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The No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency

On sale

13th November 2003

Price: £14.99

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Selected: Audiobook Downloadable / ISBN-13: 9781405502900

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Wayward daughters. Missing Husbands. Philandering partners. Curious conmen. If you’ve got a problem, and no one else can help you, then pay a visit to Precious Ramotswe, Botswana’s only – and finest – female private detective.

Her methods may not be conventional, and her manner not exactly Miss Marple, but she’s got warmth, wit and canny intuition on her side, not to mention Mr J. L. B. Matekoni, the charming proprietor of Tlokweng Road Speedy Motors. And Precious is going to need them all as she sets out on the trail of a missing child, a case that tumbles our heroine into a hotbed of strange situations and more than a little danger . . .

Delightfully different, THE NO.1 LADIES’ DETECTIVE AGENCY offers a captivating glimpse of an unusual world.

Reviews

New York Times Book Review
The Miss Marple of Botswana
The TIMES
novels transfer exceptionally well to audio, thanks to Adjoa Andoh's lively, richly humorous narration
Scotsman
Immersing yourself in Precious Ramotswe's life seems to slow your heart rate while sharpening your senses
Sunday Times
Among the greatest comfort-reads of all time
Guardian
A publishing phenomenon
Anthony Daniels, Sunday TELEGRAPH
The author's prose has the merits of simplicity, euphony and precision.
Sunday Telegraph
I haven't read anything with such alloyed pleasure for a long time
Daily Mail
Full of warmth, fun, heat and dust
Scotsman
A small slice of heaven
Sunday HERALD
Everything about [McCall Smith] is appealing. He's just full of delight - it just bubbles out of him
Sunday Times
Hugely enjoyable
Newsweek
One of the most memorable heroines in any modern fiction
Detective Agency’
The No. 1 Ladies
Daily Telegraph
A rare pleasure
20 Best Books to Boost Your Brain and Mood, The Times
Precious Ramotswe is so kind, wise and good, and Alexander McCall Smith such a charming and elegant writer... you could read 300 pages of her simply stirring a pumpkin stew and gazing out benevolently at the sandy road in front of her Botswana porch and feel happy
Independent
A unique setting and range of characters... the vivid descriptions of Botswana means it becomes, in essence, another character... A lovely read with a gentle pace that will transport you to a whole other world