"The No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency" - Alexander McCall Smith - Questions.

What is a detective novel? It is a novel in which the reader is challenged to solve a puzzle before the detective explains it at the end. What are the characteristics of a detective novel? One of the characteristics of a detective novel is that nearly every element of the narrative will relate to the investigation and resolution of the crime. A detective novel has a plot, a beginning, a middle and an end. A …

…with a typical detective novel's cover. There nothing violent, mysterious, dangerous or intriguing about the cover. The cover depicts a jovial African traditional setting which is not depicted on a cover of a typical detective novel. The picture on the cover is extremely misleading to the title of the book. The expression on the woman's face and her dressing on the cover are in total contrast to what would appear on a detective novel's cover.