The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency

 The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency (1998) by Alexander McCall Smith

When Precious Ramotswe's father dies, she sells his cattle (with his life-time-given blessing) and buys two things--a house and a building in which she can set up a detective agency. She is gifted with an incredible memory (fostered by the cousin who helped bring her up when her mother died) and a deep understanding of people--two qualities that will serve her well when she begins her work. Her cases cover everything from errant husbands to wayward daughters to fraudulent insurance claims to deceitful doctors. She deals with each case with quick efficiency and a kind heart (for those who deserve it). But one case follows her through the book--the case of a missing eleven-year-old boy, feared dead, but perhaps taken by a witch doctor. If Mma Ramotswe can find the boy alive, she will consider herself a real detective.

Though there are mysteries here and Mma Ramotswe does solve them, this is less a detective book than a commentary on life in Botswana. McCall Smith gives the reader a sweeping look at life in the small towns and countryside in this part of Africa. As we follow our detective on her cases, we meet everyone from the local shopkeepers to school-age children to mechanics and gangsters. We are shown at once that people are the same everywhere, even as we see the differences that come with life in Botswana. The appeal of the people and the descriptions of place compensate for the simplicity of the mysteries Mma Ramotswe solves. The best of them is the one that takes the longest to unravel--the missing boy. [SPOILER]  And I'm pleased to say that she's successful. Not necessarily the kind of mystery I prefer, but quietly satisfying in other ways. ★★★

First line: Mma Ramotswe had a detective agency in Africa, at the foot Kgale Hill.

"We are the ones who first ploughed the earth when Modise (God) made it," ran an old Setswana poem. "We were the ones who made the food. We are the ones who look after the men when they are little boys, when they are young men, and when they are old and about to die. We are always there. But we are just women and nobody sees us." (p. 34)

Last line: "Of course I will," said Mma Ramotswe.
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Deaths = 5 (three natural; one hit by train; one eaten by crocodile)