One thing I enjoyed about Alexander McCall Smith’s light-hearted private-eye novel The Kalahari Typing School for Men is how well Smith conveyed the culture of Africa, everything from the formal style with which the locals address each other to how business arrangements are based on personal relationships.

What towns have you lived in? Would any of them make an interesting setting for a private-eye novel? What cultural aspects of that town could you use to create a sense of place?