a while back, my mom lent me the kalahari typing school for men and i was immediately in love with botswana. what a strange and beautiful country! typing school is the fourth book in the ladies' detective series though so i had jumped ahead in the story and missed some of the crucial back information. while in san francisco, i picked up the first three books so that i could catch up! and i'm so glad that i did.

the opener book of the series, the no. 1 ladies' detective agency, gives us the backstory on precious ramotswe and her upbringing in botswana. her mother died at a young age and she was left to her father to take care of. her father, obed, was a good man and taught her well. though she did fall into bad marriage with an abusive husband, mma ramotswe grew up to be a formidable woman. a woman who wanted to have a business and make something of her life. on her father's deathbed, he gives precious all of his savings and encourages her to do as her heart pleases, and with that, she opens botswana's first ever ladies' detective agency. she hires a trusty typist, mma makutsi, to be her secretary and opens her doors for business.

the clients are skeptical at first but mma ramotswe manages to solve a few cases and pay the bills. her adventures are simple but intriguing as is this world of botswana that she lives in. it's a thoroughly charming novel and i'm looking forward to reading the rest in the series!