Main •
Mma Precious Ramotswe, the first female
private investigator in Botswana. She is a 'traditionally built'
Motswana heroine and the protagonist of the series. After a disaster marriage to Note Mokoti and the loss of their child, she decides to become a detective, setting up The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency, an agency run by ladies, which does not, as many think, only cater to women. Mma Ramotswe is clever and can size people up very easily. She has a wide circle of friends and often talks to them about recent events at the President Hotel close to where she lives on Zebra Drive, in Gaborone, Botswana – this list includes Mr. J. L. B. Matekoni and Hector Lepondise, both of whom wish to marry her. Like many in the area, she speaks fluent
English and
Setswana. •
Mma Grace Makutsi, the agency's only employee, first as secretary, then as assistant detective, and then associate detective, then partner in business. She has very large glasses and while not glamorous, is very pretty. She attended the Botswana Secretarial College and in the final exam scored a record 97%, of which she constantly talks about. She is trilingual, speaking her father’s tongue,
Setswana, the tongue of her mother,
Ikalanga, and
English. •
Mr. J. L. B. Matekoni, mechanic and proprietor of
Tlokweng Road Speedy Motors, Mma Ramotswe's suitor and eventual husband. He is always referred to in these novels by this very formal title (he even refers to himself by that name). His full name is John Limpopo Basil Matekoni, and (according to a radio interview with the author on BBC World Service) he is embarrassed by the Basil. He is a reliable and kind man who is very devoted to his job, friends and business. He sees machines as living objects and tries to preserve car engines as well as possible – this leads him to get angry at other mechanics who hold no regard for the property of others. He is highly regarded as a mechanic within
Gaborone, and many prominent men take their cars to him despite his garage being smaller than that of some of his rivals. While possessing a large amount of courage, he can be pushed around easily. Again, like most in the area, he speaks fluent
English and
Setswana.
Secondary •
Mr. Obed Ramotswe, father of Precious, known to her as her Daddy. He worked in the mines in his younger days, then came home to raise his daughter and continue increasing his herd of cattle. He was known for his keen eye for the best cattle, and bred some of his own. He tells his own story in the first novel, and is mentioned often by Mma Ramotswe throughout the series owing to his wisdom and loving attitude to his daughter and family. •
Charlie, the older of the two apprentices in Mr. J. L. B. Matekoni's garage. He is always thinking about girls and can often be seen to be doing little dances during this. He is later cut from his apprenticeship and joins the No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency as a Junior Assistant Detective. •
Fanwell, the younger apprentice, is only referred to as the "younger apprentice" in the earlier novels. His name is not mentioned until
Tea Time for the Traditionally Built. He lives in a small house with his grandmother and his several younger brothers and sisters. Although he is slightly more serious than his older friend, Charlie, he still frequently discusses girls with him. He eventually becomes a mechanic in
The Limpopo Academy of Private Detection. •
Mr Polopetsi, an assistant to Mma Ramotswe and Mr J. L. B. Matekoni. He is introduced in
In The Company of Cheerful Ladies. After disappearing from the series, he returns in
The Woman Who Walked In Sunshine. It is announced that he has become an assistant Chemistry teacher at a local secondary school, but comes back to work at the agency part time whilst Mma Ramotswe is on her holiday. •
Phuti Radiphuti, Grace Makutsi's husband. He is introduced in
In The Company of Cheerful Ladies, and they marry in
The Saturday Big Tent Wedding Party. He is kind, clever, extremely gentle and well-spoken. In
The Double Comfort Safari Club, he has an accident in which he loses his foot, which causes Mma Makutsi to worry about their relationship. •
Violet Sephotho, Mma Makutsi's rival from the Botswana Secretarial College, introduced in
In the Company of Cheerful Ladies. She returns in most books subsequent to her introduction with new schemes to ruin Mma Makutsi's life with Rra Phuti Radiphuti. In
The Saturday Big Tent Wedding Party, she is discussed as running for parliament in an upcoming by-election but makes no direct appearance. In
The Minor Adjustment Beauty Salon she is named as the owner of the dress shop Botswana Elegance, but again makes no direct appearance. She is described as very glamorous but very nasty and not very smart. •
Dr Moffat, The doctor and his wife are good friends of Mma Ramotswe, and he treats Mr J. L. B. Matekoni when he falls into a deep depression. He is based on a real person, Howard Moffat, a direct descendant of
Robert Moffat, the Scottish missionary whose daughter
Mary married
David Livingstone. •
Mma Silvia Potokwane, matron of the 'Orphan Farm', always ready to offer wisdom, bush tea and fruit cake to Mma Ramotswe. Mma Potokwane is effective in achieving her goals for the orphans and the orphan farm. This skill has Mr. J. L. B. Matekoni doing mechanical repairs for free and later taking on two foster children. Moreover, despite being incredibly pushy, she looks out for all her friends and is happy to do favours for them. She has much family on her husband's side; Mma Ramotswe meets Comfort Potokwane and another Mma Potokwane in the sixteenth novel of the series. •
Note Mokoti, Mma Precious Ramotswe's former husband and father of her short-lived baby. Note is a trumpet player and very seductive. Note treated Mma Ramotswe poorly and violently and Precious says that marrying him was a mistake. Later she learns he was married to another woman at the time of their marriage, so she has no need of divorce prior to her marriage to Matekoni. Before Note’s marriage ceremony to Mma Ramotswe, Obed Ramotswe advised his daughter against marrying him. •
Motholeli and
Puso, Ramotswe and Mr J. L. B. Matekoni's two adopted children. While among the earlier novels Puso keeps himself to himself, Motholeli shows a keen interest in being a mechanic like her adoptive father, despite using a wheelchair due to an illness when she was younger. •
Clovis Andersen, an American, author of the self-published
The Principles of Private Detection and idol of both Mma Ramotswe and Mma Makutsi. He arrives for a visit in
The Limpopo Academy of Private Detection and his presence helps to solve a very personal case. •
Itumelang Clovis Radiphuti, the infant son of Mma Makutsi and Phuti Radiphuti, born three weeks premature in
The Minor Adjustment Beauty Salon. Charlie, who often argues with Mma Makutsi, stated that Itumelang was a '100%' baby. Fanwell is also fond of the child. •
Queenie-Queenie, Charlie's wife. •
Charlie Gotso, an influential yet sinister man who owns a chain of shops and takes
muti, which he believes keeps him powerful. He has met many noble and royal people such as
Moshoeshoe II. It is commonly known in Gaborone that if you refused a demand of Gotso, he would make your life more difficult in subtle ways. •
Hector Lepondise, a wealthy businessman who owns a factory making a particular type of bolts. Many staff within his factory are his family members. He is good friends with Mma Ramotswe and wants her to marry him. •
Daisy, the third foster child of Mma Ramotswe and Mr J. L. B. Matekoni, who Mma Potokwane forcefully persuades Mma Ramotswe to adopt in
To the Land of Long Lost Friends. ==Series order==