The No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency by Alexander McCall Smith

Precious Ramotswe is a pudgy African woman in her late thirties. After her father dies, she sells his cattle and starts her own detective agency. The stories of her cases are sweet – tender characters and creative solutions that always culminate in a happy ending. Her father’s death and the bit about her abusive husband were less sweet. Favorite Quote: “one nostalgic thought she allowed herself, one indulgence, was to imagine her Daddy walking through the door and greeting her again, and smiling at her, and saying ‘My Precious! You have done well! I am proud of you!’ And she imagined driving him round Gaborone in her tiny white van and showing him the progress that had been made, and she smiled at the pride he would have felt. But she could not allow herself to think like this too often, for it ended in tears, for all that was passed, and for all the love that she had within her.”