I just finished The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency by Alexander McCall Smith, and thoroughly enjoyed it. The story centers around Precious Ramotswe, a take-charge woman in Botswana who decides to open a detective agency and become a private investigator. She has no experience, but she has confidence that her determination, sharp mind, and insight into human nature will see her through-- and so they do!
The book is written in a unique, rather charming style which is reminiscent of verbal storytelling. There are tangents that veer off the narrative path, parenthetical explanations, and commentary like "for as everyone knows..." or "of course, there is only one thing that could..."
I highly recommend it, if you haven't read it! It's not a young adult novel, but I think older teenagers would enjoy it. There are, as a warning, a few references to marital infidelity and violence (including murder), and one rape scene which, while not explicit at all, is pretty obvious as to what is going on. But they're minor parts of the book-- most of the it is focused on Mma Ramotswe's cleverness. (Mma and Rra are the female and male honorifics in Setswana, respectively.) I'm definitely planning on reading more in the series!
Linking up at Housewifespice! (Or I will, once the linkup exists.)
Thank you for waiting for my tardy link up. I adore the No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency series, I think I've read them all. The first one was the most violent. I almost quit after that one, the domestic abuse, and the witchcraft really got to me. But the rest are less graphic more delightful as more and more characters are developed.
ReplyDeleteOh good! Delightful is just the word, isn't it? I was so relieved when the ending didn't take the dark direction it could have taken.
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