Tears of the Giraffe

Second in the "The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency" series and definitely not as good as the first book, "Tears of the Giraffe", by Alexander McSmith, is still a very enjoyable read. I did not appreciate some of the patronizing morality discourses and I thought the plot could do with a bit more rythm and structure. But plot is just a minor element in a good book.

There is one sublime moment in the story, the development of an exquisite consideration in Mr. J.L.B. Matekoni's mind about the fate of two orphans that makes up for the lack of an overall je ne sais quoi that would have made this novel as thrilling and charming as the first one.

Synopsis

THE NO.1 LADIES' DETECTIVE AGENCY introduced the world to the one and only Precious Ramotswe - the engaging and sassy owner of Botswana's only detective agency. TEARS OF THE GIRAFFE, McCall Smith's second book, takes us further into this world as we follow Mama Ramotswe into more daring situations ...Among her cases this time are wayward wives, unscrupulous maids, and the challenge to resolve a mother's pain for her son who is long lost on the African plains. Indeed, Mma Ramotswe's own impending marriage to the most gentlemanly of men, Mr J.L.B. Matekoni, the promotion of Mma's secretary to the dizzy heights of Assistant Detective, and the arrival of new members to the Matekoni family, all brew up the most humorous and charmingly entertaining of tales.