Tears of the Giraffe

When the first No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency books were released here in the UK there was quite a hum surrounding their release. At the time I had one of those Borders’ books of the first chapters of numerous summer releases and the first chapter of No 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency was included. At the time I wasn’t really taken by it and have since avoided any other books from the Alexander McCall Smith series, until now…

Tears of the Giraffe was in a pile of charity shop books that my Mother-in-law S recently passed on to me and earlier this week it ended up at the top of my to-read pile.

I wasn’t really sure what to expect and initially found the stilted prose style a little off-putting. The two main characters (Mma Ramotswe and Mr J. L. B. Matekoni) soon came to life though and I found myself getting quite engrossed in the story. It’s quite a light piece of reading, and I’ve no idea as yet as to how it sits in comparison to his other books, but I’d certainly recommend giving it a read and I’ll be looking for more from the series the next time I’m looking in the local charity shops.