The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency - Alexander McCall Smith

The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency by Alexander McCall Smith
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

I should have paid more attention to the reviewer who said that this is not a mystery. It's not. And that's what I was after. This is a collection of tales about people and their problems. The main character solves their problems in unconventional ways, and so maintains a private detective agency.

It is told in simplistic language, distancing me from the stories, which are rambling and random. There is little cohesion to the plot. It's a more realistic ebb and flow of lives that cross each other once and probably won't again. There are some sad, heartwarming, and amusing stories, but I felt like I was listening to an old man recounting tales that mean more to him than to me.

So for me, this was just ok. Several times it peaked into slightly interesting, but mostly not. I don't intend to read more of the series, and now I'm going to go find myself a real mystery, which is what I wanted in the first place.