The No 1 Ladies Detective Agency

By Alexander McCall Smith

Not a mystery, but charming. Loved all the characters. Botswana may have been the main character. Not sure if it was racist because it was written by a white man.

Hard to figure out if it was contemporary or older. I did generally like it. I liked the short snippets. Not compelling as a mystery.

Hard to tell how old the main character was and hard to tell sense of time. Setting, culture, people-super interesting. But felt like Indian Children’s Stories. But, charming. Characters grew on me. But not a mystery novel.

Structure, mystery, action: meh. Loved the narrator-solid with her accent. But so many words, so little happening. Botswana was definitely a character. I thought it was a mystery. Hard to tell when it was written.

Certain sections were in the PI genre even it not an overarching mystery. Too much dedicated to backstory.

Too much backstory. So much description. I liked the mini-mystery style. Couldn’t tell time period.

Thoroughly enjoyed it. But too much backstory.

I enjoyed this book. I liked the little mysteries. She was someone who solved people’s problems, rather than a mystery. Clever. Writing very well done. Sense of place was central. Pleasant but not intense.

Easy to read and I really liked it. Gave me a good sense of the area-I could really visualize it. Sense of time felt long ago which fits with Botswana being a less industrialized country. Loved the book but not much of a mystery.

I really enjoyed it. Doesn’t have to be a murder to be a mystery. Charming.