Novel approach

Where to start? | Suggest a pairing

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The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency by Alexander McCall Smith

Precious Ramotswe solves mysteries; small mysteries that do not involve master criminals or world domination, but are still profoundly important to the people who come to her for help.

My one good neighbour sets himself aside,
And alters into someone I have known:
A passing stranger on the road to grief,
Husband and father; rich man; poor man; thief.

John Burnside, The Good Neighbour

If you like the peace, the gentle pace and the wide scope of Mma Ramotswe's world, imagine it transferred to Scotland. John Burnside's poems often have a serene, domestic, setting at dusk or first light, but they make you pricklingly aware of the untamed world and the little shock of coming up against the boundary of the wood, the spaces where angels can be real, the glimpse of a wild animal at the roadside.

The Good Neighbour by John Burnside

Or try… Jeremy Hooker, Jacob Polley, U A Fanthorpe, Michael Symmonds Roberts

Pairings & synopses

	High Fidelity | Zoom!
	The No.1 Ladies' Detective Agency | The Good Neighbour
	The Family Way | Newborn
	The Algebraist | Spirit Machines
	The God Of Small Things | Postcards From God
	The Night Watch | The Book Of Blood
	Fleshmarket Close | Dead Redhead
	Bridget Jones's Diary | Leaving And Leaving You
	Quite Ugly One Morning | Bad Shaman Blues
	The Shipping News | The Tree House
	Shadow Of The Wind | The Eyes
	Back When We Were Grownups | Granny Scarecrow