The Blue Giraffe mystery extends far deeper. Together with Mtengeni he observes not just the animal in question but another giraffe with a goat-like beard, only six feet long, a green hippopotamus with pink spots, and a two-headed rhinoceros. Other creatures are so mutated their very survival is threatened, and Mtengeni is concerned about the long-term prospects of the animal population. Establishing camp in the bush, the two are separated when the warden goes out into the night for firewood and Cuff, hearing what he takes for a native woman's scream from another direction, heads off to investigate. He finds the woman, treed
Tears of the Giraffe Twain. She mentions the "playfulness" of McCall Smith in these novels, keeping them from being heavy-handed morality tales. Per "Kirkus Reviews", the novels had their American publication later than in the UK. The first three novels appeared in 2002 in the US. In their review of the first novel in the series, "Kirkus Reviews" notes that "The first American publication of this 1999 debut has been preceded by two special Booker citations and two sequels, "Tears of the Giraffe" (2000) and "Morality for Beautiful Girls" (2001), both forthcoming in the series." Tears of the Giraffe Tears of the Giraffe is