Tears of the Giraffe, by Alexander McCall Smith, is the sequel to The No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency. As with the first book, I listened to an audio recording narrated by Lisette Lecat.
This book is somewhat more focused that the last, with two major threads and two minor. In Mma Ramotswe’s professional life, she investigates the ten-year-old disappearance of a young American man, at the plea of his mother. (Lecat’s American accent is imperfect, but does not hurt my ears too much.) To keep that investigation from being over too soon, there’s also an adultery investigation, conducted by Mma Ramotswe’s new assistant, that raises unexpected ethical questions. In Mma Ramotswe’s personal life, she and Mr. J.L.B. Matekoni adjust to their new status as an affianced couple and find that their new lives take an unexpected turn (to them; it’s entirely predictable to the reader). Relatedly, Mr. J.L.B. Matekoni’s maid also has some adjusting to do, in a subplot that felt to me like it had barged in from some other book.
Lecat does a beautiful job of narrating, as before, and the very leisurely pace of the story was restful for part of the time I was listening—but only part. As with the first book, I didn’t find the mystery portion satisfying (too easy, both as a puzzle and in its outcome), and I have no reason to think that any subsequent books will be different. I should probably just check them out of the library and skim them to see what happens to the recurring characters (rather than trying out our library’s downloadable audiobooks for the third one). However, if you like the books already, do try the audiobooks.