Books The Colors of All the Cattle (No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency, #19)

Read online The Colors of All the Cattle (No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency, #19).pdf PDF, EPUB, MOBI, TXT, DOC The Colors of All the Cattle (No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency, #19) Mma Precious Ramotswe began the No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency in Botswana and. It is possibly the only detective agency in that region of Africa. With people in the small villages knowing just about everything about everyone else, her cases are usually non-violent and relatively easily and tenderly resolved. When a well-loved doctor suffers severe injuries by a hit-and-run driver, she is asked by him and his daughter to locate the driver, no small task since there is no evidence pointing to a particular person or vehicle. But, with the help of her friend and colleague, Mma Grace Makutsi, who sees herself as an equal partner because she graduated from a secretarial college, and Charlie, an enthusiastic though unqualified part-time trainee (who spend the rest of his day as an enthusiastic but unqualified mechanical apprentice at Mma Ramotswe’s husband’s garage), she sets out to find the perpretrator. Gaborone, the city where they live, is also facing a major problem: A group of wealthy but unknown investors want to build a major hotel right next to a cemetery. The hotel will be called The Big Fun Hotel and is expected to be attractive to tourists. The townspeople believe the location is very disrespectful of the late people buried there. There is a vacancy on the city council and Mma Ramotswe is approached by an influential and strong-willed woman to run for the office to prevent the construction. Running for public office is about the last thing that she wants to do. She sees herself as a humble person and does not want the public attention. Eventually she agrees and runs by stating that she cannot do miracles and will not make any promises except that she will do her best. A third thread is Charlie’s relationship with a young woman whom he cares about deeply. Unfortunately, he doesn’t earn enough money even to take her to a restaurant. She doesn’t seem to care, but when he learns that she comes from an extremely wealthy family, he feels very inadequate. Mma Ramotswe is a very calm and positive person, always looking for the good in people, quick to forgive and offer second chances. THE COLORS OF ALL THE CATTLE, a gentle book, is packed with philosophy and humor. Charlie takes everything literally. As the first meeting of Mma Ramotswe’s election committee opens, he is sitting on the floor and wondering why the meeting was called to order when there was no disorder. His confusion continues. Later on when the chairperson reacts to an interruption, she complains about interruptions from the floor. Charlie responds, “But I am on the floor. If we cannot hear from the floor, then I will be able to say nothing.” Mma Makutsi’s husband is the wealthy owner of a furniture store. When she wants to use his business to get information, they have an argument about the roles of women and men. Mma Ramottswe has a lovely outlook about the dead. “Late people are still with us..... They were with us in the things that they had said, which we remembered long after they had gone; they were with us in the love that they had shown us, and which we could still draw upon...; and, if...they had children, they were with us in the look in the eyes of those children, in the way they held their heads, in the way they laughed, or in the way they walked., or did any of the other things that were passed on, deep inside, within families.” The last part hit home with me. My mother died 26 years ago. A couple years later, one of her first cousins told me I had my mother’s smile. No one had ever mentioned that before. I found a picture of her smiling and, sure enough, I had the same smile. That has been very comforting over the years. Like all the books in the No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency series, the people are treated respectfully and honestly. The plot does not use violence, sex, profanity;, car chases, etc., to make its point. While it takes place in Botswana, the people and situations are international. THE COLORS OF ALL THE CATTLE is a nice escape from current events and readers may learn something in the process. by Alexander McCall Smith