Morality for Beautiful Girls
First edition
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| Author | Alexander McCall Smith |
|---|---|
| Country | Scotland |
| Language | English |
| Series | The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency series |
| Genre | Detective, Mystery novel |
| Publisher | Polygon Books |
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Publication date
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2001 |
| Media type | Print (Hardcover & Paperback), Audio Cassette & CD |
| Pages | 256 first edition, paperback |
| ISBN | (first edition, paperback) |
| OCLC | 46693682 |
| 823/.914 21 | |
| LC Class | PR6063.C326 M67 2001 |
| Preceded by | Tears Of The Giraffe (2000) |
| Followed by | The Kalahari Typing School for Men (2002) |
Morality for Beautiful Girls is the third detective novel in The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency series by Alexander McCall Smith, set in Gaborone, Botswana. The novel features the Motswana protagonist Mma Precious Ramotswe.
Her fiancé is struck down by depression, so Mma Ramotwe ensures he gets medical treatment and then appoints her secretary, Mma Makutsi, as acting manager of the garage. They had already decided to move the detective agency to office space in the garage, to cut expenses. Two cases are resolved, one by Mma Ramotswe and the other by Mma Makutsi, all on her own, as she manages the garage as well. Both women have opportunities to reflect on morality in modern Botswana. A boy with a strange history is brought to the orphan farm; Mr JLB Matekoni reaches out to him, teaching him language and making toys for him.
The novel was reviewed by the New York Times when this and the two prior novels were published in the USA at once in 2002. The reviewer finds the writing to have "energy and eccentricity" but with "formal cadences [that] can sometimes slide into a languid drone". The author writes "about the variety and resilience of a nation to which Smith seems utterly devoted." The main character "Mma Ramotswe acts as much like Miss Manners as Miss Marple." Other reviews note that Mma Ramotswe is "a remarkably original character" and that McCall Smith's writing style is deceptively simple and direct, marked by "passages that have the power to amuse or shock or touch the heart, sometimes all at once". A review of the audio books in the US noted Mma Ramotswe's solutions of mysteries through her "finely honed sense of human frailty and simple wisdom" and finds the audio version is especially good for readers of this novel, as the accent on English from Botswana is unique.
Mma Ramotswe's business, the No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency, has clients but needs to cut costs and increase revenue from fees. To reduce costs, she and her fiancé Mr JLB Matekoni decide to move the agency to the garage, which has plenty of office space. The original office will in turn be let, to add income. Mma Makutsi, secretary, is given the title of assistant detective, with a rise in pay. Mr JLB Matekoni is behind on his paperwork, which Mma Makutsi can organize. He has been lethargic lately. Mma Ramotswe realizes he needs help, and sets out to help him. He will not agree to see the doctor, so Mma Ramotswe asks Mma Potokwane of the orphan farm to step in. Mma Potokwane brings him to Dr Moffat who diagnoses him as having depression, for which he steps back from his garage while medications begin to work. Mma Makutsi takes over management of the garage and the useless young apprentices, making the apprentices accountable for their work, and making rapid business decisions to make good on the garage's name, Speedy Motors. She shows her strong management skills from the first hour of taking over her role as acting manager. The young apprentices are impressed with her, and how she applies her detective skills to solving some of the auto problems that the apprentices cannot solve.
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