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Jul 28, 2008

Carolyn rated it:

I love all the Dorothy Gilman books, the Mrs. Pollifax mystery series as well as her other books outside the famous series.

I'm reading my way through a couple of dozen of them now, back-to-back.

What fun.

I adore her deep insights about all kinds of people and the spiritual phenomena we encounter in every day life.

Her stories always reveal the value of various kinds of people society tends to ignore (unmarried, middle-aged, and elderly people as we More...

0 comments like (3 people liked it)

Oct 14, 2011

Mike (the Paladin) rated it:

I thought I should change my tone here a bit. I've "recently reviewed some audio books, mysteries that I listened to mainly because, well, I was looking for...a book. I figured any book was better than no book. My wife loved whatever series it might happen to be and I listened to them because we had them out of the library anyway.... I wasn't all that taken with many of them. They were sometimes well written, others not. Either I liked or didn't like the main character that much. On the who More...

3 comments like (5 people liked it)

Jul 10, 2008

Rachel rated it:

If you enjoy Miss Marple, you'll like her American counterpart Mrs. Pollifax. The Mrs. Pollifax series were more suspenseful than I believed it would be, seeing how the heroine of the novel is in her 60s. However, that's part of the books--most people underestimate Mrs. Pollifax. This is the first book in the series, where Mrs Pollifax--deciding that she wasn't satisfied with her normal life--goes to the CIA and asks to become a spy. She is confused with being the courier spy the government More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Sep 04, 2007

Nikki rated it:

It's taken me forever to read one of these Mrs. Pollifax books because I just didn't think a book could be entertaining enough for me with the heroin being an old lady. But then my sister told me how much she loves these books and how wonderfully fun and charming they are... she even lent me her entire collection to read (thanks, Mandy!) and I have been so delighted with these fun books and this charming character, Mrs. Pollifax. I couldn't have been more wrong or narrow-minded! It's so fun g More...

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Nov 29, 2011

Sally rated it:

Many years ago I read "The Amazing Mrs. Pollifax", and I think I still have the old paperback among the used-book shelves. I didn't remember anything about it, but when I came across this first story in this Dorothy Gilman series in an Audible book sale, I got it. It was surprisingly engaging. It was not so much a mystery to be solved, as a situation to be resolved.

I expected this to be a story along the same lines as Miss Marple - an older woman of kind nature in a smal More...

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Nov 04, 2011

Harmonybites rated it:

This is really more between a three and a four--just good enough I might look up more in the series. The "unexpected" Mrs Polifax is the unlikely Mrs Polifax at least on first impressions. She's a white-haired sixty something, a widow from New Brunswick, New Jersey with grown children who are living lives apart from her. In the beginning of the book she's depressed, feeling useless. Her doctor asks her if there is anything she would like to do now that she has time on her hands, and sh More...

3 comments like

Jun 20, 2011

Book Concierge rated it:

Emily Pollifax is bored in retirement. Her husband is deceased. Her children and grown and married. She still volunteers for various charities, but that’s getting old, too. But what else could she possibly do? America is engage in the Cold War against Communist countries. She figures she’s resourceful, intelligent, patriotic, loyal, and good at puzzles, so she leaves her New Jersey home and goes to Washington DC to meet with the CIA and offer her services as a spy. It so happens they are looki More...

1 comment like

Oct 05, 2009

Meredith rated it:

I read this for our next book club meeting. I must say that the copy I read made it less than pleasant to read. Due to my limited time, I had to request the large print edition from the library, which was not only clothed in a wretched blue library binding, but was in nasty shape as well. water damage, stains, and a general sour odor permeated the thing, plus the fact that reading large print can be wuite unnerving.

HOWEVER, I thought this was a charming spy book with an unlikely h More...

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Sep 09, 2011

Nathalie rated it:

The Mrs. Pollifax's mystery books were one of my earliest finds at the Orem Public Library! I have read and re-read these books. The first book on tape I listened to was when Mrs. Pollifax goes to Africa. I LOVE to listen to the rich voice characterizations of Barbara Rosenblatt and she set me on the path of many many other beloved books on tapes and Cds. What I immediately loved about Emily Pollifax is that she becomes this truly "unexpected", unassuming CIA courrier well into her gr More...

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Jan 22, 2011

Kyrie rated it:

If I can't be Granny Weatherwax when I grow up, then I'd like to be Mrs. Pollifax.
This books is the first in the series (any of which can stand alone), but it explains a lot. Her husband has passed away, her children no longer need her and well, she's depressed. Her doctor asks her if there's anything she's always wanted to do. She doesn't tell her doctor, but she decides to volunteer for the CIA. Okay, she's a little out of touch sometimes, I don't think the CIA takes volunteers. More...

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Nov 29, 2011

Susan rated it:

After my book club decided that reading two non-fiction WWII books back-to-back would be a bit heavy, someone suggested 'The Unexpected Mrs. Pollifax.' Think beach read meets mystery meets MacGyver. The book was pretty much exactly what I had expected: a breezy, easy read about an unlikely CIA agent(a retired, feisty woman named Mrs. Pollifax)who saves the day with a lot of tenacity and even more luck. It starts to feel a bit MacGyver-is near the ending, when extremely unlikely events seem to More...

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Jul 18, 2011

Beth rated it:

This was a fun book to read. First written in 1966, the Mrs. Pollifax books have always been popular with library patrons, so I decided to finally read the first book in the series. Widowed, sixtyish Emily Pollifax visits her doctor and he suggests that she find some new interests. She admits that she always wanted to be a spy. Her doctor thinks she's joking. She goes to Washington to volunteer her services, and through a mix up, she is given a case as a courier to Mexico to pick up some in More...

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Jul 05, 2010

Jenn rated it:

Both this book and its main character, Mrs. Emily Pollifax, are thoroughly charming. When Mrs. Pollifax becomes so dangerously bored with her widowhood that she begins to lose the will to continue living her dreary life, she books a trip to Washington, D.C., to try the one thing she's always wanted to do: be a spy. When she shows up at the CIA and volunteers for duty, a series of genial mistakes actually land her in exactly the role she's always wanted.

This is delightful, particularl More...

2 comments like

Aug 22, 2010

Maria rated it:

I first encountered the books about Mrs Pollifax as a little girl rummaging around in my mother's bookshelf. The tiny version of me enjoyed them a great deal, and when I re-read them as an adult, I still loved them. It's been a few years now since my last encounter with the most unlikely spy of them all, but I'm yearning to read them again. They're simply funny!

Mrs Pollifax is a grandmotherly old lady who loves her flowers (pelargoniums, if my memory serves me right). She has this re More...

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Feb 08, 2012

Suzanne rated it:

I did not discover Mrs. Pollifax until I read Dorothy Gilman's obit in the New YOrk Times this week. I immediately picked up this first in a series from my local library and fell in love! Am lining them up in order on my library To Read list (I love library web sites!) For those of you have missed out on the fun, the first book was published in 1966. Mrs. Pollifax is a widowed grandmother with nothing but time on her hands so she volunteers for everything. One day she decides she will followup o More...

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Jan 04, 2011

Adrienne rated it:

This series is pretty good. It's fast reading, but entertaining. The stories don't really get repetitive either (even when re-reading basically the entire series while home on winter break) although the general plot is the same. General plot / idea: Mrs. Pollifax - a middle-aged lady - is living in New Jersey and wishing for adventure. She gets sent off to some foreign country by the CIA to some rather simple task and ends up with a much bigger task, which comes off okay. The first book explains More...

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Jan 13, 2011

Valori rated it:

I love Mrs. PolifaX. She is truly unexpected. I have read or listened to all of the books in the series. I have learned a lot about many different cultures and people. Gilmore's books are a fun read.

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Mar 15, 2010

Leeankh rated it:

I'll be honest. I had a hard time getting through the beginning of this book. It was written with a bit more formality than I expected. It just didn't grab me right from the start, so it felt like a chore to read. However, that view quickly changed once I got into the meat of the story. The action of the second half is fast paced and exciting. By the end of the book, I really liked Mrs. Pollifax and would gladly read more of her adventures. She showed that she is smart and resourceful, and I did More...

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Dec 19, 2010

Maggie rated it:

I'd forgotten how much fun this book was. I read the series when I was younger, and my Mom reread them recently and gave them to me. The books are about a lady in her 60s, widowed, kids grown, who is bored with her life and decides she's going to pursue something she's always wanted to do, and that's spying. She goes to the CIA and volunteers and due to an initially mistaken identity is given a simple courier job that goes horribly awry. It was a really fun read. Slightly dated since it was w More...

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Jan 13, 2010

Sandie rated it:

This is a 1960's book that is cute and a really fast read...1 day. It was miss marple-ish versus....007 (kinda). It was clean and entertaining. There was no crude language...which is a nice break from some popular books. This was a fun holiday read and I would recommend at least 1 in the series...

"When Emily Pollifax answers the phone that Sunday morning, she quickly forgets all about her Garden Club tea that afternoon. For the voice on the other end belonged to a man she had neve More...

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Oct 28, 2010

Adrienne rated it:

I read this book after it was mentioned in an NPR review of books related to travel http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story... It is about a wonderful character, Mrs. Pollifax, who is in her early sixties. Her doctor encourages her to find something to get involved in, to avoid depression, so she volunteers to become a spy, and then her adventures begin and she finds out she can handle many more challenges than she thought she could. The book has lighthearted moments as well as serious and susp More...

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Jan 13, 2011

Meadow rated it:

I enjoyed all the Mrs. Polifax books. If you are looking for a well written suspensful mystery that isn't gory these are great.

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

May 26, 2009

Karen rated it:

Just re-read this for the umpteenth time. I love Mrs. Pollifax and want to be just like her when I grow up!
Reading some of the reviews by other readers was interesting. A few made me wonder how well they had read the book - "Mrs. Pollifax is in her eighties," for example, when she's in her sixties. And so many annoying comparisons to Miss Marple, just because both are "elderly" ladies. Mrs. Pollifax is wise, open, adaptable, resourceful, tenacious, and optimistic; a More...

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Mar 10, 2011

Stacey rated it:

Kevin got the recommendation for this series from one of his favorite 'what to read next' books. Mrs. Polluted is a woman in her sixties who has too much time on her hands. After her husband passes away and her children move out and on with their lives, she finds herself in a little state of depression. She is asked if there is anything that she wishes she had done earlier in her life but hadn't the time. She remembers wanting to be a spy, and so she heads to Washington DC, and after a case More...

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Oct 23, 2010

Allison rated it:

This is our MBA wives book club book, and since I'm goodreads friends with only only of the ladies, I feel it safe to say exactly what I thought of the book (sorry, Elly!)

Actually, it was cute. Cute idea, cute story, cute little one dimensional character. It wasn't unenjoyable, but the story was amazingly farfetched, and all the things that you thought, "there's no way this would happen in real life," happened, and you shrugged because you knew it was a novel meant to amuse More...

5 comments like

Jan 31, 2011

Cerealflakes rated it:

I was pleasantly surprised by this book. I heard about it on a local radio show, and it was just as good as promised. I am not one who typically reads mysteries or spy books, but this was more about an unlikely, but likeable old lady thrown into an equally unlikely situation. You certainly have to overlook the crazy good luck the characters have, but it is a well-written and humorous book so it's not so hard to suspend disbelief.

This is an easy read and would be great reading for an More...

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Apr 10, 2011

Kandice rated it:

This was a delightful and suprisingly informative book. I enjoyed the character of Emily Pollifax. The author succeeded in creating a character who is both innocent and intelligent at the same time. While the period and setting of the book covered current events when it was written, I leaned quite a bit about Russia, Red China, the US, and the cold war from reading this book so many years later. I am looking forward to reading further books in the series and hope that Farrell makes another a More...

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Jan 06, 2009

Kirstin rated it:

A cute little old lady who has raised her family, outlived her husband and is growing tired of her small life of volunteering and going to her garden club decides to be a spy and so shows up unannounced at the CIA headquarters to volunteer. To enjoy what comes next you will have to seriously suspend your disbelief but if you can do that this a fun little spy novel. I am not sure I will read any more of this series but if I run of other things to read I may and of course I am a sucker for a serie More...

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May 14, 2011

Katherine rated it:

What a great book! I loved it! I think Mrs. Pollifax has more spunk than 60-year-old women are allowed to have, but she makes a great heroine. Since she is a bit bored with her life, Mrs. Pollifax ends up volunteering for the CIA and gets mixed up in more trouble than she expected as a prisoner in 1966 Cold War Albania where her utter unexpectedness is delightful. There is a bit of swearing sprinkled throughout the book, but not any words that offended me enough to put it down. I will be lo More...

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Mar 15, 2010

Maura rated it:

The start of a series i'd been vaguely aware of for years, but just noticed it sitting on K's shelf during our last rehearsal. so of course i snagged it and devoured it. i mean, it's fluff, devouring is easy. :) but it's pretty darn good fluff. Mrs. P manages to stay on the right side of the thin line between overly twee and having a refreshing outsider's view of spying. She's sorta what i wanted Amelia Peabody to be [I always found Amelia grating, altho the books are worth reading. i am now pre More...

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