About this title: The 10th installment of the bestselling The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency Novel series finds Precious Ramotswe in personal need of her own formidable detection talents.
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Description: Good. Former Library book. Shows some signs of wear, and may have some markings on the inside. Shipped to over one million happy customers. Your purchase benefits world literacy! read more
Binding: Hardcover
Publisher: Pantheon
Date Published: 2009-04-21
ISBN-13:9780375424496ISBN:0375424490
Description: Like New. Hardcover w/dj, straight tight binding, clean pages, appears unread, FIRST AMERICAN EDITION NUMBERED 1-9, fast shipping. read more
Binding: Hardcover
Publisher: Pantheon
Date Published: 4/21/2009
ISBN-13:9780375424496ISBN:0375424490
Description: Good in good dust jacket. GOOD Ex Library book with usual stickers/stamps/marks. Fast ship! Buy with confidence--satisfaction guaranteed. read more
Description: New. A Brand New Copy. Never Read. Buy with confidence from an Independent Bookstore where the owners, a husband and wife team, have over 30 years of combined bookselling experience. read more
Binding: Hardcover
Publisher: Pantheon Books
Date Published: 2009-04-21
ISBN-13:9780375424496ISBN:0375424490
Description: NEW. Hardcover. From an inventory that is 100% brand-new, 100% direct from the publishers' distribution channel. We carry NO pre-owned, NO remaindered. We pack in CARDBOARD to ensure the pristine quality is maintained. (Bubble-wrap alone is NOT sufficient to protect from USPS equipment. ) Guaranteed brand-NEW, protected with CARDBOARD, your satisfaction is guaranteed. BKLUVID: 9780375424496. read more
Binding: Hardcover
Publisher: Pantheon
Date Published: 2009
ISBN-13:9780375424496ISBN:0375424490
Description: New. Brand New! Buy with confidence-your satisfaction is guaranteed at B-Logistics! Due to the large scale of our operation, we do not have access to the specific contents/condition of our items. Please note that Expedited shipping is not available at this time. read more
Binding: Hardcover
Publisher: Pantheon Books
Date Published: 2009
ISBN-13:9780375424496ISBN:0375424490
Description: New. No dust jacket as issued. Glued binding. Paper over boards. With dust jacket. 212 p. No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency (Hardcover), 10. Audience: General/trade. read more
Binding: Hardcover
Publisher: Wheeler Pub Inc
Date Published: 2009-04-21
ISBN-13:9781597229425ISBN:1597229423
Description: NEW. Hardcover. From an inventory that is 100% brand-new, 100% direct from the publishers' distribution channel. We carry NO pre-owned, NO remaindered. We pack in CARDBOARD to ensure the pristine quality is maintained. (Bubble-wrap alone is NOT sufficient to protect from USPS equipment. ) Guaranteed brand-NEW, protected with CARDBOARD, your satisfaction is guaranteed. BKLUVID: 9781597229425. read more
Edition: First edition.
Binding: Hardcover
Publisher: Pantheon Books, New York, New York
Date Published: 2009
ISBN-13:9780375424496ISBN:0375424490
Description: Fine in fine dust jacket. The Dust Jacket is protected with a mylar wrapper. A nice copy. Glued binding. Paper over boards. With dust jacket. 212 p. No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency (Hardcover), 10. Audience: General/trade. read more
Description: Fine. 0375424490 First US edition hardback, 2009. Full number line. Book, pages, boards and DJ are inperfect like new condition. read more
Description: New. By Alexander McCall Smith; ISBN: 0375424490; Pub. : Pantheon; Pub. Date: 2009-04-21; Media: Hardcover; Weight: 12.8 oz.; Same day and Saturday shipping, Excellent customer service. Order inquiries receive prompt attention. Check out our feedback! by Alexander McCall Smith; ISBN: 0375424490; Pub. : Pantheon; Pub. Date: 2009-04-21; Media: Hardcover; Weight: 12.8 oz.; Same day and Saturday shipping, Excellent customer service. Order inquiries receive prompt attention. Check out our feedback! read more
Binding: Hardcover
Publisher: Pantheon Books
Date Published: 2009
ISBN-13:9780375424496ISBN:0375424490
Description: New in very good dust jacket. Glued binding. Paper over boards. With dust jacket. 212 p. No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency (Hardcover), 10. Audience: General/trade. read more
Binding: Hardback
Publisher: Random House Inc
Date Published: 2009
ISBN-13:9780375424496ISBN:0375424490
Description: New. The 10th installment of the bestselling The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency Novel series finds Precious Ramotswe in personal need of her own formidable detection talents. read more
"Another solidly enjoyable book in this series. My favorites are the ones in which a theme emerges, and here the theme is change; or rather, the idea that the things that one knows and loves should not be changed. Which isn't a theme I really embrace for myself, but I completely understand that change is a scary thing, and that one should not give into the temptation to change for the sake of change.
Mma Ramotswe gets a new vehicle; Mma Makutsi is afraid her fiance will exchange her for a more glamorous woman, but exchanges her own old shoes for more glamorous ones; one client needs to make a choice to change her own life, and another has found that his soccer team has suddenly changed for the worse. Every thread in this book deals with change: change that is necessary, change that is unwelcome, change that is imposed for no good reason.
I think the ending is a little rushed, and a few threads not entirely cleared up, but I really enjoyed this visit to Botswana and am rounding up my 3-and-a-half stars that I'd rate this, maybe because, again, the audio version by Lisette Lecat is so perfectly done."
"Only in Precious Ramotswe's world are corpulent women called "traditionally built," and Mma Ramotswe, found and lead detective of the No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency in Gabarone, Botswana, is one of them. This book, the tenth one in this series, pits Mma Ramotswe and her faithful assistant, Grace Makutsi, against an entire football team, trying to ascertain who is causing the team to lose game after game; and against a deceiving man-hunter who tries to steal Mma Makutski's fiance away. Like McCall Smith's other stories, this too is a pleasure to read, with its straightforward adventures, simple but rich descriptions of the African countryside, and infectious good humor. Beyond this tidbit ... well, I wouldn't want to spoil it for anyone else, though I do think that the best way to read the No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency series is right from the beginning, starting with the first book, aptly entitled, "The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency.""
"I picked up this book because I liked the title very much. Glancing through his list of previous works reveals that McCall Smith has a knack for interesting titles, which always delights me.
This is tenth in a series; I didn't really feel hampered by the lack of previous knowledge about the main characters, as Precious Ramotswe seems a lady who doesn't require a lot of prologue. He's good with characters who have distinct mindsets and different ways of looking at goals. It's very easy to like his characters. I have yet to decide if he's very good with voices, to the point where I don't notice the shift because it's so natural, or if he simply has the same voice for each character but angles the viewpoint so as to accord with each mindset.
The novel takes place in Botswana, and the setting is vital to the story, without being obnoxious over cultural differences. I was surprised by small throwaway lines that made me scurry to write things down to look up later, which is the hallmark of what makes a book really enjoyable to me.
Something that amused me: almost all McCall Smith antagonists (so far) learn from their mistakes and repent of their selfish ways in at least one instance every episode. This pleases me. McCall Smith clearly likes people, and both of his protagonist mains (Isabel Dalhousie and Precious Ramotswe) strive to understand and empathize with, if not pardon, both themselves and their clashmates. There are tanglesome problems in very well-paced plot, and even though everything is 'ordinary', I was never bored by anything on the page. That's some efficient storytelling. There are things that stick with me from this story (some happy phrases, a few images of family, a neat metaphor for lightbulb-inspirations). It seems a good thing to have around, like Bertie Wooster stories or Edward Lear poems, for rainy-brain days."
"This is the 10th book in a series with a delightful host of characters living in Botswana, now Zimbabwe. The main characters are the "traditionally built" Precious Ramotswe, her husband whom she calls Mr. J.L.B. Matekoni, and Precious's assistant detective, Mma Makutsi, whose claim to fame is scoring 99% on the secretarial test. The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency solve everyday mysteries with not a drop of death or mayhem. The big mystery in this book is why the local soccer team is doing so poorly and the sidleine is Mma. Makutsi's arch enemy is making a play for her finance. The writing is straight forward and the chacters are quaint and it is hard to put into words why I enjoy the books so much but I do. I also find it fascinating that the books are written by a man. Who would have guessed. :) It is very sad though to know that the beloved Botswana that is the setting of the book is now the diaster that is Zimbabwe. These books about a simplier time and peaceful place make me smile."
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