Summary and Reviews of Tears of The Giraffe by Alexander McCall Smith

Media Reviews

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.

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.

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.

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.

 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.