I read this popular mystery novel prior to visiting Botswana with the idea of getting a little bit of insight into the people and places I would be visiting. The caveats of doing so were many: I hoped that my trip would not be filled with mystery, I was aware that the author was a white man from Scotland writing about an Africa and an African woman, and it’s fiction. Still, I found it rewarding and was happy to find out from some of the people we met in Botswana that the book and series (and TV series adapted from the books) are viewed positively by most of the local population.

Part of the criticism of the book (and perhaps the series) is that Smith’s portrayal of Botswana sugarcoats the more negative aspects of the country and the legacy of colonialism. His response, as expressed in an introduction to this volume, was that there are plenty of other books that deal with that aspect, whereas his goal with this book (which he hadn’t intended to be a series, but the audience response and the characters drove him to continue writing stories about Precious and her agency) was to focus on the more detailed lives of individuals living within that culture.

The book is somewhat disjointed. Readers of mysteries expecting a clear through-line to the narrative will be scratching their heads. But if you let the chapters dwell within your memory as you read, the book does have a clear character, if not plot, arc that resolves nicely at the end.