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)

What a waste of a credit

I agree this book is booooooooooooring! So far no plot; she finds a man under her bed but does nothing more than wonder, and spends more time concerned about making tea, this is a detective agency right? The over-exaggeration of the Mmmmmmmadem and the other lady's name drives me nuts! I'm on chapter 5 and still shaking my head, but I think I'll finish it just to see if there really is any plot or if she decides the guy under her bed (with no pants) is worth pursuing.

I am sorry that I wasted a credit on this

What could have made this a 4 or 5-star listening experience for you?

A different narrator. This narrator kept stumbling over the names of the characters and you could hear her every time she swollowed in the mic. I couldn't even get to chapter two.

Who would you have cast as narrator instead of Lisette Lecat?

I don't know but she is horrible.

You didn’t love this book... but did it have any redeeming qualities?

I dont know because I couldn't stand to listen to the narrator.

Why do so many people like this book?

What disappointed you about In the Company of Cheerful Ladies?

I found the book lack luster. Because I know different people who adore this series I was disappointed that I found it so boring. I do love to find a series I thoroughly enjoy.

Would you ever listen to anything by Alexander McCall Smith again?

No

Would you be willing to try another one of Lisette Lecat’s performances?

Yes

If you could play editor, what scene or scenes would you have cut from In the Company of Cheerful Ladies?

I found the book dreary.

Any additional comments?

I so wanted to enjoy it!

Excruciatingly slow

I loved reading the first book in this series and think I would like this one, but found the narrator simply unbearable, and am quitting at the end of the first chapter. Not only does the narrator speak extremely slowly, but she pauses in bizarre mid-sentence places, which I find quite jarring. Well, I guess de gustibus etc. . . . .

Good performance...not loving the writing

The performance of this story was solid, but the overall writing style left me cold. The details were many, making the story itself hard to get into. I'd like to come back to this, but it'll be a while. It was on the $4.95 list...I now see why.

slow

I have read other books about the No. 1 Ladies detective Agency and found them charming. I do think this book may be better to read then to listen to.Listening to this book on a road trip I found the narrators voice annoying and could not wait for a rest stop to stop the book. the story is pretty slow too.

Impatient reader

Not at all what I expected. Should have read the review more carefully. The use of language was annoying. The plot moved too slowly. And I'm usually open-minded and love something different.

Eh- No wonder this was on sale

I've only made it to chapter 3, and so far the book is a snooze. I'm not sure I'm going to be able to continue. Slow paced and Lecat's pronunciation of Mma is really, really getting on my nerves.

So far - no good

I was barely able to make it through the first three chapters. There was no action, nothing to grab my attention and way too much time spent on nonessential details. The narrator had a nice presentation, but overall the entire story just seemed to drag on endlessly.

This is the first book by this author that I have read and I am not sure I will purchase another.

Confused...

Any additional comments?

After reading several mixed reviews about this series, it seems that readers either love it or hate it. Because I purchased the book for only $4.95, I can come to terms with the fact that I hate it. Literally nothing happens. At one point towards the end of the first part, the ladies debate whether what they are talking about actually matters. Spoiler alert: it doesn't. There is no plot progression at all! The narration was beautiful and accurate but it's a shame the text wasn't as riveting as the performer's accent.