Book Review: The No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency

I loved, loved, loved this book!  I couldn’t wait to finish and didn’t want it to end…luckily this is the first in a series and I am so going to get the next one lol!  I had seen this book on a lot of reading lists and heard that it was good.  I figured it was a cute series about a female detective in Africa and that it would have her little escapades and adventures.

Well it did, but it also had so much more.  You get to know the main character bit by bit throughout the book and she jumps right off the page and into your heart.  There is humor, sadness, suspense, a glimpse into the life of an African woman and lots of examining of human nature and relationships in general.  It’s just a great read all around.  I can’t believe it was written by a man in all honesty, the way the female main character is so well fleshed out.  I just loved getting to know Precious and seeing into her mind.  This particular passage had me laughing out loud…

Now constipation was quite a different matter.  It would be dreadful for the whole world to know about troubles of that nature.  She felt terribly sorry for people who suffered from constipation, and she knew that there were many who did.  There were probably enough of them to form a political party-with a chance of government perhaps-but what would such a party do if it was in power?  Nothing, she imagined.  It would try to pass legislation, but would fail.

Hilarious.  But this is no light read, it will make you laugh one moment and touch your heart the next.  I don’t normally like mystery type novels, but honestly I’d classify it as fiction first and mystery secondly.  I am so glad I found this at the library book sale and added it to my Fall Reading Challenge.  3 books down, doing pretty good!