Morality for Beautiful Girls (No.1 Ladies' Detective Agency)

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Alexander McCall Smith

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Pages: 202 (Paperback)

ISBN: 0748662979

Pub: Polygon

Pub date: 2001-05-15

Amazon.co.uk Sales Rank: 236532

Reader Reviews:

Africa Beckons You with Love in This Beautiful Novel (3/3 people found this helpful)

If you have not read The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency, I strongly urge you to do so before reading Tears of the Giraffe. Otherwise, this beautiful novel will seem like a four star effort as you fail to appreciate and integrate the background of Precious Ramotswe into your thinking as it was described in the earlier book.

Tears of the Giraffe isn't so much a sequel as a continuation of the events in The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency. As that book ended, Mma Ramatswe accepted the proposal of Mr J.L.B. Matekoni. In Tears of the Giraffe, the couple decides in which of their houses they will live, picks out a ring and decides about having children. Each event has its unexpected twists . . . including an attempt by Mr Matekoni's maid to derail the marriage.

There is less happening at the detective agency than in the prior story. This book involves solving only two mysteries, a wandering wife and a missing son. Mma Ramatswe learns that her able secretary wants to become a detective, and the savvy head of the agency tries out Mma Makutsi's talents with encouraging results.

Both story lines focus on questions of right and wrong. As a prospective spouse, what are the right reactions to one's fiancé or fiancée? As a detective, how much may one do wrong to avoid greater wrongs? To one's community, what is owed? To one's employees, what opportunities should be opened? In each case, the suggestion is that all responsibilities must be borne . . . and borne bravely . . . but in a way that is tempered with love for one's fellow people.

As with The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency, Africa itself plays a role stronger than any single character in defining what is thought and done. The strong and distinct atmosphere makes the book more enchanting to those who do not know Africa.

The story is strengthened by alternating narrators among many different characters and using lots of dialogue so that each part of the novel is vivid and varied. It's as though six or seven almost unconnected short stories were woven together into a seamless novel. It's an impressive accomplishment.

As I finished the book, I wondered how much better off we all would be if we each took a strong responsibility for all those we meet and touch.

Dangerous Problems Beset Precious and Her Fiancé! (4/4 people found this helpful)

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.

A blip? (1/1 people found this helpful)

“Morality for Beautiful Girls” is certainly not the strongest novel in the series, and its lack of action would probably put off any newcomers. The story is concerned more with the interaction of the main characters – Precious Ramotswe, Mr J L B Maketoni and Mma Makutsi – and it seems that Speedy Motors has become the focus of the tale, rather than the infamous detective agency. Having said that, as with all the books, it is beautifully written and the characters are lifelike and engaging. Hopefully the author is saving some juicy cases for the next installment.

Sometimes it is good to know when to stop! (4/4 people found this helpful)

I have read three of the Ladies Detective Agency books now and I felt a bit disappointed after this one. I loved the first book in the series and enjoyed tears of a giraffe, but I thought this book was a bit predictable and did not have quite enough mystery and plot to keep it going at an acceptable pace.

It is not a bad book, but if you are considering buying this series of novels i'd say buy the other two i mentioned before this one.

Not Equal To The First Two (23/28 people found this helpful)

The third book in the Ladies No. 1 Detective Agency series is a little bit of a letdown. Having loved the previous two entries (which one should certainly read before this), I was rather disappointed that there of the five plotlines, only two were actually "cases" and two were left unresolved. Plotline one involves the agency's move to share space with Speedy Motors and Miss Makutsi's new role as Asst. Manager there. Plotline two involves a feral young boy found in the bush, which never really goes anywhere. Plotline three involves the apparent poisoning of the brother of an important "Government Man."

This case is much like those in the two previous books as "traditionally built" Precious Ramotswe must insinuate herself into a country household and unmask the poisoner. As always, she uses her intelligence, keen sense of human nature and a desire to help people to arrive at an outcome that's best for all. Plotline four embroils Miss Makutsi in an investigation of the character of four beauty contest finalists. She proves herself the equal of Mma Ramotswe as a detective, and in that sense, she steals some of the thunder in this book. The final plotline revolves around a mystery held by Mr. J.L.B. Matekoni which is hinted at but never unveiled, presumably leaving it for the next book, which is rather frustrating and annoying.

Like the earlier books, this one critiques forces of progress and modernization as well as patriarchalism (although in a lighter way than the other books did), and aims to portray a positive picture of modern Africa, one all too rarely seen in the West. As always, the story is delivered in a delightfully fluid and simple well-paced prose.

The series continues with The Kalahari Typing School For Men.

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