Precious and Grace by Alexander McCall Smith, New in Bookstores during October 2016

Today's featured new hardcover mystery, suspense, or thriller title scheduled to be published during October 2016 is …

Precious and Grace by Alexander McCall Smith, a Precious Ramotswe, No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency Mystery (17th in series)

Publisher: Pantheon

 

Changes are afoot at the No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency, where Mma Makutsi, who has recently been promoted to co-director, has been encouraging Mma Ramotswe to update to more modern office practices. However, an unusual case will require both of them to turn their attention firmly to the past. A young Canadian woman who spent her early childhood in Botswana requests the agency's help in recovering important pieces of her life there. With only a faded photograph — and, of course, some good old-fashioned detective skills — to guide them, Precious and Grace set out to locate the house that the woman used to live in and the caretaker who looked after her many years ago. But when the journey takes an unexpected turn, they are forced to consider whether some lost things may be better off unfound.

Busy as she is with this challenging investigation, Mma Ramotswe can always be relied on to come to the aid of her friends — who seem to have a special knack for landing in hot water. Mr. Polopetsi, an occasional assistant at the agency, has made an ill-advised business decision that may lead to serious trouble. And next door at Tlokweng Road Speedy Motors, Fanwell, the junior mechanic, has become helplessly attached to a stray dog who proves to be a bigger responsibility than he can handle. With Mma Makutsi by her side, Mma Ramotswe dispenses help and sympathy with the graciousness and warmth for which she is so well known, and everyone is led to surprising insights into the healing power of compassion, forgiveness, and new beginnings.

— Precious and Grace by Alexander McCall Smith

For a list of more new hardcover titles to be published this month, visit our New Mysteries page for October 2016. For new paperback titles, visit The Mystery Bookshelf where a selection of October 2016 mysteries, novels of suspense, and thrillers are shelved.