The No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency series (Books 1–3) by Alexander McCall Smith follows Precious Ramotswe, Botswana’s first female private detective, as she establishes her agency in Gaborone and takes on a variety of unusual cases involving missing people, deception, family problems and mysterious crimes. Across the first three books, Precious builds her reputation while navigating her own relationships and developing a close friendship with her assistant, Grace Makutsi. Warm, gentle and quietly humorous, the series combines cosy mysteries with thoughtful observations about human nature, relationships and life in Botswana.