October 11, 2007 at 4:06 pm · Filed under Book Reviews, Mystery and Suspense
105. Mrs. Pollifax Unveiled by Dorothy Gilman (Spy Thriller) 195 p.
Yet another of Dorothy Gilman’s Mrs. Pollifax books. I don’t have much to say about it; once you’ve read one Mrs. Pollifax novel, you’ve read them all, although each of them is entertaining enough in its own way.
A flight to Egypt is hijacked by terrorists and saved only by the bravery of a young woman named Amanda Pym. Soon after an emergency landing in Damascus and a short television interview on the tarmac, Amanda Pym gets into a car and disappears. Now the CIA wants to know: did Amanda Pym disappear on her own, or was she kidnapped? And might she still be alive? Mrs. Pollifax, posing as a concerned aunt of Amanda Pym, travels to Syria to find out.
Books read: 105
Pages read: 31,090
Tags: 50 Book Challenge 2007, Dorothy Gilman, Mrs. Pollifax
September 2, 2007 at 3:02 am · Filed under Book Reviews, Mystery and Suspense
90. Mrs. Pollifax and the Whirling Dervish by Dorothy Gilman (Mystery, Spy Thriller) 181 p.
Mrs. Pollifax flies to Morocco to hand over a set of photographs to fellow agent Max Janko. Her boss, Carstairs, is worried that Janko’s arrogant, abrasive personality will hinder his mission, and sends Mrs. Pollifax along to soothe the ruffled feathers of the people he comes into contact with. Janko is much ruder that even she expected…and then he turns out he isn’t exactly who he claims.
This book is slightly different from the other Mrs. Pollifax books. In the others I’ve read, she’s been relatively uncritical of American foreign policy—not surprising in a woman who would volunteer to work for the CIA during the Cold War. This book, however, was published in 1990, and Mrs. Pollifax, far from supporting the occupation of Western Sahara, is very much on the side of the Polisarios.
In light of the current situation, though, this statement (made by one of the male characters) is rather sad:
It’s certainly intelligent in this particular case because now that Morocco and Algeria have established connections again, the United Nations just may be able to hold the plebiscite after all, the vote promised Western Sahara years ago…. It’s clearly understood—admitted publicly, too—that neither side can win, and that eventually there’ll have to be negotiations and that the Saharans will probably be given back at least some of their country.
Of course, none of that happened—the cease-fire has continued uninterrupted since 1989, but the UN never did get to hold that plebiscite, nor has Morocco withdrawn its claims to (or its people from) Western Sahara.
Books read: 90/100 (90%)
Pages read: 26,735/30,000 (89%)
Tags: 50 Book Challenge 2007, Dorothy Gilman, Mrs. Pollifax
September 1, 2007 at 12:39 pm · Filed under Book Reviews, Mystery and Suspense
87. Mrs. Pollifax on Safari by Dorothy Gilman (Mystery, Spy Thriller) 223 p.
When CIA man Carstairs learns that a well-known assassin is meeting his next contact on a safari in Zambia, he needs to send an agent who is the perfect innocent tourist. Luckily, Mrs. Pollifax has always wanted to go on safari. Within a couple of days, she has gotten her shots, bought herself some safari outfits, and headed off to Africa. Her job? To photograph the members of the safari group, giving the CIA pictures of the assassin, from which they may be able to identify him or her. But what a coup, thinks Mrs Pollifax, if she could only identify the assassin herself!
Mrs. Pollifax is as kind and charming as ever, always optimistic, facing the world with irrepressible enthusiasm. This is the book in which she encounters Cyrus Reed, and it’s my favourite of the series so far. Another fun novel in the cozy spy thriller genre.
Books read: 87/100 (87%)
Pages read: 26,178/30,000 (87%)
Tags: 50 Book Challenge 2007, Dorothy Gilman, Mrs. Pollifax
August 21, 2007 at 11:35 pm · Filed under Book Reviews, Mystery and Suspense
83. The Unexpected Mrs. Pollifax by Dorothy Gilman (Spy Mystery) 192 p.
Emily Pollifax, a widow with children and grandchildren, finds herself dissatisfied with her comfortable, well-organized life. Depressed by her feeling of uselessness, she decides to make one last stab at fulfilling her childhood dream: to become a spy for her country. Applying for a job at the CIA, she meets with unexpected success—and plunges headlong into unexpected danger.
I enjoyed Mrs. Pollifax, Innocent Tourist when I read it a few weeks ago, but this book, the first in the Mrs. Pollifax series, is even more charming, as well as very funny. Mrs. Pollifax is a delightfully ordinary and intelligent heroine, and she meets a wonderful cast of eccentrics during the course of the novel.
Books read: 83/100 (83%)
Pages read: 24,989/25,000 (99.96%) (I think I’m going to up my page goal to 30,000)
Tags: 50 Book Challenge 2007, Dorothy Gilman, Mrs. Pollifax
August 2, 2007 at 12:23 am · Filed under Book Reviews, Mystery and Suspense
75. Mrs. Pollifax, Innocent Tourist by Dorothy Gilman (Spy Mystery) 203 p.
Mrs. Pollifax, the CIA’s most unlikely agent, agrees to help her old friend Farrell on a private mission to Jordan. An old friend of Farrell’s, Iraqi novelist Dib Assen, has recently died in prison. Before his arrest, he made arrangement to have his last novel smuggled out of the country and into Jordan, where it is to be passed directly to Farrell by a man he knows only as “Ibrahim”. Mrs. Pollifax is going along only as cover for Farrell, but her strange encounter with a man on the plane to Jordan lands the two in fresh dangers.
I enjoyed this book quite a bit, although it never really rises above run-of-the-mill spy mysteries. It has the definite flavour of a British cozy, although the plot is that of a spy novel. All in all, it provided me with an amusing couple of hours and will be kept to re-read whenever I need cheering up.
Books read: 75/100 (75%)
Pages read: 22,460/25,000 (90%)
Tags: 50 Book Challenge 2007, Dorothy Gilman, Mrs. Pollifax
