Mrs. Pollifax books

by Dorothy Gilman
up at the lake, paperbacks
genre: spy / mystery fiction

Why on earth do I re-read spy books where I already know the outcome? I'm not really sure, but they are like vegging out on a tv show (and we don't have a tv at the lake).

Like:

• her innocence, especially when she surprises Mr. Carstairs and Mr. Bishop at the CIA
• her resourcefulness
• the serendipity of people and situations
• the good guys win

Dislike:

• the "inst-love" between characters, with marriages after barely a week of even knowing one another
• her (Mrs. Pollifax, and presumably the author's) fondness for mysticism, past lives, ESP, etc. 
• careless errors!!! See below.

In chapter one of Mrs. Pollifax on the China Station,  she is listing mail received from people met on different adventures. " . . . a birth announcement from Colin and Sabbahat Ramsey in Turkey; a holiday message from the king of Zabya with a note from his son Hafez, and . . . " Hafez was General Parviz's son, NOT King Jarroud's! That was in A Palm for Mrs. Pollifax and it bugged me.

Then in chapter 13, Mrs. Pollifax is on a runaway horse in the mountains. "Up they went at a 90-degree angle, the crazed horse slowing a little . . . " Um. Pretty sure a horse going STRAIGHT UP would slow down more than a little! Don't editors catch these things?! Does Gilman not understand what a 90 degree angle IS?!

Okay, rant over. I still like these books a lot. The four I read up at the lake last week were:

• 1.4 A Palm for Mrs. Pollifax (1973)
• 1.5 Mrs. Pollifax on Safari (1976)
• 1.6 Mrs. Pollifax on the China Station (1983)
• 1.7 Mrs. Pollifax and the Hong Kong Buddha (1985)

(off Wikipedia because I'm lazy . . . )