The Unexpected Mrs. Pollifax By Dorothy Gilman

Audiobook version, narrated by Barbara Rosenblat

Finished on 1/3/2017

3.25 Little Old Ladies and 1.75 Super Spies out of 5

Spoiler-tastic Review

An old fashioned addition to the mystery, thriller and cozy genres. Mrs. Pollifax is a lovely old woman who got depressed, and instead of taking meds decided to risk life and limb working for the CIA. Totally a rational decision.

Her first assignment takes her to Mexico, where she is immediately snatched up by a bunch of Communists and shipped off to Albania.

This is not a modern book. Published in 1983, this is a book of its era with references to Red Russia and China and the misunderstanding that bullets must be removed from wounds to prevent fevers. It is also short, thank god (I’m of the opinion that the books of the Fantasy genre (my genre of choice) have gotten too long).

This is not a modern book in other ways. The plot behaves in non-traditional ways for the thriller genre, which is what I think this book most resembles. Instead of the hero valiantly saving the day through liberal application of bullets, Mrs. Pollifax befriends the Albanians through liberal application of backrubs and friendship. When the time comes to run for her life, several coincidences are required to see her through. I dislike egregious use of coincidences.

I would not call it a fantastic book, but I would call it fun and an innocent romp with only minor bloodshed. If you’re in the mood for a quick story featuring an old lady then here is the book for you.