amazon.com: Penzler Pick, July 2001: Working in a mystery tradition that will cause genre aficionados to think of such classic sleuths as Melville Davisson Post's Uncle Abner or Robert van Gulik's Judge Dee, Alexander McCall Smith creates an African detective, Precious Ramotswe, who's their full-fledged heir. It's the detective as folk hero, solving crimes through an innate, self-possessed wisdom that, combined with an understanding of human nature, invariably penetrates into the heart of a puzzle. If Miss Marple were fat and jolly and lived in Botswana--and decided to go against any conventional notion of what an unmarried woman should do, spending the money she got from selling her late father's cattle to set up a Ladies' Detective Agency--then you have an idea of how Precious sets herself up as her country's first female detective. Once the clients start showing up on her doorstep, Precious enjoys a pleasingly successful series of cases. But the edge of the Kalahari is not St. Mary Mead, and the sign Precious orders, painted in brilliant colors, is anything but discreet. Pointing in the direction of the small building she had purchased to house her new business, it reads "THE NO. 1 LADIES DETECTIVE AGENCY. FOR ALL CONFIDENTIAL MATTERS AND ENQUIRIES. SATISFACTION GUARANTEED FOR ALL PARTIES. UNDER PERSONAL MANAGEMENT." The solutions she comes up with, whether in the case of the clinic doctor with two quite different personalities (depending on the day of the week), or the man who had joined a Christian sect and seemingly vanished, or the kidnapped boy whose bones may or may not be those in a witch doctor's magic kit, are all sensible, logical, and satisfying. Smith's gently ironic tone is full of good humor towards his lively, intelligent heroine and towards her fellow Africans, who live their lives with dignity and with cautious acceptance of the confusions to which the world submits them. Precious Ramotswe is a remarkable creation, and The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency well deserves the praise it received from London's Times Literary Supplement. I look forward with great eagerness to the upcoming books featuring the memorable Miss Ramotswe, Tears of the Giraffe and Morality for Beautiful Girls, soon to be available in the U.S. --Otto Penzler Product Description: This first novel in Alexander McCall Smith’s widely acclaimed The No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency series tells the story of the delightfully cunning and enormously engaging Precious Ramotswe, who is drawn to her profession to “help people with problems in their lives.” Immediately upon setting up shop in a small storefront in Gaborone, she is hired to track down a missing husband, uncover a con man, and follow a wayward daughter. But the case that tugs at her heart, and lands her in danger, is a missing eleven-year-old boy, who may have been snatched by witchdoctors. The No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency received two Booker Judges’ Special Recommendations and was voted one of the International Books of the Year and the Millennium by the Times Literary Supplement. Download Description: This first novel in Alexander McCall Smith’s widely acclaimed The No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency series tells the story of the delightfully cunning and enormously engaging Precious Ramotswe, who is drawn to her profession to “help people with problems in their lives.” Immediately upon setting up shop in a small storefront in Gaborone, she is hired to track down a missing husband, uncover a con man, and follow a wayward daughter. But the case that tugs at her heart, and lands her in danger, is a missing eleven-year-old boy, who may have been snatched by witchdoctors. The No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency received two Booker Judges’ Special Recommendations and was voted one of the International Books of the Year and the Millennium by the Times Literary Supplement. “The Miss Marple of Botswana.” THE NEW YORK TIMES BOOK REVIEW “The author’s prose has the merits of simplicity, euphony and precision. His descriptions leave one as if standing in the Botswana landscape. This is art that conceals art. I haven’t read anything with such unalloyed pleasure for a long time.” ANTHONY DANIELS, THE SUNDAY TELEGRAPH “The writing [is] very accessible, yet the prose so beautiful.... I choose books that give me pure joy, whose world I want to stay in for a long time.” AMY TAN, FOR THE TODAY SHOW BOOK CLUB “General audiences will welcome this little gem of a book just as much if not more than mystery readers.” PUBLISHERS WEEKLY “Smart and sassy...Precious’s progress is charted in passages that have the power to amuse or shock or touch the heart, sometimes all at once.... Thoroughly engaging and entertaining.” THE LOS ANGELES TIMES “One of the best, most charming, honest, hilarious and life-affirming books to appear in years.” THE PLAIN DEALER (CLEVELAND) Average Rating:
 Rating:  - Disappointing, a bit condescendingI'm not sure why this book got such raving reviews, I certainly don't need to go on and read book 2 in the series. Perhaps it is because I listened to the audio version, but I found the tone of the writing condescending toward the culture the author is supposed to represent. Moreover, the main character is hardly compelling, and the unfolding events during the story perilously close to being simply boring. Rating:  - life-affirming book with the unforgettable main characterWhen Precious Ramotswe's father, Obed, dies and leaves her all the cattle with the advice to sell it and buy herself a good business, she decides to become a private detective, the first lady detective in Botswana, and perhaps in the whole of Africa. Mma Ramotswe, smart, fat and good-natured, equipped with a detective handbook, great memory, and unfailing sense of right and wrong, sets out to help her neighbors and solve the crimes and mysteries happening around. These are not very serious ... Read More Rating:  - Main CharacterMain character achieves all her good results from lying, hates dogs, uses one as crocodile bait, has super human intellectual powers and extreme pride in her abilities. Not my type of heroine. Rating: - Utterly CharmingThese books are not serious fiction, finely constructed mysteries or the greatest books ever written on Africa. Instead, they are a quiet, gentle and heartwarming series of vignettes that provide insight into the human condition and a peak at the Africa of Botswana. Further, they are not entirely saccharine either as they touch on issues such as domestic violence and the trials and tribulations of serious poverty. Yet at the end of each of these books, I always feel better. This is a rare combination ... Read More Rating: - A Glimpse of Southern Africa from an Author Who KnowsThis gently humorous book and its five similarly funny companions offer more than an engaging story line. You learn that Botswana is a true success story, one of the few in post-colonial sub-Saharan Africa. You can also learn something about the culture, social behavior, languages, and personal values of the people. Of course you need only go to Wikipedia or to Google "Botswana" to gain access to a wealth of facts, if facts will suffice. But, if you wish to be touched by the fabric of Botswana life the ... Read More |
