#ThrowbackThursday. The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency Series

 

McCall Smith, Alexander "The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency" Series

Books 1 to 9:
- "The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency" (1) - 1999
- "Tears of the Giraffe" (2) - 2000
- "Morality for Beautiful Girls" (3) - 2001
- "The Kalahari Typing School for Men" (4) - 2002
- "The Full Cupboard of Life" (5) - 2004
- "In the Company of Cheerful Ladies" (6) - 2004
- "Blue Shoes and Happiness" (7) - 2006
- "The Good Husband of Zebra Drive" (8) - 2007
- "The Miracle at Speedy Motors" (9) - 2008
- "Tea Time for the Traditionally Built" (10) - 2009

Books 11-17: 
- "The Double Comfort Safari Club" (11) - 2010
- "The Saturday Big Tent Wedding Party" (12) - 2011
- "The Limpopo Academy of Private Detection" (13) - 2012
- "The Minor Adjustment Beauty Salon" (14) - 2013
- "The Handsome Man's De Luxe Café" (15) - 2014
- "The Woman Who Walked in Sunshine" (16) - 2015
- "Precious and Grace" (17) - 2016

Light stories, easy reads but quite amusing, not the usual "easy reads" with nothing memorable in it. The little detective stories are nice but not too gruesome and there is a lot of information about Botswana in it.

We discussed this in our international book club in November 2004 and June 2008 (different members).

Read more on my original posts here, here and here.

McCall Smith, Alexander "The No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency" Series # 11-17

McCall Smith, Alexander "The No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency" Series # 11-17

See my previous reviews of the other books in this series by Alexander McCall Smith:

McCall Smith, Alexander "The No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency" Series # 1-9
McCall Smith, Alexander "Tea Time for the Traditionally Built" - 2009
McCall Smith, Alexander "The No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency" (1) - 1999
- "Tears of the Giraffe" (2) - 2000
- "Morality for Beautiful Girls" (3) - 2001
- "The Kalahari Typing School for Men" (4) - 2002
- "The Full Cupboard of Life" (5) - 2004
- "In the Company of Cheerful Ladies" (6) - 2004
- "Blue Shoes and Happiness" (7) - 2006
- "The Good Husband of Zebra Drive" (8) - 2007
- "The Miracle at Speedy Motors" (9) - 2008
- "Tea Time for the Traditionally Built" (10) - 2009
- "The Double Comfort Safari Club" (11) - 2010
- "The Saturday Big Tent Wedding Party" (12) - 2011
- "The Limpopo Academy of Private Detection" (13) - 2012
- "The Minor Adjustment Beauty Salon" (14) - 2013
- "The Handsome Man's De Luxe Café" (15) - 2014
- "The Woman Who Walked in Sunshine" (16) - 2015
- "Precious and Grace" (17) - 2016
- "The House of Unexpected Sisters" (18) - 2017
- "The Colours of All the Cattle" (19) -2018
- "To the Land of Long Lost Friends" (20) - 2019
- "How to Raise an Elephant" (21) - 2020
Extra: 2013: The Slice of No. 1 Celebration Storybook (ebook only)

After having described the first ten novels (see links above), I have carried on readin the next books in the series.

They are all as delightful to read as the first ones were, especially in between more serious and challenging reads.

Whether Mma Ramotswe is chasing some criminals or tries to make everyone around her feel good, she is always a lovely person to read about.

McCall Smith, Alexander "The Double Comfort Safari Club" (11) - 2010

As I said in my first blog about The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency, I have enjoyed reading the series about Mma Ramotswe and her family and business a lot. They are easy going reads where you learn a little about Botswana, try to follow the lady detective in her pursuit of wayward husbands, "loose women", petty criminals but mainly in her special way to protect those she loves.

The author's writing style is warm and gentle. His way about describing about Botswana and its inhabitants makes you want to go and visit.

From the back cover:

"The delightful new installment in Alexander McCall Smith's beloved and bestselling series finds Mma Ramotswe and Mma Makutsi travelling to the north of Botswana, to the stunning Okavango Delta, to visit a safari lodge where there have been several unexplained and troubling events - including the demise of one of the guests.

When the two ladies of the No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency arrive at the Okavango Delta, their eyes are opened, as if for the first time, to the natural beauty and wildlife of their homeland. With teeming wildlife, endless grasslands, and sparkling rivulets of water running in every direction, it is breathtaking. But they can't help being drawn into a world filled with other wildlife: rival safari operators, discontented guides, grumpy hippopotamuses. On top of that, the date has still not been set for Mma Makutsi and Phuti Radiphuti's wedding, and it's safe to say that Mma Makutsi is beginning to grow a bit impatient.

And to top it all off, the impossible has happened: one of Mr. J.L.B. Matekoni's apprentices has gotten married.... Of course none of this defeats the indomitable Precious Ramotswe. Good sense, kindness, and copious quantities of red bush tea carry the day &- as they always do."

McCall Smith, Alexander "The Saturday Big Tent Wedding Party" (12) - 2011

I preferred this one to the last book. Not only does Mma Makutsi get married to her Mr. Phuti Radiphuti, we also have an interesting crime story within the novel. Mma Ramotswe has to find a cattle killer, something as criminal in Botswana as if you killed your neighbour.

And then there is the story of Mma Makutsi and her love of beautiful, even if unpractical, shoes.

From the back cover:

"As the countdown to Mma Makutsi's wedding begins, all is not as it should be at the No.1 Ladies' Detective Agency. While investigating unpleasant occurrences on a southern cattle-post, Mma Ramotswe, always on the side of the weak against the strong, has reason to reflect on Rule No.3 of The Principles of Private Detection: never lie to the client. Apprentice mechanic Charlie seems to be avoiding certain important responsibilities. And as Mma Makutsi's big day approaches, her nemesis Violet Sephotho is casting her net wider: by standing for election which could spell trouble for the entire nation. But as friends and family gather under starry African night skies, it turns out that even the most perplexing of apparitions - and the most shocking of crimes - may yield to rational explanation. And, of course, to Mma Ramotswe's inimitable way with love, intuition and redbush tea."

McCall Smith, Alexander "The Limpopo Academy of Private Detection" (13) - 2012

Mma Ramotswe and Mma Makutsi meet their hero, the author of their detective book, Clovis Anderson.

How lovely to meet the guy they quote almost daily. He helps them with some of their cases. As always, life in Botswana is calm and quiet, except for some troublemakers. This is my "in-between" reading.

From the back cover:

"Mma Ramotswe, normally a peaceful sleeper, finds her slumbers disturbed by dreams of a tall stranger, but she is not quite ready to learn what this vision portends. Soon even Mma Makutsi has to admit that untoward things are occurring around the No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency, not least with the construction of her marital home. At Speedy Motors Fanwell finds himself in trouble with the law, and the indomitable Mma Potokwani flees the orphan farm. Armed with courage, kindness and an instinct for the truth, Mma Ramotswe sets out to restore order."

McCall Smith, Alexander "The Minor Adjustment Beauty Salon" (14) - 2013

And the story goes on. There is an addition to the No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency, not 97% but 100%. Mma Makutsi has a baby whom she calls Itumelang Clovis Rhadiputhi. Meanwhile, Mma Ramotswe carries on solving her small but still disturbing crime scenes in her usual, cheerful manner. You just have to like her.

From the back cover:

"There are joyful tidings at the No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency with the arrival of Mma Makutsi's baby. However, while her assistant is busy with motherhood, Mma Ramotswe must tackle tea-making and detective work alone. Well-known troublemaker Violet Sephotho may or may not be behind a smear campaign against the Minor Adjustment Beauty Salon, and a dispute over the will of a local dignitary points to a shocking family secret. But the agency is resilient, adaptable and open to useful lessons - on particular, that our enemies and allies are not always obvious."

McCall Smith, Alexander "The Handsome Man's De Luxe Café" (No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency #15) - 2014

Mma Ramotswe and her No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency will always have a special place in my heart. I love her kindness and cleverness, she is the type of person you would like to have as a friend. And there are not twenty murders in every book, there are hardly any. Just other everyday problems anyone of us could have.

Mma Makutsi on the other hand is getting too full of herself often and I know I would not have the patience of her employer. Shows again what a great lady she is.

From the back cover:

"The No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency often helps people find things they have lost. But they have never had to help a client find herself - until now, in this latest installment of Alexander McCall Smith’s best-selling and beloved series.

A kindhearted brother and sister have taken in a woman known only as 'Mrs.' - a woman with no memory of her name or of how she came to Botswana. And so it’s up to Precious Ramotswe and her new co-director, Grace Makutsi, to discover the woman’s identity.

Meanwhile, motherhood proves to be no obstacle to Mma Makutsi’s professional success. As she settles into her role as partner at the agency, she also launches a new enterprise of her own: the Handsome Man’s De Luxe Café, a restaurant for Gaborone’s most fashionable diners. But even Miss 97 Per Cent isn’t fully prepared for the temperamental chefs, drunken waiters, and other challenges that come with running one’s own business. Help may come from an unexpected source, if only Mma Makutsi can swallow her pride and ask.

And next door to the No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency, Mr. J.L.B. Matekoni is all too familiar with the difficult decisions of business owners. He is finally forced to make a tough choice, one that will bring major changes to both Tlokweng Road Speedy Motors and the No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency - and that will require all of Mma Ramotswe’s finesse and patience to sort out.

With sympathy and indefatigable good humor, Mma Ramotswe and her friends see one another through these major changes and discover along the way what true friendship really means."

McCall Smith, Alexander "The Woman Who Walked in Sunshine" (16) - 2015

Another story about Mma Ramotswe, the 1st lady detective in Botswana and her assistant. When I read the last book (The Handsome Man's De Luxe Café), I said that Mma Makutsi was getting too full of herself and in this one she even gets to run the detective agency by herself. She didn't get more bonus points from me but this story was a little more interesting and fun than the last one. I might go back and read some more.

From the back cover:

"Mma Ramotswe is taking a break, leaving important tasks in the capable hands of Mma Makutsi, co-director of the No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency. But Mma Ramotswe soon finds herself interfering in cases (secretly, or so she intends). While 'on holiday', she delves into the past of a man whose reputation is brought into question, she is called upon to rescue a small boy - and discovees Violet Sephotho's latest underhand business endeavour: the No. 1 Ladies' Secretarial College. Meanwhile, Mma Makutsi hires a part-time science teacher as an assistant, and suspects that her authority is being undermined. Will Mma Ramotswe be caught out?"

McCall Smith, Alexander "Precious and Grace" (No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency #17) - 2016

So, I started (and finished) another Mma Ramotswe book. I must say, I enjoyed this one more than the last one, maybe because it concentrated a little more on Mma Ramotswe again. And on some of the other people working for either Mma Ramotswe or Mr. J.L.B. Matekoni, all of them lovely in their own way. I wonder whether we will learn more about the young clerk whom Mma Ramotswe promised to find a bride.

I usually look for the blurb on the book and was quite shocked to find in one of the descriptions (presumably) from the book that a lady was coming from Australia to get help from Precious and Grace. No, no, no. She came from Canada. Is it too much to expect them to get that right?

From the back cover:

"The one with the woman who lost her past.

Precious Ramotswe and Grace Makutsi's friendship is tested by a curious case: a client who left Botswana thirty years ago and remembers little of her past. The quest for the truth takes the detectives in very different directions - but what if they are both wrong? Meanwhile, Fanwell adopts a stray dog, Mr Polopetsi becomes entangled in a tricky business deal and Violet Sephotho could be running for a prestigious award. Can Mma Ramotswe and Mma Makutsi move beyond their differing views to solve the case and bring harmony to the agency?"

See more comments on my ThrowbackThursday post in 2022.

McCall Smith, Alexander "Espresso Tales" and "Love Over Scotland"

McCall Smith, Alexander "Espresso Tales" (44 Scotland Street #2) - 2005

This book is the reason why I started another series by Alexander McCall Smith. I found it on one of those book swapping shelves. And since I liked "The No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency" Series, I thought, why not. I bought the first and third book in the series ("44 Scotland Street" and "Love Over Scotland").

Some parts are really silly and definitely exaggerated but he always makes me smile. His books are definitely on the lighter side of my reading but they are nice night-time stories to read in-between.
And I can get upset about some people and their behaviour. There is this mother of a five-year-old who treats him like a baby girl, no football, no rough play, pink walls in his bedroom, pink dungarees, no, excuse meeeee, crushed strawberry dungarees. LOL She even takes him to a psychiatrist but if you ask me, it's her who is in desperate need of one.

And then there is Pat, a nice girl but without a goal, who shares a flat with Bruce, a narcistic macho and that's the best I can say about him.

So, a nice little story about neighbours and friends.

From the back cover:

"In Espresso Tales, Alexander McCall Smith returns home to Edinburgh and the glorious cast of his own tales of the city, the residents of 44 Scotland Street, with a new set of challenges for each one of them.

Bruce, the intolerably vain and perpetually deluded ex-surveyor, is about to embark on a new career as a wine merchant, while his long-suffering flatmate Pat MacGregor, set up by matchmaking Domenica Macdonald, finds herself invited to a nudist picnic in Moray Place in the pursuit of true love. Prodigious six-year-old Bertie Pollock wants a boy's life of fishing and rugby, not yoga and pink dungarees, and he plots rebellion against his bossy, crusading mother Irene and his psychotherapist Dr Fairbairn.

But when Bertie's longed-for trip to Glasgow with his ineffectual father Stuart ends with Bertie taking money off legendary Glasgow hard man Lard O'Connor at cards, it looks as though Bertie should have been more careful what he wished for. And all the time it appears that both Irene Pollock and Dr Fairbairn are engaged in a struggle with dark secrets and unconscious urges of their own."

McCall Smith, Alexander "Love Over Scotland" (44 Scotland Street #3) - 2006

"Love Over Scotland" picks up where "Espresso Tales" leave off. We hear more about Bertie, the five-year old and his awful mother, a neighbour of Pat goes to meet some pirates in South-East Asia, there are other small and big problems with the people in the book but I think this is it for the series. There are more books that carry on the tales of our Scottish friends but I think I'll give them a miss. If you love light reading, you will probably love it, Alexander McCall Smith has a good way of describing people.

From the back cover:

"With his characteristic warmth, inventiveness and brilliant wit, Alexander McCall Smith gives us more of the gloriously entertaining comings and goings at 44 Scotland Street, the Edinburgh townhouse.
Six-year-old prodigy Bertie perseveres in his heroic struggle for truth and balanced good sense against his insufferable mother and her crony, the psychotherapist Dr Fairbairn. Domenica sets off on an anthropological odyssey with pirates in the Malacca Straits, while Pat attracts several handsome admirers, including a toothsome suitor named Wolf. And Big Lou, eternal source of coffee and good advice to her friends, has love, heartbreak and erstwhile boyfriend Eddie's misdemeanours on her own mind."

These are the other books in the series "44 Scotland Street":
2007: The World According to Bertie 
2008: The Unbearable Lightness of Scones
2010: The Importance of Being Seven
2011: Bertie Plays The Blues
2012: Sunshine on Scotland Street
2013: Bertie's Guide to Life and Mothers
2015: The Revolving Door of Life
2016: The Bertie Project
2017: A Time of Love and Tartan
2019: The Peppermint Tea Chronicles
2020: A Promise of Ankles

McCall Smith, Alexander "44 Scotland Street"

McCall Smith, Alexander "44 Scotland Street" - 2005

I have been a fan of Alexander McCall Smith ever since I read his first novel in "The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency". But he has written more series, so I thought why not try his novels on Scotland, his home country. After all, he has described Botswana so well, he should do just as great with his own nation.

It was interesting to read in the introduction, that this story was written in the same way Charles Dickens wrote his many great works, it's a serialised novel. The author had wondered why they didn't exist anymore and he had been taken up on this, so his novel appeared in snippets for six months in "The Scotsman".

The novel was as expected, funny and light-hearted, an easy read, nothing much happens but it doesn't get all that boring, either. The chapters are small, so they could fit into the newspaper, I suspect. I usually like my books a little more intriguing but this was quite nice.

From the back cover:

"Alexander McCall Smith's Scotland Street occupies a busy, bohemian corner of Edinburgh's New Town, where the old haute bourgeoisie finds itself having to rub shoulders with students, poets and portraitists. And number 44 has more than its fair share of the street's eccentrics and failures.

When Pat - on her second gap year and a source of some worry to her parents - is accepted as a new tenant at number 44, she isn't quite sure how long she'll last. Her flatmate Bruce, a rugby-playing chartered surveyor, is impossibly narcissistic, carelessly philandering and infuriatingly handsome. Downstairs lives the gloriously pretentious Irene, who precocious five-year-old is in therapy after setting fire to his father's copy of the Guardian. And then there is the shrewd, intellectual Domenica MacDonald, mysteriously employed but a sharp-eyed observer of the house's activities in her spare time...

Dry, funny, hugely entertaining, with its glittering cast of rogues, oddballs and innocents, McCall Smith's Scotland Street is proof that the author of The No.1 Ladies' Detective Agency can be as witty, incisive and humane in observing his native Edinburgh as his adopted Botswana."

McCall Smith, Alexander "Tea Time for the Traditionally Built"

McCall Smith, Alexander "Tea Time for the Traditionally Built" - 2009
The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency #10

I don't read a lot of "easy" books but I thought it was about time I got back to Mma Ramotswe, the owner of the No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency in Gaborone, Botswana.

I have always enjoyed the stories about this lady who defies prejudices about what woman can and can't do. The stories are funny but show a lot of heart. Whether Mma Ramotswe mourns for her little white van that gets too old to do its duties, tries to find the traitor in a football team or helps her assistant to fight a fiancé-snatcher, there is a lot of both in all the stories.

Definitely nice stories to enjoy. Book no. 10 in this series is just as charming as all the first nine ones.

From the back cover:

"There are things that men know and ladies do not, and vice versa. It is unfortunate - when Mma Ramotswe's newest client is the big-shot owner of the ailing Kalahari Swoopers - that one thing lady detectives know very little about is football. And when Violet Sephotho sets her sights on Mma Makutsi's unsuspecting fiancé, it becomes clear that some men do not know a ruthless Jezebel even when she is bouncing up and down on the best bed in the Double Comfort Furniture Shop.

In her attempt to foster understanding between the sexes, Mma Ramotswe ventures into new territory, drinks tea in unfamiliar kitchens and learns to dig deep to uncover the goodness of the human heart."

See more comments on my ThrowbackThursday post in 2022.

McCall Smith, Alexander "Emma"

McCall Smith, Alexander "Emma. A Modern Retelling" - 2015

I am not a fan of fanfiction. I usually don't read that kind of stuff. But somehow I was quite interested in the idea of transplanting one of Jane Austen's books into our world.

Yes, the idea sounds nice. Almost like communism. Wouldn't if be nice if we all were equal and had the same chances? Well, because people are people this fantastic idea will never work in the real world.

Neither does Emma Woodhouse in the 21st century. Most people don't like her in the original version "Emma". They will hate her in this one. We all know better in the meantime and so should she.

Alexander McCall Smith has written some fabulous books about life in Botswana ("The No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency" Series). I think he should stick to it. Not that this was written badly, I just don't like it when someone picks up someone else's idea and moves it further.

So, yes, not my thing but if you're curious and like this type of book, I think you might even enjoy it.

From the back cover:

 

"Sometimes it takes time to discover who you really are. And for Emma Woodhouse the journey is only just beginning. After graduating, Emma returns home to Norfolk, where she plans to set up a design business. But that summer, as Emma begins to match-make various friends and neighbours, some important lessons about life and relationships await her…"

McCall Smith, Alexander "The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency" Series

McCall Smith, Alexander "The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency" Series

McCall Smith, Alexander "The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency" (1) - 1999
- "Tears of the Giraffe" (2) - 2000
- "Morality for Beautiful Girls" (3) - 2001
- "The Kalahari Typing School for Men" (4) - 2002
- "The Full Cupboard of Life" (5) - 2004
- "In the Company of Cheerful Ladies" (6) - 2004
- "Blue Shoes and Happiness" (7) - 2006
- "The Good Husband of Zebra Drive" (8) - 2007
- "The Miracle at Speedy Motors" (9) - 2008

There are more in the meantime, see here:
- "Tea Time for the Traditionally Built" (10) - 2009

Books 11-17: 
- "The Double Comfort Safari Club" (11) - 2010
- "The Saturday Big Tent Wedding Party" (12) - 2011
- "The Limpopo Academy of Private Detection" (13) - 2012
- "The Minor Adjustment Beauty Salon" (14) - 2013
- "The Handsome Man's De Luxe Café" (15) - 2014
- "The Woman Who Walked in Sunshine" (16) - 2015
- "Precious and Grace" (17) - 2016

I usually don't read this genre.

However, I have read all the Ladies' Detective stories and liked them a lot (obviously, otherwise I wouldn't have carried on). They are light stories, easy reads but quite amusing, not the usual "easy reads" with nothing memorable in it. The author doesn't just tell some nice little detective stories, there is a lot of information about Botswana in it, too. The people in the books are good people, especially Mma Ramotswe, the First Lady Detective in Botswana.

All of my friends who have read the novels, liked them, as well. You should read them in order.

We discussed this in our international book club in November 2004 and June 2008 (different members).

From the back cover:

The No.1 Ladies' Detective Agency consists of one woman, the engaging and sassy Precious Ramotswe, who sets up shop in Gabarone, Botswana. This unlikely herione specialises in missing husbands, wayward daughters, con men and impostors." 

 

See more comments on my ThrowbackThursday post in 2022.