Precious Ramotswe sold her late father’s cattle and used the money to open a detective agency in Gaborone, the capital of Botswana. She became Botswana’s first female private investigator. Her agency gave its name to the No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency series, written by Alexander McCall Smith.
The series now has 27 novels, from the 1998 opener to The Big Cats Dance Party in September 2026. The full list comes first on this page. After it come the latest novel, the main characters, the TV series with Jill Scott and why it stopped after one season.
No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency Books in Order: The Reading Order From the First Novel
It is best to read in publication order. Each novel follows on from the one before, and the characters’ lives move forward from book to book. The years below are the first publication dates, which are British. The US editions of books 1 to 6 came out later, so their US year is added.
Books 1 to 9: The Early Novels
- The No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency (1998; US 2002)
- Tears of the Giraffe (2000; US 2002)
- Morality for Beautiful Girls (2001; US 2002)
- The Kalahari Typing School for Men (2002; US 2003)
- The Full Cupboard of Life (2003; US 2004)
- In the Company of Cheerful Ladies (2004; US 2005)
- Blue Shoes and Happiness (2006)
- The Good Husband of Zebra Drive (2007)
- The Miracle at Speedy Motors (2008)
Books 10 to 18: The Middle of the Series
- Tea Time for the Traditionally Built (2009)
- The Double Comfort Safari Club (2010)
- The Saturday Big Tent Wedding Party (2011)
- The Limpopo Academy of Private Detection (2012)
- The Minor Adjustment Beauty Salon (2013)
- The Handsome Man’s De Luxe Café (2014)
- The Woman Who Walked in Sunshine (2015)
- Precious and Grace (2016)
- The House of Unexpected Sisters (2017)
Books 19 to 27: The Newest Novels
- The Colours of All the Cattle (2018)
- To the Land of Long Lost Friends (2019)
- How to Raise an Elephant (2020)
- The Joy and Light Bus Company (2021)
- A Song of Comfortable Chairs (2022)
- From a Far and Lovely Country (2023)
- The Great Hippopotamus Hotel (2024)
- In the Time of Five Pumpkins (2025)
- The Big Cats Dance Party (2026)
Two American titles are spelled differently. The US author site calls book 15 The Handsome Man’s Deluxe Café, and book 19 is The Colors of All the Cattle in the US.
How Many Books Are in the No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency Series?
There are 27 novels as of November 2026. Hachette, the British publisher, lists The Big Cats Dance Party as book 27. Not all books in this series are novels, and a few stay out of the count:
- The Cleverness of Ladies, a book of short stories;
- Mma Ramotswe’s Cookbook (2009), by Stuart Brown with a foreword by McCall Smith;
- the Young Precious Ramotswe books, a separate children’s series.
The Latest Novel and the Next One: The Big Cats Dance Party
The latest novel is The Big Cats Dance Party. It was published in the UK on 3 September 2026 and in the US on 15 September 2026. The next book has no title or date yet: as of November 2026, neither publisher lists a 28th novel.
The series continues at a steady pace. Since 2006 there has been a new novel every year. The book before this one, In the Time of Five Pumpkins, dates from September 2025.
Who Is Precious Ramotswe? A Detective Agency in Botswana and a Tiny White Van
Mma Precious Ramotswe is the founder of the agency and the country’s only female detective, as the author’s own site puts it. She comes from Mochudi and lives on Zebra Drive in Gaborone. The books describe her as traditionally built, and she drives a tiny white van. The series is set in and around Gaborone. Mma is the Setswana term of respect for a woman; Rra is used for a man.
Her father, Obed Ramotswe, was a miner and a cattle man. His cattle paid for the agency. This is detective fiction of the gentle kind: the Boston Globe’s Clea Simon called the books a “cozy mystery series” in 2004.
Who Helps Mma Ramotswe Solve the Cases? Mma Makutsi, Mr J.L.B. Matekoni and the Rest
- Mma Grace Makutsi – first her secretary, then assistant detective, associate detective and finally partner. She scored 97% at the Botswana Secretarial College and wears large glasses.
- Mr J.L.B. Matekoni – the mechanic who owns Tlokweng Road Speedy Motors. He courts Mma Ramotswe and later becomes her husband.
- Phuti Radiphuti – Grace’s husband. They meet at dancing lessons in book 6 and marry in book 12.
- Charlie and Fanwell – the two apprentices at the garage. Charlie later joins the agency as Junior Assistant Detective.
- Mma Potokwane – the matron of the Orphan Farm, who offers bush tea and fruit cake.
- Motholeli and Puso – the foster children from the Orphan Farm. Motholeli uses a wheelchair and wants to be a mechanic.
- Violet Sephotho – Grace’s old rival from the college.
There is also Clovis Andersen, the author of The Principles of Private Detection. He appears in person in book 13.
On Screen: The No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency TV Series With Jill Scott
The books became a BBC and HBO television series, made with The Weinstein Company and filmed on location in Botswana. It ran for one season: a feature-length pilot and six episodes, seven in all.
- The pilot (2008). Anthony Minghella directed it and wrote it with Richard Curtis. BBC One showed it on Easter Sunday, 23 March 2008, to 6.87 million viewers. Minghella died five days before the broadcast.
- The series (2009). Six one-hour episodes ran on BBC One from 15 March to 19 April 2009. HBO started on 29 March 2009, opening with the pilot.
- The cast. Jill Scott played Mma Ramotswe, with Anika Noni Rose as Mma Makutsi and Lucian Msamati as the mechanic.
The season won a Peabody Award in 2010. To watch it now, try Hulu in the US, which lists one season of seven episodes. Entertainment sites point to HBO Max. Check your own provider, because streaming rights change.
Why Was There Only One Season of The No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency?
HBO did not renew the show, and no official reason was given in any report we found. In August 2010, HBO’s programming chief Michael Lombardo said it would not continue as a series. Instead, two feature-length films were in development with The Weinstein Company.
In January 2011 HBO said scripts were being written. In August 2012 Lombardo said HBO had decided not to move forward with the films.
The Radio Series on BBC Radio 4
McCall Smith dramatised the books for BBC Radio 4 himself. More than 30 episodes aired between 2004 and 2019, covering books 1 to 19. Claire Benedict played Mma Ramotswe in most of them up to 2016.
The Stage Musical in Cape Town
In 2015 the Belmond Mount Nelson Hotel in Cape Town staged a musical, No.1 Ladies’ Detective Agency, The Musical. According to the hotel’s press release, it was written with McCall Smith and had twelve songs by Tom Cunningham and Josh Hawks.
Who Is Alexander McCall Smith? From Zimbabwe to Medical Law in Edinburgh
Sir Alexander McCall Smith was born in 1948 in Bulawayo, in Southern Rhodesia, now known as Zimbabwe. At 17 he moved to Edinburgh to study law at the university there. In 1981 he helped found the law school at the University of Botswana. Later he became Professor of Medical Law at Edinburgh, and he is now emeritus. He was knighted in 2024 and still lives in the city.
The No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency became a bestselling series, with more than 20 million copies sold in English by 2009. Alexander McCall Smith’s other series include two long ones. The Isabel Dalhousie series, also called The Sunday Philosophy Club, follows a philosopher in the same city. The 44 Scotland Street series is a run of serial novels there, with Bertie Pollock among its characters. Detective Varg is set in Malmö, Sweden, and the von Igelfeld books are comic academic novels.
What Is the First No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency Book? Where to Start
The first book in the series is The No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency, published in 1998 by Polygon. McCall Smith recalls a first print run of only 1,500 copies. Start here, because the novel introduces Precious Ramotswe and tells how she sets up the agency. Our review of The No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency by Alexander McCall Smith tells you what to expect from it.
No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency Books Reviewed on This Site
Cozy Mystery Series Like the No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency
- Detective Aunty Investigates – Uzma Jalaluddin’s widow Kausar Khan solves murders in a Toronto suburb.
- Makana Mysteries – Parker Bilal’s Sudanese former police inspector works as a private investigator in Cairo.
- Agatha Raisin Mysteries – M.C. Beaton’s retired London PR executive investigates in a Cotswolds village.
- Hamish Macbeth Mysteries – M.C. Beaton’s Highland policeman keeps the peace in the village of Lochdubh.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do you need to read the No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency series in order?
Yes, it is best to. Each novel continues the lives of the same characters, so marriages, children and jobs change from book to book.
Who plays Mma Ramotswe in the TV series?
Jill Scott played her in the 2008 pilot and the 2009 season.
Is there a book 28?
Not yet. As of November 2026 there is no title or date for a 28th novel.
How many books are in the Gallows Hill series?
Gallows Hill is not part of this series; the best-known book of that name is Darcy Coates’s standalone horror novel from 2022.
How many DI Kim Stone books are there?
DI Kim Stone is Angela Marsons’s British police series, not McCall Smith’s: 23 novels so far, with a 24th due on 17 November 2026.