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:
(off Wikipedia because I'm lazy . . . )
<Above posted 6.30.2016. I also have entries (super brief) on 7.11.11 and 7.31.13.>
I didn't realize how often I've read these books! I donated all my paperbacks to my brother Tom to read to his wife after this 2016 entry. I think I felt that I was done with the series. I have soooo many books! And I use the library most of the time anyhow.
I got The Unexpected Mrs. Pollifax (book 1) on Libby as an audiobook last month. It took quite a few weeks for me to get it and I listened to it quickly. I'm now on hold for book 2. Libby tells me it's a ten week wait! I guess I won't be listening to it via my summer job time . . .
I like how Mrs. Pollifax just shows up to volunteer at the CIA. I like how she and Farrell connect and become friends. I like how she rescues "the genie" and that he turns out to be a missing Chinese scientist. It's just a nice story (despite the spying and killing).
<Below added 09.05.2024.>
It's crazy to me how many different entries I have for these books! I changed the heading on this one so I know where to add my comments. . . . "Updates here." I recently finished listening to The Elusive Mrs. Pollifax. (Libby audiobook, Read by: Barbara Rosenblat, published in 2018.)
She heads to Bulgaria (?) with passports in her hat. Unknown to her, she is also carrying counterfeit Russian rubles in her coat. She meets a group of young people at an airport and is concerned for young Phillip Trenda. Geese, the impregnable prison, the cut brake line, the secret police, . . . this is a lovely story ending with a party in Switzerland. Oh! I forgot that the book opens in her apartment with the garden club witnessing the once a year blooming of her "night-blooming cereus." I like how she and young Debby connect and find ways to appreciate one another. I also like that Peter Trenda's sister gets out of the communist country. And of course, how she surprises both Carstairs and Bishop once again.
<Below added 12.12.24.>
Just finished A Palm for Mrs. Pollifax and once again confused the General in his wheelchair with Ibrahim Sabri in his wheelchair across the hall from Hafez.
The spa in Switzerland. Robin Burke Jones being "just" a cat burglar. Marcel being murdered in the Underwasser Massage room. Mrs. Pollifax taking a bullet in her arm.
<Below added 4.12.25.>
Mrs. Pollifax on Safari audiobook 7 hours
The reader - Barbara Rosenblat - does a fantastic job with all the narration. The opening to this story and the after part were read by a different voice and it was jarring!
I remembered instantly that she met Cyrus on the safari and the identity of the assassin. I remembered lots of the details but had forgotten how overdone and irritating the "My dear" business got. I also forgot that the story ends without Carstairs and Bishop finding out about what she had done.
I waited a LONG time for this one to be available on Libby. I should already have requested the next book . . .
<Below added 5.29.25>
Mrs. Pollifax on the China Station audiobook 7 hours
Barbara Rosenblat does a great job as usual. I wonder how she learned / mastered the pronunciation of so many Chinese words!
Fave: The young man they rescue from his circumstances while getting "X" out of the country.
Least fave: The usual. Jenny being the "ugly American."
