The new book by Alexander McCall Smith takes a new tack, which turns out to be just as touching as his world-famous series on Mma Precious Ramotswe, as well as stories from 44 Scotland Street.
The hero in the title of this one is “The Good Pilot Peter Woodhouse” who proves to be a lovable Boston Collie. This dog was owned by a farmer in the UK who beat him regularly. This was discovered by a neighbour, a city girl called Val Eliot, who was recruited to the farm next door as part of the war effort in the Women’s Land Army. She rescued the dog and gave him a safe home.
She was soon to meet an American air force reconnaissance pilot stationed nearby, called Mike. He loved Peter Woodhouse and very soon the dog was living at the base and spending most of his time flying with the pilots where he was most content and became Dog First Class, mascot of the U.S. Air Force. There is a disaster when Mike is shot down, but Peter Woodhouse plays an amazing part in the rescue. It is altogether an exciting and fascinating book and will doubtless join Alexander McCall Smith’s amazing list translated into over forty languages and sold as bestsellers throughout the world.
Reviewed by Anne McDougall