Reading Lists β The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency
The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency Books In Order (Full List)
The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency is a series of 27 books by Alexander McCall Smith. The first book published in the series is The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency in 1998. Here is a complete list of The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency books in order.
Last update: October 18, 2026
1. The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency (1998)
1 Ladies Detective Agency series tells the story of the delightfully cunning and enormously engaging Precious Ramotswe But the case that tugs at her heart, and lands her in danger, is a missing eleven-year-old boy, who may have been snatched by witchdoctors.
- π 278 Pages
- π 69,500 - 83,400 Word Count
- β±οΈ 9 Hours Reading Time
2. Tears of the Giraffe (2000)
1 Ladies' Detective Agency received two Booker Judges' Special Recommendations and was voted one of the βInternational Books of the Year and the Millennium' by the Times Literary Supplement.
- π 227 Pages
- π 56,750 - 68,100 Word Count
- β±οΈ 8 Hours Reading Time
3. Morality for Beautiful Girls (2001)
THE NO.1 LADIES' DETECTIVE AGENCY published in 1998, introduced the world to the one and only Precious Ramotswe, the engaging and sassy owner of Botswana's only detective agency.
- π 227 Pages
- π 56,750 - 68,100 Word Count
- β±οΈ 8 Hours Reading Time
4. The Kalahari Typing School for Men (2002)
1 Ladies' Detective AgencyFor All Confidential Matters and InquiriesSatisfaction Guaranteed for all PartiesUnder Personal ManagementThe phenomenal success of The No.
- π 191 Pages
- π 47,750 - 57,300 Word Count
- β±οΈ 6 Hours Reading Time
5. The Full Cupboard of Life (2003)
1 Ladies' Detective Agency hit series. Once again we are transported to Gaborone, capital city of Botswana, and into the world of Mma Ramotswe and her friends.
- π 198 Pages
- π 49,500 - 59,400 Word Count
- β±οΈ 7 Hours Reading Time
6. In the Company of Cheerful Ladies (2004)
In the newest addition to the universally beloved No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency series, the charming and ever-resourceful Precious Ramotswe ends up overly beset by problems.
- π 233 Pages
- π 58,250 - 69,900 Word Count
- β±οΈ 8 Hours Reading Time
7. Blue Shoes and Happiness (2006)
1 Ladies' Detective Agency and Tlokweng Road Speedy Motors. A cobra has been found in Precious Ramotswe's office.
- π 256 Pages
- π 64,000 - 76,800 Word Count
- β±οΈ 9 Hours Reading Time
8. The Good Husband of Zebra Drive (2007)
The 8th novel in the No.1 Ladies Detective Agency Series Grace Makutsi is promoted to associate detective and handles a case herself. Mma Ramotswe helps the hospital in Mochudi deal with a string of mysterious patient deaths.
- π 213 Pages
- π 53,250 - 63,900 Word Count
- β±οΈ 7 Hours Reading Time
9. The Miracle at Speedy Motors (2008)
- π 224 Pages
- π 56,000 - 67,200 Word Count
- β±οΈ 7 Hours Reading Time
10. Tea Time for the Traditionally Built (2009)
Mma Ramotswe's little white van starts to fail, and she has to turn her detective skills on a problem of her own.
- π 212 Pages
- π 53,000 - 63,600 Word Count
- β±οΈ 7 Hours Reading Time
11. The Double Comfort Safari Club (2010)
Precious Ramotswe deals with issues of mistaken identity and great fortune against the backdrop of Botswana's remote and striking Okavango Delta.
- π 240 Pages
- π 60,000 - 72,000 Word Count
- β±οΈ 8 Hours Reading Time
12. The Saturday Big Tent Wedding Party (2010)
Hoping to reclaim a van that was featured in a possible prophetic dream, Precious and Grace find themselves helping an apprentice of Phuti Radiphuti, investigating a cattle poisoning.
- π 213 Pages
- π 53,250 - 63,900 Word Count
- β±οΈ 7 Hours Reading Time
13. The Limpopo Academy of Private Detection (2012)
The Limpopo Academy of Private Detection is the thirteenth mystery novel by Alexander McCall Smith in The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency series, first published in 2012.
- π 257 Pages
- π 64,250 - 77,100 Word Count
- β±οΈ 9 Hours Reading Time
14. The Minor Adjustment Beauty Salon (2013)
The Minor Adjustment Beauty Salon is the fourteenth mystery novel by Alexander McCall Smith in The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency series, first published in 2013.
- π 242 Pages
- π 60,500 - 72,600 Word Count
- β±οΈ 8 Hours Reading Time
15. The Handsome Man's De Luxe CafΓ© (2014)
Mma Ramotswe has her hands full both at home and in the office. To add to her current challenges, her devoted partner, Grace Makutsi, has decided to branch out on her own and open The Handsome Man's De Luxe Cafe.
- π 227 Pages
- π 56,750 - 68,100 Word Count
- β±οΈ 8 Hours Reading Time
16. The Woman Who Walked in Sunshine (2015)
Business is slow at the No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency, so slow in fact that for the first time in her estimable career Precious Ramotswe has reluctantly agreed to take a holiday.
- π 213 Pages
- π 53,250 - 63,900 Word Count
- β±οΈ 7 Hours Reading Time
17. Precious and Grace (2016)
- π 227 Pages
- π 56,750 - 68,100 Word Count
- β±οΈ 8 Hours Reading Time
18. The House of Unexpected Sisters (2017)
1 Ladies' Detective Agency, Precious Ramotswe and Grace Makutsi are intrigued by the troubling dismissal of an employee at a thriving local business.
- π 227 Pages
- π 56,750 - 68,100 Word Count
- β±οΈ 8 Hours Reading Time
19. The Colors of All the Cattle (2018)
- π 361 Pages
- π 90,250 - 108,300 Word Count
- β±οΈ 12 Hours Reading Time
20. To the Land of Long Lost Friends (2019)
Alexander Hamilton was an American military officer, statesman, and Founding Father who served as the first U.S. secretary of the treasury from 1789 to 1795 under the presidency of George Washington.
- π 240 Pages
- π 60,000 - 72,000 Word Count
- β±οΈ 8 Hours Reading Time
21. How to Raise an Elephant (2020)
- π 256 Pages
- π 64,000 - 76,800 Word Count
- β±οΈ 9 Hours Reading Time
22. The Joy and Light Bus Company (2021)
- π 240 Pages
- π 60,000 - 72,000 Word Count
- β±οΈ 8 Hours Reading Time
23. A Song of Comfortable Chairs (2022)
The bibliography of Alexander McCall Smith, a Scottish legal scholar and author of fiction. He was raised in Southern Rhodesia and was formerly Professor of Medical Law at the University of Edinburgh.
- π 227 Pages
- π 56,750 - 68,100 Word Count
- β±οΈ 8 Hours Reading Time
24. From a Far and Lovely Country (2023)
- π 227 Pages
- π 56,750 - 68,100 Word Count
- β±οΈ 8 Hours Reading Time
25. The Great Hippopotamus Hotel (2024)
- π 227 Pages
- π 56,750 - 68,100 Word Count
- β±οΈ 8 Hours Reading Time
26. In the Time of Five Pumpkins (2025)
- π 227 Pages
- π 56,750 - 68,100 Word Count
- β±οΈ 8 Hours Reading Time
27. The Big Cats Dance Party (2026)
- π 227 Pages
- π 56,750 - 68,100 Word Count
- β±οΈ 8 Hours Reading Time








