 "African traditions and landscapes" | 2009-09-24 |
| - Reviewed By User: A1EEVWIHHOU0QG |
Precious Ramotswe had a short nightmarish marriage to Note Mokoti and gave birth to a child who lived only five days. For the next fourteen years she stayed with her father until his death when she was thirty four. Luckily he left her well off so she set up a detective agency.
The rest of the book deals with the cases she handled and how she handled them. Many of the stories were very interesting but there were some weak ones too. For example the case of Malatsi who disappeared in the river, when he was about to be baptized. How did Mma Ramotswe know that he was eaten by a crocodile and above all how to position herself in a place and time for the crocodile?!! After killing the animal she slit open its belly and found undigested bangles and rings and a wristwatch and so solved the case. Sorry, to me this was weak.
The author captures some of the nuances very well indeed and I liked how the book ends on a pleasantly romantic note. |
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 "Charming mysteries" | 2009-09-23 |
| - Reviewed By User: A1GFM0ZKG5PKJJ |
| I don't normally like mysteries, because I hate blood and gore and suspense. But I have to say that this book was really charming. Although it has 'detective' in the title, the mysteries are not the central theme of this book at all. This is a book about the main character and about her country - the mysteries she handles are supporting plots, and they are not bloody or gory. I'm looking forward to the rest of the books in this series. |
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| "Charming and pleasant" | 2009-09-19 |
| - Reviewed By User: A3RTNA9THAU2OP |
Mme Precious Ramotswe finds herself taking care of her father after suffering through an abusive marriage in which her husband leaves her. When her father is on his death bed, he tells Precious that he has enough cattle for her to be able to sell and buy a business so that she can have a good life. She decides to open her own detective agency rather than purchase an existing business. Since a woman owns and runs the the No. 1 Ladies Detectives Agency, that makes it the only agency of it's kind in Africa.
I will admit that I didn't expect to like this book, but it turned out to be a surprisingly enjoyable read. It was very charming and pleasant. The cases that Precious has are not the kind of criminal cases that I typically read about. They're more human. She looks for missing persons, tries to catch cheating husbands, even follows around a teenage girl for her father. I enjoy her ways of thinking and the way she deals with these people. Some of the cases are touching, while some are slightly humorous. I look forward to reading the next installment in the series. |
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| "An Unexpected Pleasure" | 2009-09-09 |
| - Reviewed By User: A3EHCJRIUH9U2T |
| I decided to read the book because being an avid reader, I am always looking for more to read. This looked like a book that has gained popularity and is also a series book, so if I really enjoyed it, there's more to look forward to. I found that Precious Ramotswe is a good person and someone I'd seek out as a friend after reading about her. The book had an unexpected format, and I found myself drawn in to life in Botswana, of which I knew nothing. The characters are quietly real, as opposed to colorful caricature, and I appreciate this. The book reads from a woman's point of view, which only illustrates the author's talent. The book has very different pacing from the average detective type fiction, yet it does nothing to take away from the plot. I have subsequently read three more of the series and look forward to reading the rest of them. |
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| "Charismatic, clever Botswanan woman uses common sense to solve crimes" | 2009-08-31 |
| - Reviewed By User: A2E3GFHUDNPYDH |
| Fabulously fat Precious Ramotswe, a thirty-five year old Christian Botswanan woman, sets up a detective agency with proceeds from the inheritance her kind, loving, level-headed father accumulated. She hires a skilled secretary and waits. Soon, a small but steady stream of customers comes calling. Mma Ramotswe's sleuthing skills are as unconventional as they are effective, which is why, by the end of the book, business is near booming. The Ladies' No. 1 Detective Agency, with its wide-ranging, always engaging characters, is the first installment in a really good, easy reading, detective series set in Africa. Readers are likely to find Mms Ramotswe, with her kind, overachieving, commonsensical ways and adoration for Africa, endearing and her character traits (relationship with Note aside) admirable. The next two books in the series (which is as far as I've read) are just as entertaining. Also good: Don't Let's Go to the Dogs Tonight by Alexandra Fuller, Graceland by Chris Abani, and Fever! By John Grant Fuller. |
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| "Charming book." | 2009-08-07 |
| - Reviewed By User: A20VPR6MGG3NC9 |
| A short but very sweet book which introduces us to the lady detective for the first time. I very much enjoyed how she coped with and solved each investigation plus the insights into her personal life. Looking forward to reading the next book in the series. |
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