Morality for Beautiful Girls is the third novel in the series about Precious Ramotswe and her detective agency in Botswana, and covers the period of one month after the events in Tears of the Giraffe. Be sure to read The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency and Tears of the Giraffe before this book, or you will probably think this story is a three star effort. Many reviews describe these books as mysteries . . . but they are really novels about a woman who sometimes solves problems for people. Since the first book, the "mysteries" have not been very mysterious, and the appeal of the books lies far apart from the mysteries.
In Morality for Beautiful Girls, Alexander McCall Smith takes a thorough look at the pros and cons of the old communal values found in Botswana's villages compared to the new morality of the urbanizing young in that country. In the process, Mr. Smith makes a powerful case for grafting onto the old values an appreciation for ingenuity, education, effort, organization and courage while dismissing most of the new morality as misinformed at best, and harmful at worst. In so doing, he eloquently describes the potential benefits of a matriarchic society led by determined, talented women who break down traditional boundaries that limit both men and women.
As the story opens, Precious realizes that her concept of helping all those who need her help, regardless of ability to pay, is going to leave the detective agency in perpetual financial trouble. Having agreed to marry Mr J.L.B. Matekoni, who runs a prosperous car repair business, Precious looks at ways to reduce her costs by sharing their resources. Her conclusion: She should move the detective agency to the garage, share Mma Makutsi's time and salary with the garage, and rent out the building she has been using for the agency. All seems to be off to a good start when Mr Matekoni begins acting strangely. With her burgeoning responsibilities and plans, Precious has just too much to do. So she delegates as many items on her "to do" list as possible to others, and gets going on what only she can do. It's like reading a lesson in time management.
During the course of the story, you will meet another unusual youngster who ends up at the orphanage. Precious is caught up in a case of potential poisoning at the behest of a powerful government official who is also a wealthy and well-connected tribal member. Although Precious doesn't want to take on the case, the official and Mma Makutsi bully her into it. While she's away on the case, Mma Makutsi proves to have even more talents than anyone could have expected from either her degree or her experience. In the process, she brings in a major case which she solves on her own involving four potential beauty contest winners.
In the first half of the book, the distress that Precious and Mr J.L.B. Matekoni are experiencing is so palpable that I found myself feeling more and more upset as I read the story. Seldom does "light" fiction affect me that way. I can only ascribe the intensity of my reactions to the quality of the writing and the exceptional care with which the characters have been developed into people for whom anyone would feel great sympathy and empathy. The book ends up leaving some mysteries unsolved, and I found myself wishing that I had a copy of the next book with me so that I could read what happened right away.
As I finished the story, I found myself wondering more about Botswana and why people love it there so much. I recently began working with a businessman in Botswana, and he has promised to help me understand more about that intriguing country. I look forward to being his student in this, as I have enjoyed being a reader of these fine novels.
