The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency - Alexander McCall Smith

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Title: The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency Author: Alexander McCall Smith Genre: Cultural Rating: 8/10 # pages: 236 Date read: June, 2008

Summary: It's the detective as folk hero, solving crimes through an innate, self-possessed wisdom that, combined with an understanding of human nature, invariably penetrates into the heart of a puzzle. If Miss Marple were fat and jolly and lived in Botswana--and decided to go against any conventional notion of what an unmarried woman should do, spending the money she got from selling her late father's cattle to set up a Ladies' Detective Agency--then you have an idea of how Precious sets herself up as her country's first female detective. Once the clients start showing up on her doorstep, Precious enjoys a pleasingly successful series of cases.

Review: After a slow start, it fortunately quickly picked up and ended up a very enjoyable read. It's not a page turner by any means, but like the Mitford series (although very different in genre otherwise) it's a cozy and comfortable read that doesn't require too much of the reader. The perfect summer-read, it would have been just right for the beach or pool-side.

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