Faced with some of Africa's most puzzling crimes, Lindy, Betty, Bertha and Mannes are four clued-up ladies.
The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency books, which detail the work of female private detectives in Botswana, have been a phenomenal success.
They have sold nine million copies around the world and the rights have been bought by Hollywood.
The agency is, of course, fictional.
But in Lusaka, capital of Zambia, exists a unique, real-life agency which employs female detectives.
In the film we follow Lindy and Betty as they investigate a major criminal case in which 30 tonnes of maize seed worth £40,000 goes missing from a warehouse.
Meanwhile, Bertha and Mannes are assigned to a case in which a man suspects his wife, a school teacher, of being unfaithful to him.
The agency's Director of Investigations, Edmond Lifwekelo, is proud of his female workforce.
"Ladies are a very, very valuable tool," he says.
"When you are doing surveillance in a bar or a nightclub and you put a man there, he starts drinking, gets drunk and can easily be compromised… but the ladies just have a coke or a tonic. They are very disciplined."
And when the cases consist of dead-ends, lengthy stakeouts and complex paper trails, discipline – just like these four female sleuths – should never be underestimated.
The Real No.1 Ladies' Detective Agency was broadcast on Tuesday, 5 July, 2005 at 1900 BST on BBC Two.
Producer: Dominic Ozanne
Executive Producer: Karen O'Connor
Tags: abc 7-tv, art, cbs 5-tv, congestion pricing, kogo radio, ksfo radio, moveonorg, nasty, practices, private investigations
