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Precious Ramotswe's Very First Case: A Number 1 Ladies' Detective Agency Book for Young Readers
Have you ever said to yourself, Wouldn't it be nice to be a detective?
This is the story of an African girl who says just that.
Her name is Precious.
When a piece of cake goes missing from her classroom, a traditionally built young boy is tagged as the culprit. Precious, however, is not convinced. She sets out to find the real thief. Along the way she learns that your first guess isn't always right. She also learns how to be a detective.
Recommended for ages 7-10
Paperback original
"Starred Review. Bold and striking, McIntosh's chunky, two-color woodcut-like pictures present evocative images of the African setting. This is a story, and a heroine, with impressive dimension." - Publishers Weekly
"Starred Review. A compelling plot and interesting secondary characters, especially classmates who are quick to make unfounded accusations and their teacher, who provides wisdom just when it is needed, will leave readers wanting more. One case where an adaptation from an adult book is as much fun to read as the original." - Kirkus Reviews
"This mini mystery and its jaw-dropping illustrations will please proto-detectives, both large and small... What [McCall Smith]'s done with The Great Cake Mystery is unique... His fans will pluck it up like so many of his other books... A really fun read." - School Library Journal
This information about The Great Cake Mystery was first featured
in "The BookBrowse Review" - BookBrowse's membership magazine, and in our weekly "Publishing This Week" newsletter. Publication information is for the USA, and (unless stated otherwise) represents the first print edition. The reviews are necessarily limited to those that were available to us ahead of publication. If you are the publisher or author and feel that they do not properly reflect the range of media opinion now available, send us a message with the mainstream reviews that you would like to see added.
Any "Author Information" displayed below reflects the author's biography at the time this particular book was published.
Alexander McCall Smith began the now highly successful 'No 1 Ladies Detective
Agency' series in 1996, after being inspired by the sight of a 'traditionally
built' Botswanan lady chasing down a chicken for a meal. The first book in
the series - 'The No.1 Ladies Detective Agency' was published in the UK
in 1998 but didn't arrive in the USA until 2001.
Known to his friends as Sandy, McCall Smith describes the Botswanans as 'genuinely courteous people' He knows Botswana well as he grew up there and also spent several years on the law faculty of the University of Botswana;
his volume on the legal system of Botswana (The Criminal Law of Botswana) remains
the definitive and in fact, only book on the subject.
In 2004 he published the first in a...
... Full Biography
Author Interview
Link to Alexander McCall Smith's Website
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