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Precious and Grace
by Alexander McCall Smith
2016 / 240 pages
read by Lisette Lecat – 9h 49m
rating:  A+ / very cozy crime
(19th in Ladies #1 Detective Agency series)
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The main character is Precious Ramatswe,  a lady of  “traditional proportions,” who opened a detective agency in Gaborone, capital of Botswana.  In the early books chickens run through her little office and her old white van  often broke down, but she has always had a very loving and common-sensical approach to life – except in one backstory.   Throughout the series she solves little crimes while drinking bush tea and driving her old white van.   I loved these books so much I took to drinking the Rooibos tea – heh.

At some point early on Precious hired an assistant,  Grace Makutsi,  the star of the Botswana Secretarial School.  Grace had a rough background and is determined to make something of herself.  She’s is not particularly great looking but she has top-notch secretarial skills and she knows it.  Very proud lady.   These two have been the protagonists ever since but there are many other important and recurring characters.   I read the books in large part to find out what will happen in their lives.

In the series as a whole there’s an underlying theme of resistance to change and trying to uphold the traditional Botswanan values of honesty and tolerance using a cheerful attitude and common sense.  But in the individual books many topics are touched and explored.

In Precious and Grace a young woman named Susan arrives from Canada seeking her old home place and her old nurse.  Meanwhile an unscrupulous businessman sells a pyramid scheme to a part-time volunteer in the agency.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_No._1_Ladies%27_Detective_Agency

https://www.fantasticfiction.com/m/alexander-mccall-smith/precious-and-grace.htm