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Mrs. Pollifax #2
The Amazing Mrs. Pollifax
When Emily Pollifax answers the phone that Sunday morning, she quickly forgets all about her Garden Club tea that afternoon. For the voice on the other end belonged to a man she had never seen, a man from the CIA who asked her if she could leave immediately on a mission that would take her halfway across the world! What could Mrs. Pollifax say but yes?
176 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published December 1, 1970
About the author
Dorothy Gilman
116 books665 followersDorothy Gilman was born in New Brunswick, New Jersey, to minister James Bruce and Essa (Starkweather) Gilman. She started writing when she was 9 and knew early on she was to be a writer. At 11, she competed against 10 to 16-year-olds in a story contest and won first place. She attended Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts and briefly the University of Pennsylvania. She planned to write and illustrate children's books. She married Edgar A. Butters Jr, in 1945, this ended in divorce in 1965. Dorothy worked as an art teacher & telephone operator before becoming an author. She wrote children’s stories for more than ten years under the name
Dorothy Gilman Butters
and then began writing adult novels about Mrs. Pollifax–a retired grandmother who becomes a CIA agent. The Mrs. Pollifax series made Dorothy famous. While her stories nourish people’s thirst for adventure and mystery, Dorothy knew about nourishing the body as well. On her farm in Nova Scotia, she grew medicinal herbs and used this knowledge of herbs in many of her stories, including A Nun in the Closet. She travelled extensively, and used these experiences in her novels as well. Many of Dorothy’s books, feature strong women having adventures around the world. In 2010 Gilman was awarded the annual Grand Master Award by the Mystery Writers of America. Dorothy spent much of her life in Connecticut, New Mexico, and Maine. She died at age 88 of complications of Alzheimer's disease. She is survived by two sons, Christopher Butters and Jonathan Butters; and two grandchildren.
Series:
* Mrs. Pollifax
Series:
* Mrs. Pollifax
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 927 reviews
February 10, 2024
Since the first book Mrs Pollifax has been learning Kung Fu so watch out world - anything could happen next.
And it does! Mrs.P is called upon again to do a simple courier job which turns into a series of disasters. Luckily she has a talent for collecting useful and trustworthy strangers who help her along the way and she comes up trumps again. The world of spies seems to be a very convoluted place. Everyone appears to be a double or even a triple agent. The only person you can really rely on in these books is Mrs Pollifax herself.
So if you feel like reading something quick, easy and completely fun jump into this series. I am off to find the next one.
And it does! Mrs.P is called upon again to do a simple courier job which turns into a series of disasters. Luckily she has a talent for collecting useful and trustworthy strangers who help her along the way and she comes up trumps again. The world of spies seems to be a very convoluted place. Everyone appears to be a double or even a triple agent. The only person you can really rely on in these books is Mrs Pollifax herself.
So if you feel like reading something quick, easy and completely fun jump into this series. I am off to find the next one.
November 18, 2011
I'm a bit "obsessive" and so, when I find a series, I will bend over "backwards" (as the saying goes)to get them in order...I did that here.
This is another book that should strain the credulity of the reader (or listener) except that in the hands of Ms. Gilman it takes on the character of a comedy/drama/adventure (think I Spy with Robert Culp and Bill Cosby. How many remember that TV program?)that I would call a page turner...except that I listened to the audio version. :)
Here Carstairs, Mrs. Pollifax's handler, the man who accidentally sent her on her first assignment has need of her again and sends her to help a defecting spy. Of course, things don't go as planned...again. But then what fun would the book have been if things had gone as planned?
As I pointed out before...not a mystery fan, but these are good books. 4.5 here if I could give that.
This is another book that should strain the credulity of the reader (or listener) except that in the hands of Ms. Gilman it takes on the character of a comedy/drama/adventure (think I Spy with Robert Culp and Bill Cosby. How many remember that TV program?)that I would call a page turner...except that I listened to the audio version. :)
Here Carstairs, Mrs. Pollifax's handler, the man who accidentally sent her on her first assignment has need of her again and sends her to help a defecting spy. Of course, things don't go as planned...again. But then what fun would the book have been if things had gone as planned?
As I pointed out before...not a mystery fan, but these are good books. 4.5 here if I could give that.
June 29, 2019
I’m so glad I found Dorothy Gilman and Mrs. Pollifax. It’s amazing the amount of action, plot and character development that Dorothy Gilman can convey in 176 pages.
April 5, 2009
I absolutely loved this book! Both suspenseful and VERY funny -- the author makes the absurd believable. I found myself cheering on Mrs. Pollifax, and laughing out loud many times. There were many twists and turns, great adventure and suspense. And of course, an absolutely loveable main character in Mrs. Pollifax.
October 7, 2023
Wotthehell! That was funny, read it like a breeze!
Mrs Pollifax goes to Turkey to continue with her spy career because as Mr Cartartiars puts it: "I’ve called upon you, Mrs. Pollifax, because in a city teeming with professionals you lack the slightest aura of corruption or professionalism"
Gave me laughs, an enjoyable story with many unbelievable coincidences that are not frustrated, but you are happy to read about!
"Until the richness of living caught at her throat, and all the well-meant security with which people surrounded themselves was exposed for what it thuly was: a wall to keep out life, a conceit, a mad delusion."
Because Mrs. Pollifax is an american woman, but she can very well blend with the Gypsies, can appreciate life for what it truly is, an adventure!
Congratulations to Dorothy Gilman, the author, who wrote these books in a non-internet era, made a lot of research to give very accurate information about both Albania (first book) and Turkey 👏👏👏
Mrs Pollifax goes to Turkey to continue with her spy career because as Mr Cartartiars puts it: "I’ve called upon you, Mrs. Pollifax, because in a city teeming with professionals you lack the slightest aura of corruption or professionalism"
Gave me laughs, an enjoyable story with many unbelievable coincidences that are not frustrated, but you are happy to read about!
"Until the richness of living caught at her throat, and all the well-meant security with which people surrounded themselves was exposed for what it thuly was: a wall to keep out life, a conceit, a mad delusion."
Because Mrs. Pollifax is an american woman, but she can very well blend with the Gypsies, can appreciate life for what it truly is, an adventure!
Congratulations to Dorothy Gilman, the author, who wrote these books in a non-internet era, made a lot of research to give very accurate information about both Albania (first book) and Turkey 👏👏👏
December 10, 2020
Outrageously ridiculous but great fun! This time, Emily Pollifax is on a mission in Turkey. Of course, it all goes very wrong and she finds herself in one very dangerous situation after another. I expect that every book in this series will be in this format but I don’t care. I’m going to read them all. Whatthehell! [Sorry - only meaningful if you’ve read the book!]. Sometimes I need pure escapism and Mrs Pollifax ticks every box for me.
July 16, 2017
I adore Emily Pollifax. In fact I think she's my soulmate.
I've read this whole series before but am now re-reading them.
I can never think of how to review the books I love the most.
So I will just quote:
"As she stood transfixed the last notes of a muezzin's chant reached her ears from below, sounding phantom in the high clear air, and Mrs. Pollifax thought, "I must remember this moment," and then, "I shall have to come back and really see this country." Yet she knew that if she did come back it would be entirely different. It was the unexpected that brought to these moments this tender, unnameable rush of understanding, this joy in being alive. It was safety following danger, it was food after hours of hunger, rest following exhaustion, it was the astonishing strangers who had become her friends. It was this and more, until the richness of living caught at her throat, and all the well-meant security with which people surrounded themselves was exposed for what it truly was: a wall to keep out life, a conceit, a mad delusion."
YES.
Thank you, Dorothy Gilman - who was an amazing woman in her own right.
I've read this whole series before but am now re-reading them.
I can never think of how to review the books I love the most.
So I will just quote:
"As she stood transfixed the last notes of a muezzin's chant reached her ears from below, sounding phantom in the high clear air, and Mrs. Pollifax thought, "I must remember this moment," and then, "I shall have to come back and really see this country." Yet she knew that if she did come back it would be entirely different. It was the unexpected that brought to these moments this tender, unnameable rush of understanding, this joy in being alive. It was safety following danger, it was food after hours of hunger, rest following exhaustion, it was the astonishing strangers who had become her friends. It was this and more, until the richness of living caught at her throat, and all the well-meant security with which people surrounded themselves was exposed for what it truly was: a wall to keep out life, a conceit, a mad delusion."
YES.
Thank you, Dorothy Gilman - who was an amazing woman in her own right.
September 6, 2020
The amazing Mrs. Pollifax returns in this second romp of an espionage thriller, and the results are charming! Just returned home from church one Sunday morning, our elderly heroine is reading a story in the newspaper about the defection of a notorious Communist agent, when Mr. Carstairs rings up, asking her to undertake another mission for him. It turns out that Magda Ferenci-Sabo, about whom Mrs. Pollifax had just been reading, was no Russian spy after all, but one of the CIA's top assets, and that she must be retrieved from Istanbul at all costs. Previous agents having failed due to their high profile, a complete unknown like Mrs. Pollifax is needed. And so our flowered hat-wearing grandmother (who now studies karate!) heads to Turkey, where she soon finds herself involved in a most unexpected high stakes adventure, on the run from both police and assassins, and making all sorts of unlikely friends...
I adored these books as an adolescent, reading them again and again, and they have certainly been living up to my memory of them, on this recent reread! The Amazing Mrs. Pollifax is every bit as charming, humorous and exciting as I remembered it being, and I breezed through it in one sitting. Dorothy Gilman certainly manages to pack quite a bit of dramatic incident into a novel that is only 176 pages in length! With spies and assassins, codes dating back to WWII, long-lost and newfound lovers, unexpectedly resourceful allies, and a caravan of gypsies, there's no shortage of fascinating characters and engrossing plot developments. As with the first book, I found the settings quite interesting - the caravan travels through Cappadocia at one point, and the description of the region is such that I have always longed to visit it, a feeling greatly increased by the Turkish children's book, The Secrets of Cappadocia , that I read many years later. The depiction of the gypsies/Romany was romantic, utilizing a number of stereotypes about their supposed mystical abilities, but it was also sympathetic. Highly recommended to anyone who read and enjoyed The Unexpected Mrs. Pollifax .
I adored these books as an adolescent, reading them again and again, and they have certainly been living up to my memory of them, on this recent reread! The Amazing Mrs. Pollifax is every bit as charming, humorous and exciting as I remembered it being, and I breezed through it in one sitting. Dorothy Gilman certainly manages to pack quite a bit of dramatic incident into a novel that is only 176 pages in length! With spies and assassins, codes dating back to WWII, long-lost and newfound lovers, unexpectedly resourceful allies, and a caravan of gypsies, there's no shortage of fascinating characters and engrossing plot developments. As with the first book, I found the settings quite interesting - the caravan travels through Cappadocia at one point, and the description of the region is such that I have always longed to visit it, a feeling greatly increased by the Turkish children's book, The Secrets of Cappadocia , that I read many years later. The depiction of the gypsies/Romany was romantic, utilizing a number of stereotypes about their supposed mystical abilities, but it was also sympathetic. Highly recommended to anyone who read and enjoyed The Unexpected Mrs. Pollifax .
December 31, 2021
3.5 stars for another light secret agent/spy spoof! Mrs. Pollifax is quite ingenious, and her cast of cohorts are amusing! A rollicking ride in Turkey, this.
January 27, 2013
A charming little spy thriller. A retired grandmother from a small town in NJ, Emily Pollifax spends her time between her church’s Garden Club, karate lessons, and an occasional assignment for CIA. Imbued with common sense, she is a James Bond of pensioners.
Her latest CIA job took her to Istanbul, Turkey, where she saved the day despite all the misfortunes the author could heap on her. The story is short (170 pages) and occasionally funny, but I think there are too many obstacles on the heroine’s way to success. They pile up ceaselessly, so eventually the reader stops worrying about them. The novel reads more like a spoof than a real thriller. Perhaps that was the writer’s intent all along.
The characters are a bit cartoonish, with no real depth in them, but the storyline is entertaining, and the scenery of Turkish landscapes is vivid.
Occasionally, the author throws around little dollops of wisdom and humor that are as relevant today as they were 40 years ago, at the time of publication. Here is one example:
Keep in mind that the novel was published in 1970, before cell phones, Internet, and emails. Aren’t some generational issues ageless?
Overall impression: read it when you have nothing better on your bedside table or while commuting. Nothing fancy, but you’ll like it.
Her latest CIA job took her to Istanbul, Turkey, where she saved the day despite all the misfortunes the author could heap on her. The story is short (170 pages) and occasionally funny, but I think there are too many obstacles on the heroine’s way to success. They pile up ceaselessly, so eventually the reader stops worrying about them. The novel reads more like a spoof than a real thriller. Perhaps that was the writer’s intent all along.
The characters are a bit cartoonish, with no real depth in them, but the storyline is entertaining, and the scenery of Turkish landscapes is vivid.
Occasionally, the author throws around little dollops of wisdom and humor that are as relevant today as they were 40 years ago, at the time of publication. Here is one example:
“You could write to your brother then,” suggested Mrs. Pollifax comfortingly.
The girl turned her head and stared wonderingly at Mrs. Pollifax. “Write?” she repeated blankly, and Mrs. Pollifax understood that she had stumbled upon a word utterly foreign to this girl and her generation.
Keep in mind that the novel was published in 1970, before cell phones, Internet, and emails. Aren’t some generational issues ageless?
Overall impression: read it when you have nothing better on your bedside table or while commuting. Nothing fancy, but you’ll like it.
February 26, 2019
Double agents, gypsies, and, of course, Communist intrigue...what more could you want?
Mrs. Pollifax continues to delight as the grandma-turned-spy who saves the day against all odds. I really found this book delightful and funny. I love how the book circumvents my expectations...an elderly gentleman gets introduced and I immediately think, 'ah, she gets a romance.' But that is not exactly how it turns out!
Mrs. Pollifax continues to delight as the grandma-turned-spy who saves the day against all odds. I really found this book delightful and funny. I love how the book circumvents my expectations...an elderly gentleman gets introduced and I immediately think, 'ah, she gets a romance.' But that is not exactly how it turns out!
April 14, 2022
Hilarious just like the first. It's so easy to "sell" this series to friends. All I have to say is, "it's about a middle-aged widow who becomes a CIA agent during the Cold War" and they're off to find Unexpected.
July 17, 2023
3+ stars.
I didn't like this as much as the first or the third (quite far behind in writing reviews), but it was still a fun read. Mrs. Pollifax isn't quite the beginner she was, but is still a neophyte. She manages to get caught up in things she really wasn't supposed to and has Carstairs as well as others in quite a tizzy.
This time she's been sent to Istanbul, Turkey, and, yes it's still the Cold War, in order to one job, just one job. Carstairs is soon pulling out his hair over reports he hears back in the States. However, nothing is a simple as one might think when Mrs. Pollifax is on a mission, although one can't say that they are all her fault, and there are some rather funny adventures along the way.
I didn't like this as much as the first or the third (quite far behind in writing reviews), but it was still a fun read. Mrs. Pollifax isn't quite the beginner she was, but is still a neophyte. She manages to get caught up in things she really wasn't supposed to and has Carstairs as well as others in quite a tizzy.
This time she's been sent to Istanbul, Turkey, and, yes it's still the Cold War, in order to one job, just one job. Carstairs is soon pulling out his hair over reports he hears back in the States. However, nothing is a simple as one might think when Mrs. Pollifax is on a mission, although one can't say that they are all her fault, and there are some rather funny adventures along the way.
September 18, 2020
The Mrs. Pollifax novels are just flat out fun. This is the second in the series. Emily is off to Turkey on what is supposed be an easy mission, but nothing is ever easy...
February 6, 2012
I picked up all these at a library sale a while back. This is a 1970 copyright cozy mystery. It was good, but I had trouble keeping myself interested sometimes. Not a long book,not quite 200 pages, so I felt it could have moved along at a faster clip. The premise was also outdated which may have contributed to my lack of interest as well. Not bad but not great. I will still read her other books.
Read
July 29, 2018Book 2 (after an excursion through later volumes). Mrs Pollifax is certainly favoured by the gods of happenchance.
February 26, 2022
3.5/5.
Another solid, enjoyable entry into this interesting and humorous series. This one was a little more serious than most of the other entries I've read.
Another solid, enjoyable entry into this interesting and humorous series. This one was a little more serious than most of the other entries I've read.
September 26, 2012
Excerpted from a review originally published at The Bookwyrm's Hoard.
NOTE: This is a review of the audiobook.
I've been a Mrs. Pollifax fan for a long time, so when I saw that our public library had some of Dorothy Gilman's delightful mystery series in audio format, I wanted to give them a try. I enjoy audiobooks when I'm doing housework, knitting, or running errands. Listening to a book with which I'm already familiar means I don't have to worry if my attention wanders for a few moments... for instance, while counting stitches.
The Mrs. Pollifax novels are entertaining, exciting, and often quite funny. Although Mrs. Pollifax has been compared to Agatha Christie's Miss Marple, the two have little in common beyond their age (well over 50) and a certain aptitude for seeing past surface appearances. Mrs. Pollifax is far more adventurous, and her exploits involve much more travel than Miss Marple usually undertakes. Miss Marple has a vague, fluttery exterior which belies her razor-sharp mind.* Mrs. Pollifax is more definite (dare I say, more American?) in appearance and behavior, though her ability to, as her superior Carstairs puts it, sustain the role of innocent (and sometimes aggrieved) tourist is invaluable in her work for the CIA.
In The Amazing Mrs. Pollifax, Carstairs once again calls on Mrs. Pollifax. This time, she will be traveling to Turkey to aid a defecting Communist agent -- who is really a Western double agent. When everything goes wrong, it's up to Mrs. Pollifax and her young friend Colin Ramsey to save the day.
This reading of The Amazing Mrs. Pollifax is quite good. The narrator, Barbara Rosenblat, is adept with accents and voices; each major character has an individual voice. I'm not enough of an expert to know whether the Turkish and gypsy accents were accurate, but the educated English accent used for several characters was reasonably good for an American audience (though it probably wouldn't convince a British audience.) The characterization was equally solid; many of the characters' inflections sounded just the way I "hear" them in my head.
I enjoyed this reading enough to want to seek out the rest of the series in audiobook format, provided they are performed by the same voice actor. I'd recommend this series to those who enjoy light mystery and/or light spy novels.
FCC disclosure: I borrowed this from the public library.
NOTE: This is a review of the audiobook.
I've been a Mrs. Pollifax fan for a long time, so when I saw that our public library had some of Dorothy Gilman's delightful mystery series in audio format, I wanted to give them a try. I enjoy audiobooks when I'm doing housework, knitting, or running errands. Listening to a book with which I'm already familiar means I don't have to worry if my attention wanders for a few moments... for instance, while counting stitches.
The Mrs. Pollifax novels are entertaining, exciting, and often quite funny. Although Mrs. Pollifax has been compared to Agatha Christie's Miss Marple, the two have little in common beyond their age (well over 50) and a certain aptitude for seeing past surface appearances. Mrs. Pollifax is far more adventurous, and her exploits involve much more travel than Miss Marple usually undertakes. Miss Marple has a vague, fluttery exterior which belies her razor-sharp mind.* Mrs. Pollifax is more definite (dare I say, more American?) in appearance and behavior, though her ability to, as her superior Carstairs puts it, sustain the role of innocent (and sometimes aggrieved) tourist is invaluable in her work for the CIA.
In The Amazing Mrs. Pollifax, Carstairs once again calls on Mrs. Pollifax. This time, she will be traveling to Turkey to aid a defecting Communist agent -- who is really a Western double agent. When everything goes wrong, it's up to Mrs. Pollifax and her young friend Colin Ramsey to save the day.
This reading of The Amazing Mrs. Pollifax is quite good. The narrator, Barbara Rosenblat, is adept with accents and voices; each major character has an individual voice. I'm not enough of an expert to know whether the Turkish and gypsy accents were accurate, but the educated English accent used for several characters was reasonably good for an American audience (though it probably wouldn't convince a British audience.) The characterization was equally solid; many of the characters' inflections sounded just the way I "hear" them in my head.
I enjoyed this reading enough to want to seek out the rest of the series in audiobook format, provided they are performed by the same voice actor. I'd recommend this series to those who enjoy light mystery and/or light spy novels.
FCC disclosure: I borrowed this from the public library.
July 29, 2022
I am a fan of that elderly widow turned CIA spy, Mrs. Pollifax. We recently took a road trip and listened to this book on CD. The reader is Barbara Rosenblat and she makes this book so much fun to listen to. This one is the 2nd book in the series so you are still getting introduced to and suprised by Mrs. Pollifax's ingenuity. The story has a good mystery and characters you enjoy. It is slightly predictable but so much fun you hardly notice. If you are OK with mysteries that are dated (this is clearly the 1970's) and before internet and cell phones, you have got to pick up a Mrs. Pollifax adventure.
Listened for the second time 10 years later. Still so delightful! I love this series. It is just so much fun! I plan to re-read them all again.
Listened for the second time 10 years later. Still so delightful! I love this series. It is just so much fun! I plan to re-read them all again.
September 8, 2016
A tongue in cheek James Bond, Mission Impossible spoof. I remember when these books first came out, they were often in my parents' Reader's Digest Condensed Book collection. Reading it today I wonder what they could cut out, or needed to, with such a short novel!
Gilman's Turkey could be anywhere, really, but then it's just a fish out of water tale of an elderly widow turned courier. A quick, light bowl of mental popcorn with no "message" beyond "sit back and relax." The ending seemed rather abrupt, the helicopter scene more than a little contrived, but it's not meant to be rrrrealism. If you enjoyed "The Persuaders" and "Department S", you'll enjoy these books.
Gilman's Turkey could be anywhere, really, but then it's just a fish out of water tale of an elderly widow turned courier. A quick, light bowl of mental popcorn with no "message" beyond "sit back and relax." The ending seemed rather abrupt, the helicopter scene more than a little contrived, but it's not meant to be rrrrealism. If you enjoyed "The Persuaders" and "Department S", you'll enjoy these books.
September 19, 2014
Oh my gosh I adored this. I'm heading on to the third volume. Light reading but not fluff: Mrs. Pollifax gets into some serious situations. I love that these cold war era books feature authentic settings and situations that at least approximate difficulties particular to cold war intrigue. And yet, Mrs. Pollifax makes it through - but without any sappy, cheap, easy solutions. I love that about these books. There might be a deus ex machina or two, but it doesn't feel unearned and doesn't feel as if the author's taken the quickest route to the resolution. Great stuff.
March 30, 2016
Emily Pollifax gets a Turkish adventure...
October 5, 2021
Continuing to enjoy Mrs. Pollifax. Appreciated that the author was content to leave most of the violence off-screen. That works just fine, publishers and filmmakers. You don't have to be ubergraphic about everything! The only annoying thing was having something important hinge on somebody's clairvoyance.
Narrators can make or break an audiobook experience for me based on how they voice characters of the opposite sex, so I continue to appreciate Barbara Rosenblat's performances.
OK...two more to go before this book group meets on Tuesday. Plus the one for my other book group on Monday!
Narrators can make or break an audiobook experience for me based on how they voice characters of the opposite sex, so I continue to appreciate Barbara Rosenblat's performances.
OK...two more to go before this book group meets on Tuesday. Plus the one for my other book group on Monday!
July 23, 2014
I knew nothing of Mrs Pollifax until I chanced across a reference to her and determined to learn more. Discovering she is not to be found in the bookshelves of the UK I tracked her down through bookmooch and am completely enchanted. This is not the first in the series but its the one I have acquired so I think it the best! Here are some of Mrs Pollifax' thoughts on life...." She thought that just when life appeared to have no discernible pattern there could arrive a co-incidence so startling that one could imagine Forces tugging, arranging, balancing, contriving and contracting all the arrivals and departures of life."
And here's some gypsy wisdom from the story.
Worldly goods that possess,
Own and destroy you.
Love must be lie the blowing wind.
Capture the wind between walls
And it becomes stale.
Open tents.
Open hearts.
Let the winds blow.....
And here's some gypsy wisdom from the story.
Worldly goods that possess,
Own and destroy you.
Love must be lie the blowing wind.
Capture the wind between walls
And it becomes stale.
Open tents.
Open hearts.
Let the winds blow.....
July 13, 2010
This was even more fun than the first. Mrs. Pollifax goes on another courier mission for the C.I.A. -- and of course becomes royally embroiled in scandal, violence, and intrigue. Along the way, she meets an Englishman without courage, a Turkish thief whose signature phrase is "wotthehell," and a daring, older female spy that finally provides her someone to look up to.
Along the way, Gillman is careful to paint not a touristy, typical picture of Turkey but to have her character pause and realize that she's been picturing the place all wrong for many years. It's nearly as much fun to watch Mrs. Pollifax trying to be a spy as it is watching her try to get over her years of passive Americanism.
Along the way, Gillman is careful to paint not a touristy, typical picture of Turkey but to have her character pause and realize that she's been picturing the place all wrong for many years. It's nearly as much fun to watch Mrs. Pollifax trying to be a spy as it is watching her try to get over her years of passive Americanism.
November 17, 2017
In the first book one of Mrs. Pollifax’s main weapons was her apparent innocent naivety. The problem with this, is the novelty soon wears off and you begin to want the heroine to be a bit more proactive. In this book we see a glimpse of her being more forceful, but having seen this, it then becomes annoying when for the rest of the book her only defence seems to be waiting and hoping for the best. It becomes even more irritating when the book consists of her lurching from one disaster to another and only surviving be sheer chance or unexpected help.
As a character I still like Mrs. Pollifax but I wish the author would make a little more of her skills, although flying a helicopter should not have been one of them.
As a character I still like Mrs. Pollifax but I wish the author would make a little more of her skills, although flying a helicopter should not have been one of them.
December 9, 2021
This is my second Mrs. Pollifax I decided to continue with after loving the first, and now I see how it will work out better for me to space them out as I go through the dozen or so books. Some of the circumstances in Turkey are a bit over the top but also very enjoyable. I think Mr. Carstairs has a lot to answer for sending this older woman into deadly situations without proper support or information, but... Oh well. It makes for some near death experiences and introduces us to many interesting characters, including the gypsy population in this one. There are many fairly hilarious situations including Mrs. Pollifax stealing and piloting a helicopter.
May 21, 2014
This is a great cozy mystery...love Mrs. Pollifax. She's a role model for kicking it at any age. Dorothy Gilman really was one of the first to get that 60-something is the new 40, or whatever the new math says about the graying of the western world! Her writing style is light and easy in this breezy mystery. It's full of warmth and wit. Mrs. Pollifax is amazing!
July 23, 2017
'twas a bit confusing when gilman referred to a helicopter as plane, but, wotthehell!
it seems this is the volume that i missed way back when i was reading reader's digest condensed books
the karate part was introduced here
it seems this is the volume that i missed way back when i was reading reader's digest condensed books
the karate part was introduced here
March 12, 2018
3/12/18 $1.99 for Kindle.
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