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Tears of the Giraffe

By: Alexander McCall Smith
Narrated by: Adjoa Andoh
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Summary

Winner of the British Book Awards, Author of the Year, 2004.
Winner of the CWA Dagger in the Library Award, 2004.

Following on from the brilliant The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency, Tears of the Giraffe charts the further adventures of Mma Ramotswe, Botswana's only female private detective. It's going to take all her intuition and eminent sensibility for Mma Ramotswe to crack her hardest case yet: the decade-old disappearance of an American on the edge of the Kalahari.

©2000 Alexander McCall Smith (P)2003 Time Warner AudioBooks
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Critic reviews

"So elegant and understated is the author's style that the novel seems to transcend age." (Trevor Royle)
"I was enchanted by the character of Precious Ramotswe and the sly humour of Alexander McCall Smith's writing, his deft evocation of a culture." (Anthony Minghella)

What listeners say about Tears of the Giraffe

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well read

fantastic narrator! plan to buy the whole series and may even find further work by her

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Great African story

I loved this light-hearted story, read so well with fantastic real accents. These brought the story to life. It really made you feel you were in Africa, and it's obvious that the author knows the country and the people very well, an writes with great affection. I will be listening to the next book with a warm heart. You can learn so much about the people from these books despite them being fictional.

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The characters

Suspenseful, entertaining and informative. A great listen that can, alternately, make you laugh and cry. Brilliantly narrated.

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delightful.

delightful as always. Great bed time story for calming the mind before a good sleep.

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Wonderful

Love these these books …so simple but so filled with so much…each one worth listening to in there own right

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Relaxing Read

I loved the narrator and all the different voices, it really brought the story to life and made me feel as if I was right there with them!

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Adored the paperbacks, loved the audiobooks!

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

I read every paperback of the Precious Ramotswe series as soon as it was released. The audiobooks do not let me down, despite being abridged. Adjoa Andoh's reading of them is flawless: the accents, the tones of each character are well-modulated and distinctive; her performance is simply brilliant. A wonderful addition to my audiobook library. After I'd heard the first of this audiobook series, I immediately purchased the next two - and they continued to maintain the excellent production qualities of the first. I'm looking forward to purchasing the entire series as soon as feasible!

What other book might you compare Tears of the Giraffe to, and why?

The other series of audiobooks I purchased were the Sookie Stackhouse series by Charlaine Harris, narrated by Johanna Parker. A completely different kettle of fish with regards to setting, but the wonderful performance by Johanna Harris is a good comparison, as both narrators drew me into the stories with their distinctive voice acting and characterisations. I couldn't wait to hear the next download!

Which character – as performed by Adjoa Andoh – was your favourite?

It's very hard to choose a character, as Adjoa Andoh breathed life into each person. I could visualise a character simply by the cadence of her delivery.

If you made a film of this book, what would be the tag line be?

A loveletter to a country, to a continent, to a people.

Any additional comments?

Highly recommended!

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Beautiful

Wonderful storytelling with perfect narration - calming for the soul - a piece of humanity - truly feel good

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Superb!!

Wonderful stories, told in an authentic African voice. McCall Smith's Precious Ramotswe is an astute people watcher and uses this to great effect in her job. The supporting characters are also brilliant, Mma Makutsi, her wannabe detective secretary who achieved an unprecedented 97% in her exams, Mr JLB Matekoni (who is always called Mr JLB Matekoni) sympathetic mechanic who has a gift for listening to engines, in love with Mma Ramotswe.
Lovely stuff!!

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You can feel the Botswana warmth

This book follows immediately from the end of the previous one as we follow Precious Ramotswe and her contemplations on life and people. While she is occupied with her cases and secretary who wants to turn detective, we get to learn a little more about husband-to-be JLB Matekoni and how his kindness gets him into trouble. This is such a delightful read/listen. I started it immediately after finishing the first book and the warmth of the words is still there. The characters feel real and I've never been to Botswana but now I hope to go someday. Adjoah Andoh is again wonderful reading the book, I can't wait to learn more about Mma Ramotswe, Botswana and the people she meets through her detective agency.

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