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Jul 26, 2011

Rebecca rated it:

Wonderful. Like a warm tasty comforting free meal on a cold night. Some surprising developments in the case of Charlie the apprentice who finds out that he has twins to support, until Precious Ramotswe discovers that perhaps he is not the father after all. Precious finally gets her tiny white van back and Grace Makutsi marries Phuti Radiphuti in style after Mma Potokwani invites herself to the wedding and takes over preparations. Much simple wisdom and funny situations and talk, but the book is More...

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Dec 16, 2011

Rebecca rated it:

Mma Ramotswe, proprietor of the No.1 Ladies' Detective Agency in Botstwana, is back, and is as busy as ever. Her assistant, Mma Makutsi, is preparing (at last!) for her wedding to Puti Radiputi, and the question of shoes causes her great distress. Charlie, whose apprenticeship in the repair shop has gone years past the normal span of an apprenticeship, is in trouble with a girl--and this time, it's serious. Then of course there is the case of Mr. Mweti, a farmer who had two cows hamstrung in the More...

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Oct 19, 2011

Ellen rated it:

I like Laurel's review of this series. The books are comforting, I agree. For me, it is like having a bedtime story read to me. I like them even more because I've watched the HBO series of dramatizations of the books. How did they manage to cast the characters EXACTLY as I had imagined them? This book aided in my recovery from a siege of sickness. I know that it helped me get better!

The main mystery in this book had an intriguing solution.

Here's Laurel's review:
Lau More...

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Jul 07, 2011

Lis rated it:

This is our latest visit with the ladies of the No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency and their family and friends. After many months, epic bride price negotiations with Grace's greedy uncle, and the trauma of Phuti's loss of a foot in a previous book, Grace Makutsi and Phuti Radiphuti are at last making the final preparations for their wedding day. And Grace is starting to realize how her life will change, when she is married to this man whom she loves and who loves her--and who is wealthy enough that More...

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Jun 29, 2011

Jennifer rated it:

Another enjoyable instalment in the No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency Series. McCall Smith certainly churns them out along with his other two 'middle class comfort zone' series - but they work for me!

This is possibly one of the slighter books and with some disappointments but some welcome familiar themes - Charlie the apprentice's waywardness, Mma Makutsi's passion for shoes. In this book there is a lot reflecting on the differences between men and women. Occasionally McCall Smith can ja More...

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Jun 06, 2011

Donna rated it:

Once again, Precious Ramotswe is on the case. This time it's about dead cattle. I love how she stews about it for a couple days, drives somewhere, makes one inquiry, and scores an incredible lead, if not the solution. If only all detective work was this easy.
I don't know how she deals with Grace Makutsi. She's bugged me for several books now. Nobody that blunt and untactful should be allowed to do detective work. It's probably a good thing she spends most of her time typing, filing, More...

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May 29, 2011

Mal rated it:

Join Precious Ramotswe, proprietor of the No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency, for the weeks that elapse in this charming tale of life in Botswana, and you may emerge with fresh perspective on life. Mma Ramotswe — the prefix is a title akin to “Ms.” — and those who surround her live their lives in a slow and steady way that would be familiar to village-based people everywhere but alien to those of us who populate the world’s fast-paced urban centers.

Mma Ramotswe’s Botswana is a nation disp More...

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May 24, 2011

Mmtimes4 rated it:

The twelfth installment in the beloved, best-selling series is once again a beautiful blend of wit and wisdom, and a profoundly touching tale of the human heart.

Precious Ramotswe is haunted by a dream in which she is driving her dear old white van. Grace Makutsi dreams that her 97 percent on the Botswana Secretarial College exam was a mistake. When Mma Ramotswe discovers that her van is actually still in use (and, of course, sets out to retrieve it), Mma Makutsi wonders whether More...

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May 19, 2011

Aaron rated it:

Precious Ramotswe returns in her 12th adventure as the founder of the No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency with this volume. She and those around her seem to be haunted by the ghost of her old, reliable white van. She had to get rid of it a few books back because the repairs were going to be too costly. She greatly regretted the loss because it was really more of a friend than a mode of transportation. She can help but wonder what is going on, but she is going to find out.

Gace Makutsi, Mma Ramotswe More...

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May 18, 2011

Marci rated it:

Alexander McCall Smith's No.1 Ladies Detective Agency series is one of my favorite series. This installment is probably the best of the twelve books so far.

In this book, Precious Ramotswe thinks at one point: ". . . she would always take the time to drink tea, to look at the sky, and to talk. What else was there to do? Make money? Why? Did money bring any greater happiness than that furnished by a well-made cup of red bush tea and a moment or two with a good friend? She thought More...

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May 18, 2011

Nadia rated it:

I can't believe that I forgot this book was coming out. I love this series and somehow, I completely spaced out on the fact that Alexander McCall Smith had released a new one this year. Anyhow, lucky for me I spotted a copy of it at (of all places) Target. Of course, I grabbed it and ran to the cashier to pay for it so that I could get home and start reading it ASAP. And let me just say how happy I was to be taken back into the world of Precious Ramotswe and her home country of Botswana. Th More...

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May 07, 2011

Jim rated it:

Volume 12 in the #1 Ladies Detective Agency series is better that Volume 11, as it’s free of sententious asides and includes evocative writing about life and landscape in Botswana. The actual mysteries are secondary to the mild and partly humorous dilemmas of the familiar main characterizes who are depicted with their customary foibles and good qualities. The book is at its best in depicting the dilemmas that Precious Ramotswe faces not in solving mysteries but rather in dealing wisely with vexi More...

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Apr 25, 2011

Terri rated it:

All of the usual suspects (and a few new ones) are back in this latest installment of "The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency" series by Alexander McCall Smith. The major plot lines of "The Saturday Big Tent Wedding Party" include: the mysterious ghostly reappearance of Mma Ramotswe's white van, Grace Makutsi's marriage to Phuti Radiphitu (the whole wedding shoe thing is a trip!), Violet Sephotho's run for the Botswana Parliament (a thread which is not satisfactorily tied up at t More...

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Apr 24, 2011

Sue rated it:

I am such a fan of the No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency books and I love the wisdom of Precious Ramotswe. The books are such a peaceful read. My favorite passages:

"So might we fail to see the real sadness that lies behind the acts of others; so might we look at one of our fellow men going about his business and not know of the sorrow that he is feeling, the effort that he is making, the things that he has lost."

"She looked at him fondly; that he had been sent to More...

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Apr 24, 2011

Kathleen added it

The Saturday Big Tent Wedding Party: the No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency #12, by Alexander McCall Smith, b-plus, Narrated by Lisette Lecat, produced by Recorded Books, downloaded from audible.com.

Both Precious Ramotzwe and Grace Makutsi are preparing for Grace’s wedding. Precious finds herself engaged in a puzzling case where a farmer has lost a cow to deliberate injury by someone, cutting the cow’s tendons. As Precious investigates, she becomes convinced that, while she’ll never com More...

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Apr 23, 2011

Sri rated it:

I love the cover :*

* spoiler alert *
Kasus dalam buku ini bikin pusing, bahkan Mma Ramotswe pun tetap pusing walaupun kasus sudah selesai haha. Terlalu banyak kebohongan sehingga nggak tau lagi mana yang paling benar. Pada akhirnya Mma Ramotswe membiarkan, yang penting kasusnya beres.
Charlie mendapatkan masalah lagi, kali ini dia punya anak kembar (:| dan dia tidak mau bertanggung jawab. Untunglah ibu kedua bayi itu ternyata ga bener juga. Ternyata bapak si kembar bukan Charli More...

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Apr 19, 2011

Denise rated it:

It is amazing to me that after 12 books in the series Alexander McCall Smith can still keep the No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency fresh and interesting, and he does!

In Saturday Big Tent Wedding Party the big event is, of course, the long awaited wedding of Grace Makutsi and Phuti Radiphuti. There is so much to plan and Mma Makutsi is suffering from wedding jitters. Could the upheaval be the reason why both Mma Makutsi and Mma Ramotswe seem to be hallucinating all the sudden? Because sure More...

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Apr 18, 2011

Wendy rated it:

What I love most about this series is Mma Ramotswe's interaction between other people. Such as this exchange that made me cry when I read it (starting on page 167):

Mma Ramotswe shook her head. "It is very bad."

"She is a bad girl," said the maid. "It is very unfair Mma. She has all this--she has her good parents and she has their money, their food. And all the time she is bad. It is unfair, Mma."

Mma Ramotswe reached out and took th More...

3 comments like (1 person liked it)

Apr 10, 2011

Janet rated it:

"Taking her old shoes out of the box into which Paticia had tucked them, she slipped them back on her feet and continued on her way to the Tlokweng Road. One or two people had witnessed the tragedy, or at least had seen part of it: a young man passing by, a boy on a bicycle, an old man standing in the shade of a tree. But they had only seen a woman racing after a white van and then stumbling; they had seen her bend down and change her footwear before walking off towards the main road. So More...

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Mar 27, 2011

Judy rated it:

Alexander McCall Smith's No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency books never fail to satisfy a yearning for serenity that you're not even aware your want! The Saturday Big Tent Wedding Party is no exception. Precious Ramotswe is asked to discover who killed 2 cows of a farmer; then she's faced with the problem of a promise she made to a small boy. Grace Makutsi, in the meantime, must find the perfect pair of shoes for her upcoming marriage to Phuti Radiphuti. On top of all of this, Mma Ramotswe thinks sh More...

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Oct 19, 2011

Will rated it:

In the 12th volume of this delightful series, Botswana’s most renowned lady detective looks into a mysterious event on a farmer’s land. Cattle have been slashed. Who would do such a thing? Of course Precious Ramotswe and her able, if somewhat shoe-addled assistant, Grace Makutsi, are on the case, and you know they will get to the bottom of it, by and by.

In the meantime, Grace is eagerly planning for her upcoming wedding. This entails getting the finest possible shoes. If you have read More...

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Apr 08, 2011

Kathryn rated it:

This is the twelfth book in the No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency series, set in Gaborone, Botswana, and dealing with Mma Precious Ramotswe, a lady of traditional Botswana build. The agency is run next door to Tlokweng Road Speedy Motors, owned and operated by Mr. J.L.B. Matekoni (Mma Ramotswe’s husband), and the agency is run with the assistance of Mma Grace Makutsi. As with all the other books in the series, mysteries arise and are solved by Mma Ramotswe, with the aid of many cups of traditional More...

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Jun 05, 2011

Julie rated it:

How could you NOT love Precious Ramotswe, her quirky cases, her witty thoughts, and her wisdom? Some bits I loved in this book:

"There were some things that one could stop, or try to stop, but it was a mistake to go through life trying to interfere in things that were beyond your control, or which were going to happen anyway, no matter what you did. A certain amount of acceptance - which was not the same thing as cowardice, or indifference - was necessary or you would spend your More...

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Apr 18, 2011

Marianne rated it:

The Saturday Big Tent Wedding Party is the twelfth book in Alexander McCall Smith’s No 1 Ladies Detective Agency series. Mma Ramotswe has plenty to keep her busy as someone is killing cattle on a southern cattle-post, Charlie the apprentice seems to have fathered twins and Grace Makutsi’s wedding to Phuti Radiphuti is fast approaching. She also has to wonder if she is seeing a ghost when her tiny white van makes an appearance. Mma Makutsi is faced with a shoe dilemma and shows her usual indignan More...

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Jun 03, 2011

Judy rated it:

This is Alexander McCall Smith's 12th book in his No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency series and this book brims with the same gentle charm of the first 11 volumes. While the situations that arise in Botswana aren't always ones that occur in 21st century America, Smith aptly demonstrates that human nature is the same no matter where you live. Precious Ramotswe (a woman of traditional build) gets a new client who wants to know who killed two of his cattle, Charlie the Apprentice is suspected of bein More...

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Apr 23, 2011

Titilayo rated it:

what can i say? brillantly crafted story. all the familiar nuisances and pleasantries. the normal twists and turns. intrigue. mystery. reason. uncertainity. fact. proof. fiction. perception. ambiguity. wisdom. comedy. and truths:

"You are the lady to help people. The words came back to her as she made her way home that evening. It was pleasing to know that people thought of you, but worrying too. You could not help everybody-nobody could-because the world was too full of need and More...

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Jul 18, 2011

Ariel rated it:

First off let me start by saying I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE this series. It always comes out right around my birthday and every year the latest installment is like the best present. I love this series so much that I am always on the lookout for a book like it which has led me to Maisie Dobbs (another great series in the cozy detective niche) and the Isabelle Dalhousie series (a mixed bag for me). If you are reading this book which is number twelve in the series I am sure you love Precious Ramotswe and c More...

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Oct 11, 2011

Mark rated it:

Another thoroughly enjoyable chapter in the life of Mma Ramotswe. The book culminates in the marriage of Mma Makutsi and Phuti Radaphuti, which is so exquisitely described that I was moved to tears. We have followed Mma Makutsi through ten books, from her arrival at the detective agency as an awkward and outspoken plain looking woman with big glasses to the joyful bride. I felt like I was at the wedding and experiencing all the emotions of the day. The book also sees the resurrection of the More...

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Aug 02, 2011

Sara rated it:

I thoroughly enjoyed "The Saturday Big Tent Wedding Party" - the Moeti mystery was more intriguing and actually mysterious than many of Mma Ramotswe's recent cases and as always, I am charmed by Mma Makutsi's relationship with her shoes and Alexander McCall Smith's perfect one-line summaries of warm emotions like contentment and gratitude.

I thought Mma Makutsi's wedding to Phuti didn't get quite as much attention as it deserved and instead, her plot line was much more focuse More...

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Jul 16, 2011

Nielson rated it:

I love this series. I don't feel like the books themselves are super gripping or riveting, but the author does such an amazing job at character development. Although the book isn't that long, you come to personally know each character. I love the main Mma and her husband and her secretary is so funny...I feel like her 97% secretarial score comes up in every conversation :) The other thing I love about these books is that the author gives so many little life morsels. The author will just drop the More...

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