Tears of the Giraffe

Tears of the Giraffe
by Alexander McCall Smith
Penguin Readers, level 4

The book we have in our school library is a simplified edition published by Pearson Education. It is level 4 intermediate and has 4 CDs available.

It is a detective and love story which happens in Botswana, a country in south Africa.

The main characters are Ms Ramotswe and Mr JLB Matekoni. She is a private detective and he works as a mechanic fixing engines. They are engaged and want to become a good wife and husband but they are getting to know each other and their life-style. While Ms Ramotswe is resolving a murder, Mr JLB Matekoni is making an important decision for their future family.

There are other characters: maids, orphan children, clients, friends, policemen, a secretary... Although some are bad people like murderers, stupid maids, thieves, most of the characters are very good, kind and generous people in this poor African country.

In the end, the detective woman resolves her case and they can have a happy family.

I would like to recommend this book because you can enjoy the story and learn vocabulary and how to use verb tenses at the same time.

Ana Soler Linés, 1st year Intermediate Level