Have you ever read a book a second time to reintroduce yourself to a character? I was searching for a lighthearted read in recent weeks, having fallen into an odd pattern of trudging through heavy, dense stories and abandoning them partway. A trip to the country of Botswana, where the confident and witty Precious Ramotswe (known throughout the book as “Mma Ramotswe”) is hard at work establishing the country’s very first female-led detective agency, felt like an ideal move to break out of my “literary slump” of sorts. Nearly a decade after I first picked up this book, I felt it was an opportune moment for Mma Ramotswe to step into my life as a tour guide and role model.
Despite the challenges of starting her own business in a world that discourages women from assuming high-powered professions, Mma Ramotswe approaches her work with one particular characteristic: tenacity. Each chapter of the book introduces readers to a new case Mma Ramotswe must solve, and each case is seemingly more harrowing and high-stakes than the first. Mma employs a variety of wildly creative methods to get the answers she needs, from tracking a crocodile with the help of a dog to dressing up as a nurse to fool a freeloading man. If these unorthodox methods don’t pique your interest, I’m not sure what will.
It was Mma Ramotswe’s problem-solving capabilities that entertained me most when I first read this book, but it’s quite enlightening to realize that you pick up different themes and sensations when you jump into a story the second time around. I found, in fact, that the novel was imbued with more sorrow than I initially recalled. Mma Ramotswe and many of the people at the center of her cases have battled—and continue to battle—hardships and injustices, often inflicted upon them by people in positions of power. It became apparent, in fact, that Mma Ramotswe’s most difficult cases were the ones in which she had to stand up against an influential person in order to assist someone else. From a boy kidnapped by a witch doctor to a girl with a domineering father, the cases Precious’ clients bring to her unearth the darker sides of social systems and human relationships.
Still, it’s this darkness that allows the character of Mma Ramotswe to shine even more brilliantly. She is not deterred by obstacles, whether these obstacles are literal (losing track of a person she is following in her little white van) or figurative (the discriminatory attitudes of those who believe a lady can never make a reputable detective). While she has very few reasons to be confident given the complexity of the cases she has to solve and the new trail she is blazing in her hometown, Precious creates her own confidence. If an uncooperative client gets in her way or a cobra blocks her little white van, she comes up with a solution to remove the obstacle and maintain her progress. “There are some people in this country, some men, who think that women are soft and can be twisted this way and that,” Precious tells a man she’s caught stealing money from insurance companies. “I can tell you, if you’re interested, that I killed a cobra, a big one, on my way here this afternoon.”
The No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency is realistic about the the challenges and perils faced by a woman standing alone in a male-dominated field, but with such a sly, feisty, and confident heroine at the center of this story, no challenge in the world feels too daunting to overcome. I can’t wait to read the next book in this series (yes, series!) when it feels like the right time to go on another investigative mission with Mma Ramotswe.
