Precious Ramotswe uses her formidable detection talents to track down her tiny white van--sold by her estimable husband Mr. J.L.B. Matekoni and stolen from its new owner- -while simultaneously helping to explain the dreadful losing streak of a local football team and smoothing out a snag in Mma Makutsi's engagement to Mr Phuti Radiphut.

This first novel in Alexander McCall Smith's widely acclaimed The No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency series tells the story of the delightfully cunning and enormously engaging Precious Ramotswe, who is drawn to her profession to ₃help people with problems in their lives.₄?Immediately upon setting up shop in a small storefront in Gaborone, she is hired to track down a missing husband, uncover a con man, and follow a wayward daughter. But the case that...