What a charming book! It had been on my to-read list for some time, and I regret that it took me so long to get to.

Precious Ramotswe is a clever, plucky woman in her 30s who decides to open a detective agency — the only such agency run by women — in her native country of Botswana. Although business is initially slow, the locals soon warm up to the idea and Mma Ramotswe takes on cases ranging from missing husbands and stolen cars to false fathers and fraudulent doctors. Getting to know Mma Ramotswe is a hoot, as is meeting her friends and clients. Throughout it all, Botswana’s beauty and charm subtly take center stage.

I listened to this book and found it really delightful – a new slant on the normal detective/mystery series. I learned at least as much about Botswana as I did about the main character, Mma Ramotswe. No matter what the case she used good judgment and clever insight to solve it. Sometimes, I laughed out loud, sometimes I shuddered. Wonderful. Highly recommended!

I quite liked this story, and it was well-written, but I don’t think I liked it well enough to continue reading the series. Enjoyable though!

A solid, quick read, but definitely not my typical sort of book. (I just joined a new local book club and it is their current selection.) I practically live at Borders, yet this was my very first venture into the “Mystery & Thriller” section.

Although the first in a fictional series, it did spark an interest in visiting Botswana in the near future — and since the author, Alexander McCall Smith, used to teach at the University of Botswana, I am assuming many of the native descriptions were not simply sewn together from National Geographic articles.

I may or may not read more books in the series. I have a significant library of books at home, but very few “casual” reads such as this, so it might be worth investing in the series for those infrequent nights when you just want to curl up with a book and not think too hard, but you cannot bring yourself to give Dan Brown money :)