#No 1 detective agency series

McCall Smith was born and grew up in what is now Zimbabwe, neighbor to Botswana. She's fairly typical of many people whom you meet in that part of the world.' 'She's a very intelligent woman, she's kind, she's forgiving - she's just the sort of person you'd like to sit down and have a cup of tea with. 'Well, she's a woman of great intuitive ability,' McCall Smith says of Ramotswe. 'It was amazing to me that an entire culture of people could be so generous with their energy and spirit.'

'I kept meeting women who were sweet - just genuinely sweet and smart,' she says. Scott says she discovered a strong sense of the character while filming in Botswana. 'But there's another thing that she has - she tries to achieve some sort of resolution between people, which may mean actually forgiving somebody.' 'She does have a very strong sense of justice and what is right,' McCall Smith explains. McCall Smith found his flesh-and-blood heroine in Scott, who portrays Ramotswe as having enormous confidence and a sense of her own beauty - even when the skinny girls come around to call her 'fatty.' It's the first leading role for the performer. Singer Jill Scott plays Precious Ramotswe, Botswana's only lady detective, in the series.

#No 1 detective agency series

1 Ladies' Detective Agency - Alexander McCall Smith's charming, best-selling book series - comes to American audiences this Sunday as an HBO miniseries. Anika Noni Rose plays Mma Makutsi, Ramotswe's quirky secretary.