Tears of the Giraffe by Alexander McCall Smith

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An Overview

This is the second book in the Number One Ladies Detective Agency series by Alexander McCall Smith. It follows the adventures of Mma Ramotswe as she solves mysteries while adjusting to her recent engagement to Mr. J.L.B. Matekoni and the promotion of her secretary to “Assistant Detective.”

The Main Body

Following on the heels of The Number One Ladies Detective Agency, this book gives listeners a chance to become better acquainted with some of the secondary characters from the introductory book. When detective Precious Ramotswe agrees to marry auto mechanic J.L.B. Matekoni, the duo must go through many of the same struggles that all newly engaged couples face.

Their situation is made more difficult by Mr. Matekoni’s jealous housekeeper who does all she can to break the pair apart. Grace Makutsi, the detective agency’s secretary, also plays a more prominent role in Tears of the Giraffe as she is given the grand title of “Assistant Detective” and allowed to take on a case of her very own.

Her efforts make an amusing subplot to the main mystery, which involves an American woman who wants help resolving the disappearance of her son in the African bush ten years earlier. Mma Ramotswe handles her clients, coworker, and fiancé with the kindness and common sense one would expect from the only female detective in all of Botswana.

Author Alexander McCall Smith spent many years of his life in southern Africa, and his descriptions of the Kalahari, and the people and animals that inhabit the area around it are realistic and capable of making the listener feel he or she has actually visited Botswana.Mma Ramotswe is proud of her birth-country and manages to impart that pride without tearing down other countries or their citizens.

The book has several interesting discussions of “traditional Botswanan morality” that give a fascinating glimpse into the ways that modern culture and attitudes are changing the ways people think and act in present-day Africa. Mostly, though, Tears of the Giraffe is a lovingly written story about people and their day-to-day concerns, no matter which continent they may inhabit.

Some serious literary critics may complain that Smith simplifies his writing too much and overused certain phrases like “tiny white van” and “traditionally built,” but fans of his work argue that it is the simplicity and repetition which make this and the other books in the series so charming.Listeners looking for a pleasant diversion, well-drawn characters, and a satisfying ending will not be disappointed.

The Narration

I am an avid reader, as well as a consumer of audio books, and I think that this story is greatly enhanced by the narration of Lisette Lecat. Her beautiful accent makes the rather lengthy African names of people and places sound familiar and lovely.

She does an admirable job of distinguishing the characters’ voices through pitch and inflection, and brings the action vividly to life.