Book review

The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency, Alexander McCall Smith, Abacus 2003.

The most-raved-about book of a couple of years back. I finally got round to reading it, having bought a copy last term. I really enjoyed this book, its descriptions of Africa and McCall Smith's wry humour. Particularly, his ways of bringing out the ludicrous situations people can get into when they are trying to impress.

'It says [in your passport], under occupation, that you are a detective,' [the border guard] said in a surly tone. 'How can a woman be a detective?'

...

'Many women are detectives,' said Mma Ramotswe, with dignity. 'Have you not read Agatha Christie?'

The clerk looked up at her and bristled.

'Are you saying I am not an educated man?' he growled. 'Is that what you are saying? That I have not read this Mr Christie?'

You can see he also captures the African way of speaking very well. I could hear the African accents in my head -- and even tell when a white African was speaking as opposed to a black African.

The story is basically a series of shorts set in the context of a larger story. Perhaps not quite as clever as Isaac Asimov's Foundation books (especially the first one) but certainly that sort of format. Individual clients come and go (and their problems are normally solved by a nice little trick, reminiscent of the Father Brown stories), but all the while Mma Ramotswe, the No. 1 Ladies' Detective, worries about how much she can help a man who has lost his son. Well worth a read; beg, borrow or buy a copy.