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476th out of 1,297 books
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10,683 voters
The Double Comfort Safari Club (No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency #11)
by
Alexander McCall Smith (Goodreads Author)
THE NO. 1 LADIES’ DETECTIVE AGENCY - Book 11
Fans around the world adore the bestselling No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency series, the basis of the HBO TV show, 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 as...more
Fans around the world adore the bestselling No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency series, the basis of the HBO TV show, 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 as...more
Hardcover, 224 pages
Published
April 20th 2010
by Pantheon
(first published January 1st 2010)
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I am beginning to weary of the No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency books. The writing is as good as ever, McCall has his own distinctive style - warm, compassionate and almost childlike, but the series has deteriorated into a serial. I suppose it was bound to happen, the endless repetitions about exactly who Mma Ramotswe (and her long-late father, Obed), Mma Makutsi, Mr. J.L.B. Makatoni, Mma Pokowane and the evil Violet Sephotho could not go on and this book has revealed nothing new about them at all...more
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The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency books are like a breath of fresh air. Each one is so well written, so poignant and charming, so easy to read; that I'm always done before I know it. Even as I crack open each book, I am sad because I know that all too soon, the story will be over. I just cannot slow myself down, or stop myself from reading, and in a few hours it's all over, and I'm left yearning for the next one.
Alexander McCall Smith is one of my favorite authors because he can say so much wi...more
Alexander McCall Smith is one of my favorite authors because he can say so much wi...more
I love the No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency series and I was excited to read this newest edition. The pace of life is slow and pleasant in the stories and the main character, Precious Ramotswe, tries so hard to always be kind and help other people. My favorite passage from the book:
"Having the right approach to life was a great gift in this life. Her father, the late Obed Ramotswe, had always had the right approach to life--she was sure of that. And for a moment, as she sat there with her friend,...more
"Having the right approach to life was a great gift in this life. Her father, the late Obed Ramotswe, had always had the right approach to life--she was sure of that. And for a moment, as she sat there with her friend,...more
6 likes · like · see review
"Be content with who you are and where you are, and do whatever you can do to bring to others such contentment, and joy, and understanding that you have managed to find yourself." Armed with this advice from her father, and her red bush tea, Mma Ramotswe again brings order and peace to her corner of Botswana. In this installment, Mma Makutsi's fiance has suffered a horrible accident and has been "kidnapped" by his aunt who is determined to keep Grace away from her nephew. Mma Ramotswe has been a...more
Another gentle novel with three or four subplots (infidelity, a clever lawyer who saves a house sale, and a legacy for a respectful safari guide), but the main plot concerns how Grace Makutsi's fiance, Phuti, is almost hijacked by his aunt. A new area of Botswana is introduced, the Okavango Delta, a beautiful area not known to most Batswanas. I wonder where we could find red bush tea? I like McCall Smith's regard for the traditionally built woman, common sense values (in the form of Precious Ram...more
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I cannot say enough about Alexander McCall Smith's writing style. Gentle, humorous, touching, and drawing true to life pictures of the human condition. Sometimes I cannot believe he is not a woman - he seems to have fully identified how women think and he amazes me. I crave a trip to Botswana because he has sold the country to me so completely. I cannot say this series is for everyone. It is gentle, real and poignant. It has little action, the mysteries are of the human nature kind and this may...more
Book on CD narrated by Lisette Lecat
In this 11th installment in the popular No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency series, we find Mma Precious Ramotswe faced once again with some people who are behaving very badly. A married couple each suspects the other of infidelity, and a kind man is in the clutches of the beautiful but wicked Violet Sephotho. The agency must also try to find the safari guide to whom an American lady has left a legacy – without the name of the guide or even of the particular camp at...more
In this 11th installment in the popular No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency series, we find Mma Precious Ramotswe faced once again with some people who are behaving very badly. A married couple each suspects the other of infidelity, and a kind man is in the clutches of the beautiful but wicked Violet Sephotho. The agency must also try to find the safari guide to whom an American lady has left a legacy – without the name of the guide or even of the particular camp at...more
1 like · like · see review
‘The Double Comfort Safari Club’ is the latest novel in the No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency series. Unlike some authors McCall Smith can write a series where each novel satisfies the reader-fans, and his main characters grow and develop in ways that are in character, understandable and yet surprising. It takes real skill to write like that.
Why the No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency in remote Botswana should have such universal appeal is a mystery. No sex, no violence, no weird sects, perverts, spies...more
Second book, and second 8/10, for the year, but a 'would re-read one day' rating for a different reason. I wouldn't come back to this one to get more out of it, or to understand it better, or in search of profound truths, but for a fun time with some familiar people: the double comfort of the title. You know, the same way you can enjoy buttery mashed potato as much as an unfamiliar dish where part of the pleasure is trying to work out just what that herb or spice you can taste is. (Why do my rev...more
This is the talking book version of The Double Comfort Safari Club, the 11th in the Number 1 Ladies Detective Agency series by Alexander McCall Smith. Precious Ramotswe, proprietor of the best detective agency in Botswana, is kept busy with fraudulent fiancées, adulterous (or not) part-time reverends, jealous aunties and American legacies. Grace Makutsi’s well-ordered life is thrown into disarray when her fiancé, Phuti Radiphuti, suffers a nasty accident; Violet Sephotho is up to new tricks that...more
Precious Ramatswe, chief detective of the No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency of Gararone, Botswana, Africa, has a thriving business. All-too familiar with the detective needs of people worried about the fidelity of their spouses, she is nonetheless confounded with a new predicament: that of detecting for a close friend, a big no-no according to the esteemed tome, The Principles of Private Detection, by Clovis Anderson, who warns that this leads to favoring the friend’s perspective, however skewed it...more
The Double Comfort Safari Club is the eleventh in the Botswana Mma Ramotswe series. Mma Precious Ramotswe's No.1 Ladies Detective Agency has a couple of cases to solve; a friend of Mma Ramotswe thinks her husband is having an affair and a letter from America sends Mma Ramotswe and Assistant Detective Mma Grace Makutsi out into the Okavango Delta and as usual, Mma Makutsi's enemy Violet Sephotho is up to no good.
This is character driven series, the mysteries are everyday and lightweight. The sto...more
This is character driven series, the mysteries are everyday and lightweight. The sto...more
I won this as a first reads book. I have only read the first book in this series besides this one.
I first heard about this series from some friends who raved about it. I picked up the first book and read it but couldn't understand what all the fuss was about. It was ok but not amazing. I never got around to reading another book in the series. Then when I saw this one as a first reads book I thought I would enter to give this series another chance if I won.
I still wasn't overly impressed. I don'...more
I first heard about this series from some friends who raved about it. I picked up the first book and read it but couldn't understand what all the fuss was about. It was ok but not amazing. I never got around to reading another book in the series. Then when I saw this one as a first reads book I thought I would enter to give this series another chance if I won.
I still wasn't overly impressed. I don'...more
* spoiler alert *
Sementara lamaran tak kunjung datang, Mma Makutsi malah mendapatkan cobaan: Phuti mengalami kecelakaan. Kakinya harus diamputasi. Tidak berhenti di situ saja Phuti 'dikurung' oleh bibinya dan sang bibi tidak menyukai Mma Makutsi. Akibatnya Mma Makutsi tidak bisa sekedar menjenguk tunangannya itu.
Untuk menghibur Mma Makutsi, Mma Ramotswe mengajaknya melakukan perjalanan bisnis dengan biaya ditanggung :D. Bahkan ada anggaran khusus untuk membeli sepatu but :D tentu saja urusan sep...more
Sementara lamaran tak kunjung datang, Mma Makutsi malah mendapatkan cobaan: Phuti mengalami kecelakaan. Kakinya harus diamputasi. Tidak berhenti di situ saja Phuti 'dikurung' oleh bibinya dan sang bibi tidak menyukai Mma Makutsi. Akibatnya Mma Makutsi tidak bisa sekedar menjenguk tunangannya itu.
Untuk menghibur Mma Makutsi, Mma Ramotswe mengajaknya melakukan perjalanan bisnis dengan biaya ditanggung :D. Bahkan ada anggaran khusus untuk membeli sepatu but :D tentu saja urusan sep...more
This is the eleventh installment of Alexander McCall Smith's wonderful No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency series. As with previous volumes, there is always a professional case and a personal crisis, to both of which Precious Ramotswe applies her practical wisdom. In this book, the agency is hired to track down an employee of a safari outfit to receive a small legacy from a grateful former guest, and Mma Makutsi’s wedding plans are being thwarted by her fiancé’s controlling aunt.
I love this series so...more
I love this series so...more
Whilst I am always on a mission to ensure that anyone who has yet to read one of these books goes away to try one immediately, I have come to realise that they're not everyone's cup of tea. I love them. I have loved them from the first moment I discovered them, and they never disappoint me. I feel safe when I read them. I feel happy. I feel optimistic. And those are very important feelings to have not just when you're reading but in life generally.
This latest in the series didn't disappoint me....more
This latest in the series didn't disappoint me....more
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Grace Makutsi seems to take on a starring role in the newest No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency novel. With the start of the novel, Mma Makutsi learns that her fiancé, Phuti Radihuti, has had an accident and will have to have his leg amutated. All of this is traumatic enough, but it becomes even more difficult as Phuti's aunt won't allow her to come to visit him, even though they are to be wed shortly. The aunt, who is being protective, thinks she has the right to do so because Mma Makutsi and Phuti...more
This is the 11th in this hugely successful and charming series about Mma. Ramotswe and her Number One Ladies Detective Agency in Gaborone, Botswana. The biggest mystery in this series is, how does this Scottish male author manage to convey so insightfully a feminine sensibility?
In this volume, Mma Ramotswe again copes with the prickly personality of her right hand woman, Grace Makutsi. After Grace’s fiancé is badly injured, she loses contact with him as he recuperates under the watchful eye of...more
In this volume, Mma Ramotswe again copes with the prickly personality of her right hand woman, Grace Makutsi. After Grace’s fiancé is badly injured, she loses contact with him as he recuperates under the watchful eye of...more
The novel starts off at a slow and leisurely pace, at least as far as getting into the actual cases that Mma Ramotswe and her secretary/Assistant Detective, Mma Grace Makutsi, investigate, but that just leaves more time for enjoying the characters and set-up. I really love the titles that Alexander McCall Smith comes up with for the chapters, like the first one, “You Do Not Change People By Shouting At Them,” and “Teapots and Efficiency,” “A Man’s Face is like the Very Land,” and “How to Love Yo...more
May 31, 2010
Kathleen Hagen
added it
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
2010-audio-books,
2010-mysteries
The Double Comfort Safari Club, by Alexander McCall Smith, A. Narrated by Lisette Lecat, Produced by Recorded Books, downloaded from audible.com.
In this addition to the Number One Ladies Detective Agency series, Precious Ramotswe deals with issues of mistaken identity and great fortune against the beautiful backdrop of Botswana's remote and striking
Okavango Delta.Mma Ramotswe and Mma Makutsi head to a safari camp to carry out a delicate mission on behalf of a former guest who has left one of the...more
In this addition to the Number One Ladies Detective Agency series, Precious Ramotswe deals with issues of mistaken identity and great fortune against the beautiful backdrop of Botswana's remote and striking
Okavango Delta.Mma Ramotswe and Mma Makutsi head to a safari camp to carry out a delicate mission on behalf of a former guest who has left one of the...more
Got the call from the Ellsworth City Library that it was in at 11, rode my bike down after my swim at 1, and had finished it by 7:30--a surefire pleasure! I don't think this was one of his best in the series. It could've been a tad longer and more developed, but it was a pleasant read.
There were three main (well, I started to say "two main plot threads," then upped it to three, and now I'm thinking four or five. . . . in about 200 pages? That's my point!) detective-related plots (she hedges, ca...more
There were three main (well, I started to say "two main plot threads," then upped it to three, and now I'm thinking four or five. . . . in about 200 pages? That's my point!) detective-related plots (she hedges, ca...more
This was probably not my favorite of the books. While I enjoyed the storyline of Mma Makutsi's fiance and his selfish aunt, the rest of the story seemed to flow less naturally than usual. I know the "mysteries" don't generally take up much of the story (as opposed to relaxing into the pace of McCall Smith's Botswana and its lovable cast of inhabitants), but in this case, they seemed entirely too rushed and tacked on. One of them was introduced early and then ignored for most of the book before f...more
Feb 20, 2013
Holly
rated it
4 of 5 stars
Recommends it for:
anyone who likes light fiction
Shelves:
fiction
The Double Comfort Safari Club immerses the reader in an almost perfect society, consisting mainly of Mma Precious Ramotswe and her cohorts. As is usual in this gentle series of detective novels, Mma Ramotswe is presented with several challenges to unsnarl. Added to those are the problems of her friends. Mma Grace Makutsi has a fiancé whose foot has been lost to an unfortunate car accident and who has been kidnapped by his own No. 1 aunty. This aunty is determined to keep Mma Makutsi away from h...more
The Double Comfort Safari Club is the 11th in the No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency series by Alexander McCall Smith. Precious Ramotswe, proprietor of the best detective agency in Botswana, is kept busy with fraudulent fiancées, adulterous (or not) part-time reverends, jealous aunties and American legacies. Grace Makutsi’s well-ordered life is thrown into disarray when her fiancé, Phuti Radiphuti, suffers a nasty accident; Violet Sephotho is up to new tricks that show her true colours; Precious has...more
This is the eleventh book in the No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency series, set in Gaborone, Botswana, and is one of the best in the series. The slow-moving books (life does not move at a fast pace in traditional Botswana, even in Gaborone, which is the capital of the country, and has some 186,000 residents) feature the owner of the No. 1 Ladie’s Detective Agency, Mma Precious Ramotswe (a traditionally built woman), her assistant and secretary Mma Grace Makutsi (who scored an exceptionally high 97 p...more
Motivated by my trip to South Africa, I started to read this series of books written by Alexander McCall Smth about a woman in South Africa who decides to become a private detective. The first was titled "The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency" which got me hooked into reading the rest of the series to find out more about the protagonist, Precious Ramotswe and her funny, sidekick friend and assistant, Grace and their adventures into solving cases while navigating through their sticky personal lives...more
It’s been about a year since I read my last No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency book, and I’m pleased that I didn’t misremember the attraction of these stories; The Double Comfort Safari Club was exactly as calming and charming as I expected. The plot, as usual, was just functional enough to give the delightful Mma Ramotswe things to consider and solve; a safari guide is granted a bequest from a woman in America who remembered neither his name nor the Safari operator’s, one of Mma Ramotswe’s friends...more
Love these books. Obviously ... I keep reading them. But, have to say that they are not grand literature. The cases are simple and sometimes ridiculous. Why would a lawyer have an obligation to a client who wants him to transfer ownership of someone else's property to her? OK, so the owner was seduced into signing the document which deeded his house to the woman, and from there it was legal, but the woman had no legal right to ask for the document. Why would an "honest" lawyer agree to help the...more
I fully intended to read the No 1 Ladies' Detective Agency novels in order, but you know how that goes. I found the last (as far as I know) edition of the series, The Double Comfort Safari Club at Goodwill the other day, and of, course, had to pick it up.
And another sweet charmer it is. This time around Mma Ramotswe finds herself with several tasks: helping her secretary (er, we mean Assistant Detective) Mma Makutsi negotiate with her fiancee's dreaded Aunt after he loses ihs foot, and spiritied...more
And another sweet charmer it is. This time around Mma Ramotswe finds herself with several tasks: helping her secretary (er, we mean Assistant Detective) Mma Makutsi negotiate with her fiancee's dreaded Aunt after he loses ihs foot, and spiritied...more
#11 in the No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency cozy mystery series set in Botswana. We're off on another journey to Gabarone, Botswana to visit Mma Ramotswe, Mma Makutsi, Mr. JLB Matekoni and the rest of the circle of friends.
Mma Ramotswe is commissioned by a wife--and then by her husband--to find out if the other is having an affair. The second case comes via letter from America, a lawyer asking her to track down a guide--name unknown--at a safari camp--name also unknown--in the Okavango Delta in the...more
Mma Ramotswe is commissioned by a wife--and then by her husband--to find out if the other is having an affair. The second case comes via letter from America, a lawyer asking her to track down a guide--name unknown--at a safari camp--name also unknown--in the Okavango Delta in the...more
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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...more
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“Be content with who you are and where you are, and do whatever you can do to bring to others such contentment, and joy, and understanding that you have managed to find yourself.”
—
37 people liked it
“(Mma Ramotswe thinking about what her father taught her…)
“Having the right approach to life was a great gift in this life….Do not complain about your life. Do not blame others for things that you have brought upon yourself. Be content with who you are and where you are, and do whatever you can do to bring to others such contentment, and joy, and understanding that you have managed to find yourself…You can do that in the company of an old friend—you can close your eyes and think of the land that gave you life and breath, and of all the reasons why you are glad that you are there, with the people you know, with the people you love.”
—
11 people liked it
More quotes…
“Having the right approach to life was a great gift in this life….Do not complain about your life. Do not blame others for things that you have brought upon yourself. Be content with who you are and where you are, and do whatever you can do to bring to others such contentment, and joy, and understanding that you have managed to find yourself…You can do that in the company of an old friend—you can close your eyes and think of the land that gave you life and breath, and of all the reasons why you are glad that you are there, with the people you know, with the people you love.”
