Book Review for “The Amazing Mrs. Pollifax” (Mrs. Pollifax #2) by Dorothy Gilman.
Summary: “When Emily Pollifax answered the phone that Sunday she quickly forgot about her Garden Club tea in the afternoon. The last time she had heard the voice on the other end of the line it had sent her off on a journey that plunged her into a wild tangle of secret agents and high adventure. Now the man from the CIA was asking if she could leave immediately on a mission that would take her halfway across the world. What could Mrs. Pollifax say but yes?”
Age: Adult; Genres: Genre – Mystery, Fiction; Settings: Era/s: Modern/Contemporary; Location/s: Turkey – Istanbul and across the country; Other Categories: Novel, Murder, Thriller, Intrigue, Crime, Spies/Spying, Humor.
One of the last times I went to my TBR jar, I pulled out a 400+ page book, and immediately decided to put that back and pick up this book instead. See, it’s technically a novella at less than 180 pages. Yes, I know, I probably should have kept it for Novellas in November, but I needed something light and short as a palette cleanser. You know how it is, right? Anyway, it had also been a while since I read the first one in this series, and I wanted to get back to the charming Emily again.
Now, I had no idea that this book would take her to Turkey, which is a place I visited only once. Sadly, I was only in Istanbul, but Gilman’s description of the city wasn’t far off from my own impressions. There’s a type of old vs new there that’s both enigmatic and slightly on the magical side, which Gilman caught beautifully. In fact, I must say that Gilman really surpassed her first book with the descriptions of all the places that Emily ends up in, with this book. Now, either Gilman did some extensive research by traveling across Turkey herself, or she’s had her hands on some really good materials of those who did such treks. Because, I swear, I felt like there were descriptions here that felt like they came straight out of a travelogue. Gilman takes Pollifax and her companions through areas where most tourists never set foot; through the wildest of territories, and harsh weather, they’re taken on what feels like a hopeless, wild goose chase, to help one woman escape to freedom. This was most definitely the thing about this book that truly impressed me.
I should note that whereas in the first book, we discover just how clever Emily Pollifax is, as well as resourceful, Gilman doesn’t give her as many opportunities to show off these qualities in this book. In fact, it seems like here, Emily is swept along by some of the other characters that get mixed up in this quest, and thereby becomes part of the slightly more passive members of the group. That said, obviously, it is Emily’s mission they’re trying to carry out, so she does have to take the lead in some instances. However, as often as not, Gilman has Emily swept along with the circumstances, and taking advantage of the initiatives of others, rather than manipulating the situations on her own accord. That said, I wouldn’t say that this diminished Emily in my eyes, and in fact, I’m certain that even the best spy/CIA agent sometimes has to take advantage of the kindnesses of strangers. This did, however, make this book a bit less fun than the first one, as it had far fewer humorous interludes. Mind you, there were a few bits that were fairly silly, which made me chuckle.
So, the question is, after reading these two, am I still inclined to read any of the remaining 12 books in this series? They are fun, they’re very easy reads, and reading about a female protagonist who is about my age is something I’ve come to really enjoy and appreciate. Furthermore, it really feels like Gilman’s writing here was much more developed than in the first book, especially with her descriptions of where Emily went, and the characters she met along the way. I’m guessing that the next books show even more development. But to be totally honest, unless I find any of the subsequent books at very good prices somewhere, or run across one in a second-hand shop, I’d be happy to pick one up, but I don’t think I’ll spend too much effort to chase them down. I can still recommend this book, and I think I’ll give it four and a half stars out of five.
“The Amazing Mrs. Pollifax” by Dorothy Gilman (Mrs. Pollifax #2) was released in 1987 and is available (via the following affiliate links) from Amazon, Blackwell’s (prices include international shipping), Waterstones, WHSmith, Kobo US (eBooks and audiobooks), Booksamillion.com, Barnes & Noble, iTunes (iBooks and audiobooks), new or used from Alibris, or Better World Books (promoting libraries and world literary), as well as from Bookshop.org and UK.Bookshop (to support independent bookshops, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic).
This novel qualifies for the following reading challenges: Beat the Backlist challenge (#19), The Classics Club (#7).
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