Mrs. Pollifax Three Complete Mysteries: The Unexpected Mrs. Pollifax / The Amazing Mrs. Pollifax / The Elusive Mrs. Pollifax

Mrs. Pollifax #1,2,3

by Dorothy Gilman

White-haired widow Mrs Emily Pollifax 60s from New Jersey USA suburb poses as innocent tourist in outlandish hats for three missions. Her childhood ambition to be a spy leads her to CIA Carstairs, who revives her from suicidal boredom. In Mexico, Albania, Turkey, and Bulgaria, the courier relies on only English language, friendliness, kindness, ingenuity and determination to achieve exploits that astonish her handlers, enemies, and new allies.
1 The Unexpected Mrs Pollifax - In a Mexico City Parrot bookstore for microfilms, General Perdido kidnaps Emily and debonair John Farrell to remote Albania.
2 The Amazing Mrs Pollifax - Emily rescues decades-undercover Magda from killer mole in Turkey, allies with photographer Colin, piratical Sandor, psychic gypsy Anyeta.
3 The Elusive Mrs Pollifax - Emily, sent with 8 passports to Bulgaria, aided by aged Resistance leader Tsanko and athletic young Debby, eludes vicious General Ignatov, frees wrongfully imprisoned including kidnapped rich student Philip Trenda.

Genres: Mystery, Fiction, Collections

554 pages, Hardcover

Published January 1, 1993

About the author

Dorothy Edith Gilman 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

Reviews

[Anne Patkau · Rating 5 out of 5]

Invigorating. Inspirational. In travels, as in life, one chance meeting changes the entire direction. Everyone here is a surprise, believable, memorable. Emily denies wisdom, rather "experienced from living a good many years" p 31.

Complimented "You seem to have great resources", she responds "It's my age" "modestly" p 210, suggesting we all can be stronger than we know, if challenged. She faces death in every book, and remembers how precious life is. Young people in her wake also find their potential and value life more.


1 The Unexpected Mrs Pollifax

Emily Pollifax despairs, "no purpose in my life" p 42, realizes she "loathes" p 4 volunteer work, and wants to "step forward into oblivion" p 6 off the roof. Instead, she revives a childhood dream to be a spy, which led her to shoot rats and read maps. By chance, CIA Carstairs sees the "absolutely right" p 19 courier to retrieve microfilms from El Papagayo Librerí, the Parrot bookshop, in Mexico City. She is "unorthodox even for this unorthodox department" p 22. Her "wisps of white hair .. refused to be confined" by her usual "really absurd hat .. with one fuschia-colored rose completely askew" above a "cheerful mouth" and "curious glance" p 19.

Over tea, before the assigned meeting date, walrus-mustached store owner Rafael DeGamez, bereaved five years to Emily's eight, imitates "swarms of geese, always together, always cackling" p 31 American lady tourists. He presents her with a book of solitaire games and tosses her a card deck for lonely hours. General Perdido, cold torturer, kidnaps her and debonair professional John Sebastian Farrell 41, then jets them to a remote alpine prison, continents away. 'This is extremely sticky jam I'm in', she reflected. 'Treacly oozy black raspberry, I think' " p 58.

Farrell is "half playboy, half adventurer, half artist", maybe "too many halves", but "exaggeration adds flavor" p 88. He has "look as if you'd done some rum things" p 51, and jumps suicidally off a cliff to prevent interrogation. Another fellow prisoner, an ancient wee mute, she calls the "Genie" for his oriental look, robes, and continual servile bobbing. She must rescue herself with only her heart and head - "a fluffy, innocent, trusting white lamb" in a devouring "wolves' den" p 48 (not white for skin). Russian Colonel Nexdhet, put in same cell, pretends not to speak English, but responds when Farrell shouts "Look at the candle!"

Nexdhet points out nearby Red Chinese missile site construction, turns a blind eye during an impromptu party, while she collects supplies: gun, ammo, and small tree as a crutch for Farrell's broken leg. "I will not see another Christmas" p 115. Why are they slow to pick up his "not helping" p 137, when he snores extra-loud while they pilfer his sheathed knife?

Small assets, counted, pile up believably into miracles. Proud of his country Albania, guard Lulash gives Emily a Victorian-era explorer guide book with a still accurate topographical map. Relaxed by her back massage, Major Vassovic trades her "early" a compass for lipstick. Emily, "Duchess" to Farrell, envies the stamina of Genie. Genie is really a brilliant English-speaking scientist believed dead two years ago. "A car moves faster than six legs, one of them broken" p 167. They hide in a herd of goats, take turns leading, being strong when the others flag.

"Mrs Pollifax, surrounded by so much masculine profanity, said firmly 'Hell, no' ", then subsided "meekly" when chided "gently .. 'absolutely no more swearing' " p 167. There are punches, shots, broken bones. But violence is most intense from threats, fear, chases on foot, donkey, in water, by log, boat. Memorized fact lists for geography and history lessons in school were hated, boring, until travels brought subjects alive. Here are travels extraordinaire.

Palatable philosophy gems. "So many ifs .. precisely what life is .. Everything is a matter of choice, and when we choose are we not gambling on the unknown and its being a wise choice? And isn't it free choice that makes individuals of us? We are eternally free to choose ourselves and our futures .. life is quite comparable to a map .. a constant choice of direction and route" p 187. Especially when feeling trapped, this can remind us of hope.

In "the dawn I was sure I'd never see! For a moment she was caught by the magic of life, its brevity and unpredictability, and she stared at this world as if just born into it". A blood-red sun rises over purple cliffs, transforms "gray and tattered" into "silky clouds of pearl-white and palest pink .. still alive when she ought to have been dead" p 191.

Realistic confusion when Emily tackles a tiller, sailing for the first time, some lightness amid hysteria. Not sure about accuracy of translations, when internet pegs "londra" as "London" and varkë as boat, zot as curse "god", not zott for Zeus. Interjections in any language add merely emphatic surprise. Probably safer for longevity in literature to omit colloquial expressions, though they do add flavor.


2 The Amazing Mrs Pollifax

Sweet old Emily is swept into danger again, Turkey the exotic destination seen on the run from a villainous sleeper agent and police's murder charge. Formidable enemies are killers, helicopters pursue horses and caravans. Fate is usually fortunate, brings allies: huge piratical "wotthehell" charming very handsome Sandor, lame psychic fortune-teller Queen of the Gypsies Anyeta Inglescu, and the first of many misunderstood youths who thrive in the challenge of Emily's wake. Thrills, fun, delving internal resources. A wink makes us mourn the smallest role killed. I can read these over and over, though this episode relies much on coincidences, and emphasizes recurring supernatural thread.

Emily Pollifax has taken karate since an accidental CIA mission last year. Now Carstairs and Bishop give her 20 minutes notice for Istanbul. Longtime Mata-Hari Magda Ferenci-Sabo has come in from the cold, but a mole trusted Dr Belleaux is betraying and killing their usual contacts. Kidnappers invaded the British Consulate for Magda, unsuccessful.

On the plane, lovely model Mia asks Emily to check on the oddball of her brilliant family, Colin Ramsey, shipped off to help photographer Uncle Hubert. When police chase Magda from the hotel, Colin drives his jeep away and ignores Emily. But he hides Magda. When Magda insists on meeting the gypsies at Yozgat before leaving, I remember why. Emily has to cross the country, without a passport or language, in disguises. That may become somewhat a formula, but heaven is in the devilish details every time. A guaranteed holiday for us and Emily.

Sandor is really Turkish secret police, so he vouches for them at the end. Hubert and Magda fell in love as agents decades before. Hu takes charge of her Russian grandson Dimitri and his necklace charm, Magda's insurance left in care of her long-time gypsy friends.


3 The Elusive Mrs Pollifax

Serious and funny go hand in hand. "It's better to be all dead than half dead" p 532. Again, white-haired old Emily helps youngsters use their talents, while they help her with her mission. We too appreciate life and abilities more after fatal challenges. If "you came very very close to losing your life last night .. the greatest revolution of all. But not recommended in large doses" p 483. Fighting rouses an athletic youth's epiphany "I nearly got murdered three times and my thumb was broken and - I've never felt so good" p 554.

Emily Pollifax hides 8 CIA passports in one of her astonishing hats, for Bulgarian Resistance leader Tsanko. When bossy Balkantourist agent Nevena sharply asks "You are old?", Emily meekly replies "Very" p 414. A boring economy lesson, pâté de foie gras p 506, gourmet goose liver paste industry, comes alive when Emily visits a factory farm to exchange coats with only Sofia contact, Assen Radev. He observes she "looks like a nice old lady" but "are not nice", in "one of the nicest compliments I've had from a professional" p 516.

In an overly knotty plot, Emily eludes official supervision and chance diverts her direction. At the airport, "very nice" p 406 Philip Trenda, pale and sick after a pill from bossy Nikki, shows Emily a "narrow card of plastic" p 465 pass ticket he "picked [from] somebody's pocket" p 407. For ransom from his wealthy father, Philip is imprisoned in the infamous nobody-leaves Panchevsky Institute, along with most of the designated passport recipients, by General Ignatov. CIA Carstairs and Bishop suggested contact, drunken reporter Carlton Bemish, refuses to help Emily in favor of a big deal with Ignatov.

Bemish told Nikki that Philip comes from money, Nikki told Ignatov, and Philip was doomed. Why substitute for Philip, try to kill him, Emily, and Debbie? Could not the ransom trade have been carried out honestly? Bemish abuses his wife Stella, who (too conveniently) works at Panchevsky, draws a map, and scopes the breakout job. She would die for her brother, Philip's father, so is rewarded by one of the passports to America.

When Nikki argues forcefully with Bulgarian officials, his arrogance against powerful opponents gives away an early clue to his status. Nikki's pickpocketed pass identifies members of the secret police. When Bemish on "orders" p 461 starts to kill Emily and Debby, Tsanko kills Bemish. Surprise saves make sense, by Tsanko and later Nevena before Emily's persona non grata deportation.

Emily galvanizes her handful of allies into a perfect assault team on Panchevsky to free the prisoners. Counterfeit Russian rubles sewn into Emily's duplicate coat snarl plot threads more, overthrow Ignatov when planted in his apartment. Tsanko really is highly placed in his country's trusted politburo. "How in the hell did she [Emily] end up putting General Ignatov in prison, corrupting [Radev] our last agent in Sofia and resurrecting [Philip] a dead American?" p 552.

"To draw conclusions so quickly would be very foolish. We must collect facts. To put them together must come later" p 467. Tsanko is Emily's age, "a hint of twinkle in his eyes .. 'I am not sure either of us is professional' .. recognition arose between them" p 469. "You have become very dear to me, Amerikanski" p 541. Debbie blushes, "someday I hope a man will look at me the way he looked at Mrs Pollifax".

Boris asks "is this to be died for? .. "Is not worth dying for, no, but worth being alive to do". Skepticism "keeps me alive, it entertains me. One must have entertainments, eh?" p 528. "Is anything chance?" muses Emily at the end p 553.

[Lexi · Rating 3 out of 5]

I am enjoying starting the Mrs. Pollifax stories from the beginning. An indomitable lady, Mrs. Pollifax is half Mrs. Marple, half James Bond (ok more like 90/10%) but much fun. The setting of the books in the cold war 1960-1970s is fun and removed enough from current events to be inoffensive as well. Good, light reads.

[Kerry & naomi · Rating 1 out of 5]

I like to read when I travel because so much of traveling entails waiting: waiting to get on the plane, waiting for the plane to take off, waiting for the plane to land, waiting to deplane, waiting for baggage, waiting for my ride, etc. So, having all this wait time and being sans computer, I plunged into Dorothy Gilman’s Mrs. Pollifax mysteries. The volume, of promising thickness, boasted three complete mysteries: A Palm for Mrs. Pollifax, Mrs. Pollifax on Safari, and Mrs. Pollifax on the China Station.

I started the book somewhere in the air over Chicago and finished the next day after I had returned home. Luckily, the book had three mysteries or I doubt it would have lasted nearly my entire trip. These three mysteries comprised my first exposure to the redoubtable Mrs. Emily Pollifax, and I will make reference to all of them in the following review, though I am primarily reviewing the latest of the three, Mrs. Pollifax on the China Station.

The Plot

Mrs. Pollifax, an innocent-looking, grandmotherly type, sometimes takes on odd jobs for the CIA as a courier or agent, because who would suspect the CIA of hiring a white-haired old lady to gather information for them? Mrs. Pollifax has a brown belt in karate, a sense of adventure, an eye for detail, and a lot of common sense.

For this assignment, Carstairs of the CIA, needs Mrs. Pollifax to join a tour group to China. Her mission is to make contact with a former inmate of a Chinese labor camp who now works in a barbershop in Xian and convince him to divulge the whereabouts of the labor camp. Mrs. Pollifax will then pass the location of the camp along to another agent, placed in the same tour group, who will attempt to rescue a current inmate of the camp, X, who possesses knowledge of China’s northern defenses. The CIA wants this man, as well as the Soviets (the book was published in 1983 prior to the break up of the Soviet Union); the Chinese government seems to have forgotten that this man even exists. In the meantime, Mrs. Pollifax, needs only blend in with her fellow tourists and figure out how to convince a Chinese barber to give her the information she needs. Of course, she also wants to know who among her traveling companions is the other CIA agent and how he plans to rescue X from the labor camp.

The CIA have also equipped Mrs. Pollifax with a cache of dried fruits and thermal socks and warned her to be prepared to get the tour group out of China if plans go awry. The Chinese tour guide selects Mrs. Pollifax as the group leader, since she’s the oldest, and Mrs. Pollifax accepts since, as the group leader, she can influence the schedule to her advantage.

The other travelers in the tour group consist of the usual array: a young school teacher, a new Harvard graduate, a writer of children’s books, an oil tycoon, a young woman with a jaded past, and a nondescript businessman.

Characterizations and Stereotypes

In her Mrs. Pollifax novels, Dorothy Gilman tends to rely heavily on stereotyped characters, mostly to avoid having to actually develop them. In A Palm for Mrs. Pollifax, we have the jewel thief who’s really an honest man at heart, the evil nanny, and the Arab playboy millionaire turned terrorist through divine inspiration. In Mrs. Pollifax on Safari we have the flirtatious she-bitch panting after all the men, the young woman with a cause, the beneficent doctor out to save the world, and the adopted happy native, among others. I found the characters in Mrs. Pollifax on the China Station somewhat better drawn, possibly because this novel was published in 1983, the other two were published in 1973 and 1976 respectively, although the high Chinese official’s actions were completely unrealistic, in or out of character. Iris, the young woman with the speckled past, was clumsy yet cheerful and rather interesting. I did not pick out the other CIA agent until shortly before he revealed himself to Mrs. Pollifax, though I did figure out who was the Soviet double agent right away.

Gilman seems rather fond of having a romance of some sort in each of her novels, without the chore of developing them. Each of these books had couples deciding to get married by the end, even though the course of each novel was a matter of days. I think the novels would fare better without a character suddenly announcing to Mrs. Pollifax that he “intends to marry that girl” even though he’s never kissed her or had more than one conversation with her. Ah, to be Ms. Gilman’s editor and slash through such unnecessary chaff with my mighty red pen, but I digress. The gentleman that falls for Mrs. Pollifax herself in Mrs. Pollifax on Safari at least bided his time somewhat, though the reader can still see what’s coming a mile away.

Elements of Style

I groused the entire way through these novels that Gilman sounded like a Brit trying to be an American. When I looked up Ms. Gilman’s biography, it turns out she is American. However, the names she uses for many of the characters (Carstairs, Pollifax, Malcolm, etc.), sound more British to me than American. Allowing that Ms. Gilman comes from an earlier generation, Mrs. Pollifax’s speech patterns still sounded British to me, as did the dialogue of other characters purported to be American. For this reason, a good chunk of the dialogue did not ring true.

On the positive side, Ms. Gilman’s descriptions of traveling in China were dead on. The international and local guides required for tour groups, the obligatory factory tours, the Friendship stores, the conditions of the country all corresponded with my own tour group experience in China, 16 years after the publication of Mrs. Pollifax on China Station. The only glaring difference that I noticed was that my bags were routinely searched; Mrs. Pollifax was shocked in one scene that someone had searched her bag and tried to figure out who among the other tourists had done it. When traveling in China, tourists must leave their bags outside their hotel room on the morning of departure so that the bellboys can ostensibly load them onto the bus, but also so the bags can be searched. I could tell that my things had been disrupted, despite the locks on my luggage. Bag searching may not have been routine when Ms. Gilman did her research for this book, but it also would have interfered with several plot developments.

Speaking of plot developments, most of the plot twists were fairly obvious throughout all three books. And as for Mrs. Pollifax knowing karate--I just don’t buy it, she rarely practices for one thing. I suppose Ms. Gilman felt that Mrs. Pollifax had to have some ability to defend herself, and kill if necessary, but she could just as easily had Mrs. Pollifax throw off her attackers by outwitting them.

Overall

I can’t say I didn’t enjoy these Mrs. Pollifax mysteries, because I did; I loved her adventurousness and intrepid study of human nature. I recognize that I might have liked these books better if I’d not just read a bunch of Janet Evanovich novels with a faster pace, better plot twists and believable fight scenes. I am not recommending Mrs. Pollifax on China Station or the other two Mrs. Pollifax mysteries because they are too sedate for my tastes, too predictable, and have sunk to the only-if-I-have-nothing-else-to-read level on my bookshelf.

[Lynne · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read all three of these stories, and enjoyed them all. Part of the appeal was the heroine, who is in my age bracket! Emily Pollifax doesn't just sit around as old age approaches. She wants to do something with her time. She ends up volunteering for a job where she fills the need for a courier who seems to be an innocent tourist. She has a lot of narrow escapes, but she is very resourceful and comes out of every scrape intact. There are close calls here, but things do work out. The assignments are in different locales abroad and Mrs. Pollifax is not intimidated by unfamiliar places and people.

[Abigail G · Rating 4 out of 5]

I found this book entirely entertaining as each adventure was more topsy turvy than the previous ones. The characters were all vibrant and relatable even though set in impossible settings. The story's twists and turns had me laughing many times.

[Jane · Rating 4 out of 5]

Entertaining!

[Susie Sinclair · Rating 5 out of 5]

Simply the best.

[Morton Public Library · Rating 5 out of 5]

Cozy mysteries; Spy fiction; Suspenseful (appeal terms from NoveList) -Rebekah, Roxy

[Cws]

M Gil

[Barrie Mason · Rating 3 out of 5]

Some wisdom and guts in old age?

[Tamika Koehn · Rating 3 out of 5]

Wasn't sure about these books cause thought they'd be like Agatha Christie, of which I'm not a fan. Actually enjoyed them even though full of quite implausible situations.

[Marcie Ramseier · Rating 5 out of 5]

Love all the Mrs. Polifax books!!