The Kalahari Typing School for Men: A No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency Novel - Softcover

McCall Smith, Alexander

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0739378325 ISBN 13: 9780739378328

Publisher: Random House Large Print, 2012

Synopsis

Fans around the world adore the bestselling No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency series and its proprietor Precious Ramotswe, Botswana’s premier lady detective.  In this charming series, Mma  Ramotswe navigates her cases and her personal life with wisdom, and good humor—not to mention help from her loyal assistant, Grace Makutsi, and the occasional cup of tea.

Mma Precious Ramotswe is content. Her business is well established with many satisfied customers, and in her mid-thirties (“the finest age to be”) she has a house, two adopted children, a fine fiancé. But, as always, there are troubles. Mr. J.L.B. Matekoni has not set the date for their marriage. Her able assistant, Mma Makutsi, wants a husband. And worse, a rival detective agency has opened in town—an agency that does not have the gentle approach to business that Mma Ramotswe’s does. But, of course, Precious will manage these things, as she always does, with her uncanny insight and her good heart.

About this title

From the Back Cover:

Praise for The No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency series and Alexander McCall Smith:

“General audiences will welcome this little gem of a book just as much, if not more, than mystery readers.” -- Publishers Weekly

“The author’s prose has the merits of simplicity, euphony and precision. His descriptions leave one as if standing in the Botswanan landscape. This is art that conceals art. I haven’t read anything with such unalloyed pleasure for a long time.” -- Anthony Daniels, The Sunday Telegraph

“I was enchanted by the character of Precious Ramotswe and the sly humor of Alexander McCall Smith’s writing, his deft evocation of a culture.” -- Anthony Minghella, who, with Sydney Pollack’s company Mirage, will be producing The No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency TV series with New Africa Media Films

“A standout series.” -- The New Brunswick Reader

"In the course of her work, Mma Ramotswe offers ample evidence of her country's complexities and contradictions....Practical yet softhearted, inventive yet steeped in convention, Mma Ramotswe is an appealing personality.... Mma Ramotswe’s methods -- and her results -- are as unusual as the novels they inhabit." -- Alida Becker, The New York Times Book Review

“One of the best, most charming, honest, hilarious and life-affirming books to appear in years.” -- The Plain Dealer (Cleveland)

“Smart and sassy.... Precious’s progress is charted in passages that have the power to amuse or shock or touch the heart, sometimes all at once.... Thoroughly engaging and entertaining.” -- The Los Angeles Times

“One of the most entrancing literary treats of many a year.... A tapestry of extraordinary nuance and richness.” -- The Wall Street Journal

“A quiet joy, a little gem of a book set apart from the genre by the quality of its writing, as well as by its exotic setting. [It] uses simple but tellingly descriptive language to introduce readers to its warm and appealing heroine.” -- The Boston Globe

From the Inside Flap:

THE NO. 1 LADIES DETECTIVE AGENCY.
FOR ALL CONFIDENTIAL MATTERS AND ENQUIRIES. SATISFACTION GUARANTEED FOR ALL PARTIES.
UNDER PERSONAL MANAGEMENT.
A beguiling mystery and lyrical novel of Africa -- the fourth in a series that the L.A. Times calls "thoroughly engaging and entertaining."
Now that The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency (the only detective agency for ladies and others in Botswana) is established, its founder, Precious Ramotswe, can look upon her life with pride: she's reached her late thirties ("the finest age to be"), has a house, two children, a good fiance -- Mr. J. L. B. Matekoni -- and many satisfied customers. But life is never without its problems. It turns out that her adopted son is responsible for the dead hoopoe bird in the garden; her assistant, Mma Makutsi, wants a husband and needs help with her idea to open the Kalahari Typing School for Men; yet Mma Ramotswe's sexist rival has no trouble opening his Satisfaction Guaranteed Detective Agency across town. Will Precious Ramotswe's delightfully cunning and profoundly moral methods save the day? Follow the continuing story of Botswana's first lady detective in the irresistible The Kalahari Typing School for Men.

About this edition

• Publisher: Random House Large Print
• Publication date: 2012
• ISBN 10: 0739378325
• ISBN 13: 9780739378328
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 272