Precious and Grace

Precious and Grace is the seventeenth full length novel in the popular No.1 Ladies Detective Agency series by Scottish author, Alexander McCall Smith. With Grace Makutsi's status in the No.1 Ladies Detective Agency elevated and Precious Ramotswe no longer being her boss, as such, Mma Ramotswe finds her considerable skills of diplomacy and tact are more often required in their case discussions and client meetings.

This is indeed so when a client who has travelled from Canada presents with a somewhat unusual request: Precious and Grace agree to approach the case from quite different angles. Both get results, and both are surprised.

But this is not Mma Ramotswe's only concern: garage mechanic, Fanwell has taken on the care of a dog without the space or means to do so; Mr Polopetsi is involved in a business scheme that has alarm bells ringing in Mma Ramotswe's head; and it seems that Mma Makutsi's nemesis, Violet Sepotho is up to more tricks.

As always, Mma Ramotswe muses on the problems and challenges of life, making wise observations and comments to those near and dear. She philosophises about people we know: family, friends, colleagues, acquaintances and even enemies; about the past; about trusting one's feelings; about whether animals have souls; about lists. "Lists, she thought, are the stories of our lives; they give a picture of who we are and what we do every day" "…she reflected on the possibility that young men were a completely alien breed, and that however much you tried to get them to see things the way you saw them, you were destined to fail. And that perhaps part of the secret of leading a life in which you would not always be worrying about things, or complaining about them, was to accept that there were people who just saw things differently from you and always would"

On souls, Mr J L B Matekoni has an opinion: "Old cars have souls. Modern cars … well, I think the Japanese don't put souls into them. They save money, perhaps, by not putting in a soul"

This instalment sees some character development in Fanwell, Charlie and even the dreadful Violet. Apart from the rather determined dog, this instalment also features Mr J L B Matekoni's favourite stew, a puff adder, fat cakes (and some creative rationalising surrounding them), a newspaper story featuring Grace Makutsi, and the obligatory fruit cake. Mma Makutsi's garrulous shoes are noticeably absent. Another delightful dose of Bostwana.

Precious thoughts on the past: "There were too many people who took the view that the past was bad, that we should rid ourselves of all traces of it as soon as possible. But the past was not bad; some of it may have been less than perfect – there had been cruelties then that we had done well to get rid of – but there had also been plenty of good things. there had been the old Botswana ways, the courtesy and the kindness; there had been the attitude that you should find time for other people and not always be in a desperate rush; there had been the belief that you should listen to other people, should talk to them, rather than spend all your time fiddling with your electronic gadgets; there had been the view that it was a good thing to sit under a tree sometimes and look up at the sky and think about cattle or pumpkins or non-electric things like that"