In the Company of Cheerful Ladies

The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency

By: Alexander McCall Smith

Narrated by: Lisette Lecat

Length: 9 hrs and 24 mins

Publisher's summary

Readers everywhere have become entranced by the New York Times best-selling No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency series, from acclaimed author and award-winning wit Alexander McCall Smith. Each charming book in the series is a masterpiece of comic subtlety and a window for viewing the distinctive culture and landscape of Botswana.

Handling a busy caseload at The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency and contending with an intruder in her home, Mma Ramotswe has plenty on her mind. So when her unfortunate past returns to haunt her, she is happy her husband, Mr. J.L.B. Matekoni, is distracted as well. It seems one of his apprentices at Tlokweng Road Speedy Motors has raced off with an older, wealthy woman.

Life on the edge of the Kalahari is as humorously chaotic as ever for Mma Ramotswe and her loved ones. And there's plenty of bush tea to go around.

Listen to the other titles in the No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency series.

©2004 Alexander McCall Smith (P)2005 Recorded Books, LLC

Critic reviews

"[A] consistently delightful series....Amid the hilarious scenarios and quiet revelations are luminous descriptions of Botswana, land of wide-open spaces and endless blue skies." (Publishers Weekly)
"[McCall Smith] delivers another winner, brimming with poetic descriptions of Botswana, pitch-perfect assessments of human foibles, and sensible resolutions reached over steaming cups of bush tea. By turns laugh-out-loud funny and quietly profound, these life-affirming mysteries are fine company, indeed." (Booklist)

Boring

Would you try another book from Alexander McCall Smith and/or Lisette Lecat?

Too many useless information.slow narration.glad I didn't purchase more! Will watch for narrator as well couldn't get through first chapter

Has In the Company of Cheerful Ladies turned you off from other books in this genre?

No

How did the narrator detract from the book?

Slow

Awful reader!

I gave it a two rather than a one based on the fact that the little of the story I was able to listen to was interesting. I just could not stand to hear the author say the female character's names. The over-exaggerated MMMMMMM drove me mad. I can understand wanting to be authentic and I would have been OK with it if she did it only during conversations between characters but she did it every single time! I was begging God that somehow the author's writing would switch to using "she" only. Could not get past the first 2 chapters. Waste of money because I just can't listen to that woman read for another second!

Dreadful!

The story is extremely poor and boring and the narration annoying!! It is unclear what fake accent the person wants to take on, but the way she says Mmmmmma 10 times per minute is extremely annoying. Waste of money. Audible should really implement a return system because this book would have gone right back to the bookstore had I got the hard copy.

Couldnt finish book

I got this book in the clearance section and I can honestly say it was in the clearance/reduced price section for a reason. Narrator is terrible. I am not sure about the story line because I couldn't get past the first hour of this book.

JUST COULDN'T GET INTO IT

I'm sorry, but I just couldn't get into this book. I found it to be boring and trite. After the first few chapters, it just didn't pick up speed in the story. I just can't recommend this book as a good read. Wish I could, but it just couldn't hold my interest.

TOO churchy

I read and love many older romantic style dectective novels and thought this would hold true. However perhaps I choose a book intended for the adolescent reader, as it was read too slowly. The story is also slow, and I am not much in to Sunday morning sermons. So when the Sunday morning sermon droaned on and on, I lost interest.

Story Okay, but drags on

The story is okay, but the accent and constant reference to 'bush tea' gets old. If reading the book, I would end up skipping many parts

Had a hard time - slow

I love a good mystery but I had a hard time with this book. I tried really hard (twice) months apart to give this a chance. I got about 1 1/2 hours in before I gave up. It was hard to get past the title and the drawn out mmmm's. It felt like it took forever to get to the mystery and I am not sure what it was exactly other than a mysterious pumpkin and a woman in a Mercedes. I really wanted a new series to listen to but I don't think this will be it.

Couldn't wait long enough

I couldn't leave this on long enough to get what the story was about. The reader's pronunciation of madam over and over again was more than I could stand. Will think longer before buying one of the special $4.95 deals.

MIND NUMBING

I cannot understand the other great reviews! I have listened to 2 hours and I can't listen any more. The writer actually talks at length about the purchase of a good mattress - are you serious? Don't waste the credit!!