"Mma Ramotswe had a detective agency in Africa, at the foot of Kgale Hill." So begins this pleasant collection of stories about the early investigations of Precious Ramotswe, an intelligent and sensible woman who, having inherited the proceeds of her Daddy's 200 cattle, decides to do something more interesting than investing in a butchery or a garage. As mysteries, these stories are slight, but they have a fine sense of place. Look again at that first sentence; just a hint of an allusion to Out of Africa, a gesture, no more. Later, she sums up the Bostwana memory of the South African Bantustans: "It was all such a waste, she thought, such an utter folly, and when the time had come it had just faded away like the illusion that it had always been."