Review: Tears Of The Giraffe

Tears Of The Giraffe Amazon US PB Amazon Canada PB
Alexander McCall Smith
Class/Genre: Mystery Woman Main Character
Series: The No 1 Ladies Detective agency # 2
I love P.I. novels. I like books about tough-talking gumshoes,
dangerous dames (who these days might be the gumshoes themselves) and
mean streets. I realize, however, that the life of the real-life private
investigator usually involves things that you wouldn't normally think of
as engrossing subject matter for a mystery, things like tailing wayward
spouses and exposing larcenous employees. Precious Ramotswe, proprietor
of the only female-owned detective agency in Botswana, spends most of her
time doing this kind of "real" P.I. work. And yet, Alexander McCall
Smith's "#1 Ladies Detective Agency" and its sequel "Tears of the
Giraffe" quietly hooks you and won't let you go.

Plotwise, the books seem at first to wander about. Mma Ramotswe, as
she is known, moves from case to case in a series of vignettes, with a
single "major" case lurking in the background of each book which is
referred to from time to time and eventually wrapped up, but which
doesn't absorb the majority of the protatgonist's time. Eventually, the
reader realizes that the books really aren't about solving mysteries at
all; they're about the lives of the characters and the changes they go
through in those lives.

It would be easy at first to to look at the basic good-heartedness of the main characters and at the simplicity of the language they use and conclude that these people are quaint or even childlike. This would be a mistake. There is a depth of feeling and complexity of experience here that saves the books from condescension. The good characters are not perfect; the bad ones are often more foolish and self-deluded than they are truly evil. One of the things I found particularly moving is the deep and abiding love that Mma Ramotswe feels for her country, while remaining clear-eyed about its problems and the problems of Africa in general.

Are these great mysteries? No. They're great books, period: warm, funny, and moving. Four Stars each.

Reprinted with permission. Do Not repost without permission from the author, Dusty Rhoades - RAM

Book Review: Tears Of The Giraffe