TEARS OF THE GIRAFFE

The remarkable career of Mma Ramotswe, the proprietor of the No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency, continues in this second of McCall Smith’s delightful series. For those who don’t yet know, the books combine the social sensibility of Jane Austen novels with the sights, scents, sounds, and mores of Botswana, “Africa’s most stable democracy.” In this book, Mma Ramotswe deals with a love triangle and the case of an American youth who has been missing for 10 years. Lisette Lecat is simply perfect. A native of South Africa, she is master of the speech pattern of English-speaking southern Africans. She excels at creating vocal characterizations and reading dialogue. Listening to her warm, well-modulated voice, one is transported to this dusty, sunny country and longs only for a comfortable chair under Mma Ramotswe’s acacia tree. An outstanding performance. R.E.K. Winner of AudioFile Earphones Award © AudioFile 2004, Portland, Maine [Published: FEB/ MAR 04]