Alexander McCall Smith

Books: Mystery

The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency (1998)

My mom got me the first three books in this series for Christmas, but I hadn't gotten around to reading the first book until now.

This is a rather unusual book for a mystery. It's almost a collection of short stories tied together by an overall arc. The book tells the story of Mma Ramotswe life and how she came to be the only detective agency in Botswana, as well as her first few cases as she settles into being a detective.

In some ways it feels more like a novel than a traditional mystery. Which isn't a bad thing, just something different.

As far as the characters, I like Mma Ramotswe. She's strong but yet soft-hearted, which is a nice combination. And her path does not seem to be an unreasonable one, given her past. But I don't have much of an opinion about any of the other characters. She spends time with her secretary, but she is almost a background characters, which is surprising, considering how much time she spends with her. The same goes for Mr J.L.B. Matekoni. She spends a great deal of time with him, but I don't feel like I know him at all.

The story is good, but for some reason I just couldn't get into it. The book was a quick read, but I found it easy enough to put down when I needed to go do other things, which is unusual for me. This may be because I wasn't in the mood for a mystery or perhaps I just wasn't in the mood for this mystery.

I will definitely read more books in this series, but not right now.

Rating: 7/10