another great book from the no. 1 ladies detective agency series. in this tale, mma ramostwe is asked to investigate the poisoning of a great official's brother. meanwhile, her assistant detective and trusty secretary, mma makutsi, investigates a beauty pageant to make sure that the girls who are participating are of the best kind of people: loving, caring, and respectful. each case has its issues, problems, and pitfalls. thankfully the storytelling is right on par with the rest of mccall smith's novels. i enjoyed this one as much as the others!

second in the no. 1 ladies detective agency series, this book is just as good as the last. mma ramotswe not only takes on a few small cases but also a larger case with a missing person been gone over 20 years. this time around the story, though, she must deal with her new fiance, mr j.l.b. matekoni, and his very soft heart.

it's always hard for me to say which book in a series i like the best and it's no easier with the no. 1 ladies detective agency. each one is equally poignant and well-written. i only wish that they were longer. i've delayed writing this entry because i actually finished this book two weeks ago! i'm reading the next book in the series and taking it much slower this time around. it's better for me to actually sit back and enjoy them, rather than run through them super quick.

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!

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.