what a sweet and simple book! i'm tempted to go out and buy the rest of the series based on what i've read here. my mother gave me this one to read and assured me that i needn't have had read the previous books in order to understand this one and she was right. it's a simple story set with the tones of understanding humans and human nature. you don't need to know about botswana or its politics in order to enjoy this book... in fact, you could take the characters and put them in a totally different country! it doesn't make a huge difference but the background of peaceful botswana is a different and worthy setting.

upon introducing the characters mma precious ramotswe, her assistant, mma makutsi, and ramotswe's fiancé, mr. j.l.b. matekoni, the book leads us through a short stint of back story so that the setting might be understood and then jumps into the main plot line. mma makutsi is broke and hoping to augment her small income from the no. 1 ladies' detective agency where she works as an assistant detective. a few ideas strike her as worthy money-makers but she eventually settles on a typing school for men because she can get old typewriters from the secretarial school where she trained. mma ramotswe, on the other hand, must deal with a rival detective agency, her adopted orphans, and a run-amok husband whose wife has come to ramotswe's agency for help.

the storylines of this book aren't the most compelling reason to read it. it's the simplicity of life in rural africa (check for snakes!), the common goodness amongst strangers in a harsh land, and the extended concept of family that make it worthwhile even if you've never read any of the other books in the series.

though the book was sweet and entertaining, it lacked a bit of adventure that i was seeking. maybe it's the fact that life in gaborone moves at a pace that's slower than i'm used to? also, the characters felt a bit flat to me and that's probably because i came into the series late and haven't read the previous books for all the back story. grammatically and stylistically speaking the book was spot-on. hhhmmm, i may have to change my rating once i go back and read the others which i definitely will do.