The No.1 Ladies’ Detective Agency: BBC Radio Casebook Vol.1: Eight BBC Radio 4 full-cast dramatisations

BBC Afternoon Drama: The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency #1-4

by Alexander McCall Smith, Claire Benedict (Narrator)

Claire Benedict and Nadine Marshall star in these eight BBC Radio 4 full-cast dramas adapted by Alexander McCall Smith

Winner of AudioFile Earphones Award © AudioFile

‘Must-listen...beautifully cast, precisely timed, simply wonderful' Daily Telegraph

Alexander McCall Smith's hugely popular novels featuring Precious Ramotswe, proprietor of Botswana's only female private detective agency, have become international bestsellers. These acclaimed productions, complete with vibrant music, bring the exotic world of the books to life.

In these eight episodes, Mma Ramotswe takes on her first case – and a new secretary; tries to solve a bone mystery; tackles a domestic drama and a doctor's erratic behaviour; and investigates the case of a missing American. In addition, she is hired by a beauty contest judge to check the integrity of the finalists; looks for two women wronged by her client, Mr Molefelo; learns of a rival detective agency; and is commissioned by a physiotherapist to find out what her errant husband is up to. The stories included are: The Daddy; The Bone; The Maid; Tears of the Giraffe; The Chief Justice of Beauty; The Confession; The Kalahari Typing School for Men and The Admirer.

Claire Benedict stars as Mma Ramotswe, with Nadine Marshall as Mma Makutsi and Joseph Marcell as Mr JLB Matekoni.

Duration: 6 hours approx

Genres: Audiobook, Fiction, Mystery, Crime, Africa

6 pages, Audiobook

Published November 1, 2017

About the author

Alexander McCall Smith is the author of the international phenomenon The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency series, the Isabel Dalhousie Series, the Portuguese Irregular Verbs series, and the 44 Scotland Street series. He is professor emeritus of medical law at the University of Edinburgh in Scotland and has served on many national and international bodies concerned with bioethics. He was born in what is now known as Zimbabwe and he was a law professor at the University of Botswana. He lives in Scotland. Visit him online at www.alexandermccallsmith.com, on Facebook, and on Twitter.

Reviews

[Barbara]

I'm still a novice with audiobooks and I've already worked out that I just don't have the patience to sit still and be 'read at' for 15+ hours when I could typically polish off a dead-tree or kindle format in less than half that time. What I have discovered though, is that I'm much better able to pay attention to dramatisations than 'proper' audio books.

This audiobook is charming in the way you'd expect from the No.1 Ladies....etc. I've read the books many years ago and the voices and characters in my ears were instantly recognisable to me. There's lovely music, lots of drama, lots of emotion, and I found it really easy to let this play away in the background whilst I was working without losing the thread of what was happening.

I won't go into the pros and cons of whether a white Scotsman should be writing about 'traditionally built' African women, but the stories are always enjoyable, sometimes a bit predictable and generally charmingly clever.

[Clare]

Listened to in audio format.

The No 1 Ladies Detective Agency was run by Precious Ramotswe, a lady of traditional build. In the first episode she employed Mma Makutsi as her Secretary. Mma Makutsi claimed she was the best Secretary in Botswana after gaining 97% in her secretarial exam.

I enjoyed this charming series, it reminded me of the BBC series Death in Paradise. The stories were 44 minute episodes and some storylines continued into the next episode.

I have to say the storylines were rather sexist. I don't know when these stories were set, but I thought it was funny Precious called her fiance Mr JLB Matskoni throughout the series.

The tales were light hearted and I have bought volume 2 to listen to.

[One Sentence Audio Critic]

The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency: BBC Radio Casebook, Vol. 1. Stories included: The Daddy; The Bone; The Maid; Tears of the Giraffe; The Chief Justice of Beauty; The Confession; The Kalahari Typing School for Men and The Admirer.

Delightful, or at least that is the opinion of this "traditionally sized" listener.

(This audiobook is very hard to get on Libby, or other public library apps, but the LA Public Library has volumes 1 to 4. At nearly $30 each on Audible)

[Joni Janice Mielke]

I loved everything about this listen - The richness and authenticity of the characters, the stories, the voices and the music/sound effects that brought a sense of reality to this production. An excellent listen.

[Jenna Mills]

Really enjoyed. Love his writing and this worked well as an audio book too.

[Frances]

Absolutely loved listening to this, I never intended to listen to it all in one go, but I did! Great few hours entertainment!

[Karen ⊰✿]

Great dramatised and abridged versions of eight novels in the series.
Really well produced and the stories are fun. Just after 6 hours it became a bit much, so I before continuing to Vol 2 I will have a break of some other books :)

[Arpita]

This was an absolute treat to listen to. The dramatization leaves little to be desired. This series especially struck a chord with me because of the native accent of the actors/narrators, the little idiosyncrasies of language and simplicity of the African culture I was exposed to as a child.

Now coming to the stories - each little case is simple in its premise and does not involve much mystery or drama. I would say that the stories center more on the daily life of the Botswana people e.g. - the direct relationship between status and cattle ownership, the “traditional” build of women and attractiveness and the sincerity and humility of the people. The characters are warm and memorable and the setting evocative of simple, small towns.

If nothing, this series will remind you of the simple lessons of hard work, patience, godliness and compassion taught in early school days. A cozy read!

[Angela]

Another hyped up book which I just do not get at all.
Cutesy stories all in all, but the sexism is rife and leaves a bad taste in the mouth. It's also incredibly hard to get past the notion that these stories, all told from the perspective of an independent and strong-willed African woman, are written by a middle-class white man.

[Steph]

This was just delightful to listen to. And I'm so pleased that the author also wrote the dramatisation as then it was as close to the original story as could be possible.

The characters are wonderfully written and the actors do a brilliant job of bringing them to life. Can't wait to listen to more.

[Fantaghirò]

Really good dramatisation, excellent listen.

[Melissa Allen]

Girl power! Love it! I listened to the BBC audio - which made it easier to visualize things. So fun!

[Sandra]

Very entertaining!

[Teddi]

Did not finish.
I enjoyed the short lived tv series but have never liked the books - something about the writing style I did not like.
Saw this and few others in the library audio book section and gave it a go. The stories are very low key and so full of repetitive regional dialect that I simply lost interest.

[Lisa Borges]

I don’t usually love overdone audiobooks with multiple narrators and sound effects, but this was something entirely different. It was so quaint, and comforting and old fashioned that I imagined it was 100 years ago and I was listening to the radio dramas that my grandparents listened to. Perfect for soothing frayed nerves.

[Roshini]

An absolute audio treat, worthy company as you go about with your mundane tasks of folding clothes or washing dishes. The music, actors and storytelling is authentic. If you are looking to get started on audiobooks, I’d fully recommend this.

[Steph]

Pros: gentle and witty
Cons: white man writing the story of black women

I read these books years ago and as happens all too often with revisiting books read in a different time, I was struggling with the voice - it did jar with me, and I didn’t enjoy it as much second time around at all.

[trijnewijn]

Wat een fijne manier om meegenomen te worden naar de No. 1 Ladies detective agency!

[VerJean Mirrielees]

Listened to this in Oct 2021 while doing a lot of commuting.

[caroline hawkins]

Delightful

[Jennifer]

Listened to this on audibles and it was excellent. Have always been a fan of the books.

[Sara Thompson Jones]

I had been meaning to read these for years, but had just never got around to them. These radio dramatisations have been really joyous to listen to on my commute, charming, humorous, and soothing.

[JL]

3.25
This isn't even the same edition I read but I am not bothered to add a whole book to goodreads.
Anyway, the stories were pretty short and sweet, nothing crazy. I wish I could rate it higher because the atmosphere and voice acting was so nice, but the plot was too simple.

[Jan]

This is the series of radio plays - very well done so far.