Mrs. Pollifax Series, by Dorothy Gilman, Books 3 & 4

The Elusive Mrs. Pollifax
[audiobook version, read by Barbara Rosenblat]

Mrs. Pollifax is sent to Bulgaria with a shipment of false passports for a group of resistance members who are in imminent danger of being arrested by the secret police. On the way, she speaks with a young man who is part of a group also going to Bulgaria. He seems not to want to go, but does so anyway.

Once there, she sets out to find her contact and to find a way of evading the young woman who has been sent by the state travel bureau as her minder. She runs into the girlfriend of the young man she spoke with earlier, and it turns out that he has been arrested for espionage. He is the son of a Bulgarian emigrant who has done well for himself in America and is being held for ransom by a general who is trying to topple the government.

Soon, the two women are embroiled in a mad scheme to rescue the young man and several of the intended recipients for the passports, from a high-security prison, aided only by a small group of ageing resistance men and an American spy.

- allreaders.com

&

A Palm for Mrs. Pollifax
[audiobook version, read by Barbara Rosenblat]

The CIA send Mrs. Pollifax undercover to a Swiss health resort to try to track down a shipment of stolen plutonium that appears to have been sent there. Once there, she befriends a young boy who appears to be mortally afraid of someone or something. She also catches a jewel thief in the act of trying to steal her exensive-looking imitation jewellery.

When her contact on the hotel staff is murdered just before he was going to meet her, things start heating up. But before she can discover the murderer and the plutonium, Mrs. Pollifax intends to find out why her little friend is so afraid and why his grandmother seems to be under guard. She recruits the jewel thief and they start sniffing around for clues, and before too long, Mrs. Pollifax, the boy and the jewel thief have uncovered a deadly secret that puts them all in danger.

- allreaders.com

Rating: * * * *

I chose to review these two books in the Pollifax series together, as that is how I view them in my mind. Separately, they are not as remarkable as the previous two books in the series, and that is what disappointed me when listening.

Perhaps it was just Rosenblat (the narrator) who deliberately chose to make Carstairs seem overly-rough and monotone at the beginning of the third book, but whether or not that was how Gilman envisioned it, that long and dry conversation almost put me off listening to the third book. Thankfully, I persevered, and the story was delightful as always – yet it didn’t resound in my head for a while afterward.

In Elusive, Mrs. Pollifax eventually meets Tsanko, and their brief interaction managed to tug my heart, in a good way. Gilman uses the same lovable “random” meetings between Mrs. Pollifax and others on her journeys to her missions in both books, and I found myself seeking reassurance in that familiar serendipity.

Only when combining both books could I successfully remember the characters in my mind, and be able to view the entire story with more clarity. While not as utterly charming as their predecessors, both books deserve to be read or heard, and Rosenblat once again illustrates her envious skill with accents. And the introduction of new characters that are delightfully witty (ie: Robin in A Palm) are assured to reappear later for more adventures with the ever-surprising Mrs. Pollifax.

Recommended.

& ElizabethC

Mrs. Pollifax Series, by Dorothy Gilman, Book 2

The Amazing Mrs. Pollifax
[audiobook version, read by Barbara Rosenblat]

Rating: * * * * *

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?

- Random House

A year after Mrs. Pollifax’s first courier mission to Mexico (and, unexpectedly, Albania), she is called up to travel to Turkey. In this novel, Gilman continues her delightful tale-spinning of the adventures of Mrs. Pollifax, including the elements that made the first book such an engaging read.

The humor and barely noticeable moral explorations are again implemented here, complementing the action and suspense surrounding Mrs. Pollifax’s supposedly innocuous assignment. Her amusing tangents to her mission (involving the admirable Colin Ramsey) produce a constant source of surprise and attentiveness in readers – or, in this case, listeners.

As always, Rosenblat’s narration is amazing, creating a rich source of audio imagery to support Mrs. Pollifax’s writing, and setting a wonderful pace for the novel to unravel beautifully.

Highly recommended.

& ElizabethC

Mrs. Pollifax Series, by Dorothy Gilman, Book 1

The Unexpected Mrs. Pollifax
[audiobook version, read by Barbara Rosenblat]

Rating: * * * * *

Mrs. Pollifax is an elderly widow who has come to find life dull and is almost ready to end it all out of sheer boredom. Inspired by a newspaper profile of an actress who began her career in later life, she decides to fulfill a childhood ambition and apply for a job as a spy at the CIA. Meanwhile, Carstairs at the CIA is looking for an agent who can pass as a tourist in order to pick up some important microfilms in Mexico City. Due to a slight confusion, he thinks Mrs. Pollifax is one of the candidates and decides that Mrs. Pollifax is ideal; Carstairs decided this assignment carries so little danger that even one who is relatively untrained may be sent. So with minimum explanation, Pollifax is ushered off to Mexico City to meet a bookstore owner/secret agent, exchange code phrases, leave with a book containing the microfilm. Of course, the courier mission does not go as planned, and Mrs. Pollifax finds herself in a prison in iron curtain-era Albania, facing harsh questioning and possible torture. But she proves to be unusually resourceful, and with her companion’s assistance, manages to outwit the enemy and save the day.

This was a highly amusing audiobook, and the narration was absolutely perfect for the characters in the story. The plot moved well in pace and in events, and dialogue was concise without being too curt to be believable. The strength behind the story, in my opinion, is the wit supporting the writing.

Most surprising in this book is that Gilman constantly brings up and comments upon highly moral topics. Throughout the book, these topics subtly enter the story and are explored for both the readers’ interest as well as Mrs. Pollifax’s.

Mrs. Pollifax is lovable, as well as Johnny (especially in his moments of indignation), and even her captors become likeable, in their own ways. Gilman most definitely creates the first book as an addicting window to the rest of the books in her series.

Perhaps the only warning I can mention are that there are mentions of suicide. Also, for any Asians out there, instead of the “now” politically correct term, Asians are addressed as “Orientals,” which some find offensive.

Highly recommended.

& ElizabethC