The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency
- 240
- Pages
- about 4.5 h
- Reading time
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Our view
“The No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency” is a gentle, episodic detective novel in which small cases yield to practical good sense. Precious Ramotswe runs her agency in Gaborone, and each mystery is settled within a chapter or two against a vividly drawn Botswana. Some readers find the ending too tidy; some question a white Scottish author writing a Black Motswana heroine, while others call the portrait sympathetic. Comfortable, light reading.
The view of the BookRank editors, written from readers’ ratings and comments. It does not affect the score or the book’s place in a ranking.
About the book
The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency is the first detective novel in the eponymous series by Scottish author Alexander McCall Smith, first published in 1998. The novel introduces the Motswana Mma Precious Ramotswe, who begins the first detective agency in Botswana, in the capital city Gaborone, after her beloved father dies. She hires a secretary and solves cases for her clients.
Reading order · The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency
Full order & progress →- The No. 1 Ladies' Detective AgencyThis book
7.37.3 / 10 - Tears of the Giraffe
7.67.6 / 10 - Morality for Beautiful Girls
7.67.6 / 10 - The Kalahari Typing School for Men
–Not ranked yet - The Full Cupboard of Life
–Not ranked yet - In the Company of Cheerful Ladies
–Not ranked yet - Blue Shoes and Happiness
–Not ranked yet - The Good Husband of Zebra Drive
–Not ranked yet - The Miracle at Speedy Motors
–Not ranked yet - Tea Time for the Traditionally Built
–Not ranked yet - The Double Comfort Safari Club
–Not ranked yet - The Saturday Big Tent Wedding Party
–Not ranked yet - The Limpopo Academy of Private Detection
–Not ranked yet - The Minor Adjustment Beauty Salon
–Not ranked yet - The Handsome Man's De Luxe Café
–Not ranked yet - The Woman Who Walked in Sunshine
–Not ranked yet - Precious and Grace
–Not ranked yet - The House of Unexpected Sisters
–Not ranked yet - The Colours of All the CattleThe Colours of All the Cattle–Not ranked yet
- To the Land of Long Lost Friends
–Not ranked yet - How to Raise an Elephant
–Not ranked yet
Where the score comes from
The sources average 7.1 across 260 ratings — not yet many, so the reader vote carries 64% of the weight and the rest pulls toward the Crime & mystery average of 7.6. That is how 7.3 comes out.
| Source | Average | Ratings | Weight |
|---|---|---|---|
| Open Library | 7.0 | 24 | 9% |
| Hardcover | 7.2 | 236 | 91% |
Frequently asked
How long is The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency?
It has 240 pages — shorter than 92% of the ranked books in Crime & mystery.
In this book
Themes this book shares with others — each leads to the best books on it.
If you liked this
Same shelf — Crime & mystery — with scores between 7.3 and 7.4, closest to this book.
