No 1 Ladies Detective Agency

[DimpledThighs]

Nothing really to say except

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHH!

This book is like valium to me, instantly relaxing and calming.

I met Alexander McCall Smith and he was so very very nice and kind and lovely and delightful.

I adore him and these books.

I've read that book. I'm not sure if I liked it or not. It was a very easy read, not too taxing on the brain, but i got so fed up of the main character being given their full names all the time - Mma Ramotswe and Mr J L B Maketoni. Why can't he just give them first names and call them by that. I found it off putting

my mate loved e,
full naems cos thats hte african style

my mate loved e,
full naems cos thats hte african style

the names are authentic.
I found it interesting, but cant take it to heart in the way that other people clearly do. Is it because it's an outsider's view, and just a trifle patronising? would appreciate hearing the opinions of someone from Botswana on these books.

he lived there for years

i got fed up after about fifth book. the novelty wore off and i longed for a nice murder.

Read the whole series and loved it. Also read all his other books. Think they're lovely. They may very well not reflect entirely correctly on life in Botswana, but I'm not bothered. It doesn't take away from the fact that they're lovely stories. I suppose it depends very much on how much you want to get out of it as a book and how critical you are.

he lived there for a long time and wanted to reflect the lives of these 'wonderful people' he has much mnore respect for this way of life than ours and the people there reallt appreciate and embrace him for this - they are sick of the western 'heart of darkness' view of them.

I think a book by a Botswana would be very interesting but there probably would not be a market for it.

So it is not authentic but I know a lot more about Botswana life than I would of done having not read this.

I love those books. I always feel happy, relaxed and content after completing a book. They have an intangilbe feel good factor that his humbling. They also remind me of the depth of human benevolence, compassion and integrity.

I loved all these books, read them on the recommendation of my Mum who lived in Zambia for 6 years. She said the descriptions of Africa were so good, she could feel the sun.

I read the first book and have to say I struggled to reach the end. Nothing really happened, and while it was nice to learn about life in Botswana, I still found it quite incredibly boring.

Eliot Pattison does the whole "murder mystery set in a foreign land, being solved by unusual/benign/tranquil methods" thing so much better in my humble opinion. The setting is Tibet rather than Africa. The feel-good factor is still there but his books are genuinely interesting - you know, the kind of books you stay up all night to finish.

Do try The Skull Mantra . The rest follow this book.

I absolutely love them. They are deceptively simple - there's a lot of very profound stuff in there. But I loathe his Scottish books - they make me think of Joanna Trollope and Aga Sagas.

His Scotland Street series is brilliant as well. His books are like comfort eating but without the bad consequences, about the only time I get to the end of a book and feel disappointed that it is ending rather than by the ending!