Mma-ramotswe in NZ

It wasn't your typical stake-out. We had parked right outside the suspect's house, which stood in a wide tree-lined street in a quiet residential part of Gaborone, Botswana's capital. "OK," whispered Tim, "this is the place."

But Tim Race is no private eye. He's the boss of Africa Insight, which runs the official No 1 Ladies' Detective Agency Tour. "You don't need to be an expert on the whole series of books," he reassured me. "So long as you've at least read the first one you'll get a lot out of it."