The other books? Enjoyable, but they don't have the magic for me. But there's a lot to enjoy, especially in the 44 Scotland Street series, which he writes on the hoof, as a open-ended serial in a Scottish newspaper. He was inspired to do it that way by the similar operation carried out by Armistead Maupin with his Tales of the City.

The thing I love about Precious is the way she keeps her feet on the ground. There's a passage about "being non-judgemental" questioning the notion, insofar as it means deciding that you think some action is right or wrong, regardless of who does it. Precious thinks you have to make those kinds of judgements as part of being a human being. But you don't generally have the right to impose that judgement on others. That's how I see it too.

You don't get stuff like that in many detective stories.

One thing the films would benefit from is more cattle. They are important to Precious, symbolically as well as practically.