Tears of The Giraffe: Summary and book reviews of Tears of The Giraffe by Alexander McCall Smith, plus links to an excerpt from Tears of The Giraffe and a biography of Alexander McCall Smith.
Tears of The Giraffe
by Alexander McCall Smith
Paperback: Sep 2001,
208 pages.
In 1999 The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency received two Booker Judges' Special Recommendations and was voted one of the ‘International Books of the Year and the Millennium' by the Times Literary Supplement.
Tears of the Giraffe takes us further into the life of the engaging and sassy Precious Ramotswe, the owner and detective of Botswana's only Ladies' detective agency. Among her cases are wayward wives, unscrupulous maids and a challenge to resolve a mother's pain for her son, who is long lost on the African plains. Mma Ramotswe's own impending marriage to that most gentlemanly of men, Mr. J. L. B. Matekoni, the promotion of her secretary to the dizzy heights of Assistant Detective and new additions to the Matekoni family, all brew up the most humorous and charmingly entertaining of tales.
BOOK REVIEWS
Media Reviews
Publishers Weekly
Alexander McCall Smith (The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency) offers the second installments of his dignified, humorous Botswanan series. In Tears of the Giraffe, PI Precious Ramotswe tracks a missing American man whose widowed mother appeals to Ramotswe; meanwhile, the imperturbable detective is endangered at home by her fiance's resentful maid.
Toronto Globe and Mail
This is an utterly delightful tale...the elegant formal language and smooth-flowing style add charm.
Edinburgh Review
This is a superior piece of detective fiction, written in simple, direct but effective prose. Perhaps most importantly, this novel offers a refreshingly positive picture of an African nation - and probably deserves a wide audience in the West on those grounds alone.
Sunday Telegraph - Anthony Daniels
The author's prose has the merits of simplicity, euphony and precision. His descriptions leave one as if standing in the Botswanan landscape. This is art that conceals art. I haven't read anything with such unalloyed pleasure for a long time.
Scotland on Sunday - Susie Maguire
The writing is unfussy, the voices clear and unique, filled with a sort of grave, humorous directness which is refreshing and charming. Alexander McCall Smith has hit upon one of the most pleasing fictional worlds I have visited for years.
John A. Broussard, I Love A Mystery Newsletter
All in all, McCall Smith has managed to turn out a fascinating picture of the African countryside and the people who occupy it...Read as a glimpse into the lives of people still relatively untouched by Western materialism, there will be no disappointment.
Recent Reader Reviews
Rated of 5
by CEB
Perhaps not the best book for a college course, I must say. A great book for a fast read however (I read it in a few hours one Sunday) and entertaining. A refreshing story that puts morals back into American minds. NOT for those looking to... Read More
Rated of 5
by reader
pathetic, childish, simplistic
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Publishers Weekly
John A. Broussard, I Love A Mystery Newsletter
of 5
by CEB
of 5
by reader
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