Wayward daughters. Missing Husbands. Philandering partners. Curious conmen. If you’ve got a problem, and no one else can help you, then pay a visit to Precious Ramotswe, Botswana’s only – and finest – female private detective.

Life has not been easy for Mme Ramotswe; she has survived a disastrous marriage and learned a thing or two about life along the way. When her father dies, leaving her with the means to own her own home and business, she knows just what she wants to do. After all, the best detectives are women, just ask Agatha Christie.

Her methods may not be conventional but she’s got warmth, wit and canny intuition on her side (not to mention Mr J. L. B. Matekoni, the charming proprietor of Tlokweng Road Speedy Motors) and Precious is going to need them all as she sets out on the trail of a missing child, a case that tumbles our heroine into a hotbed of strange situations and more than a little danger.