Mrs Pollifax Fan Blog

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Do you live in one of the countries that Dorothy Gilman writers about? Of course, I live in the U.S. but I have never been to New Jersey. I went through New Jersey once on a train but you can’t see very much. Sadly, I have never been out of the country either. I believe that is one of the things I love about her books is that she helps you see the country, the people and what it might be like to visit that place. A good mystery setting with rich descriptive words about place and time makes a good story for me. Our favorite author has set her stories in Mexico, Italy, Albania, Switzerland, Hong Kong, Thailand, Mainland China and various parts of the Africa Continent.

If you have lived or are living in one of the countries and would like to share with us some of the modern descriptions we would greatly appreciate it. The names of one or two of the countries that she has written about may have changed since the books were published but we would like to hear from you anyway. If you have some pictures we could email them to me with a description and I would be happy to post them. Email to: jolene.macfadden@mrspollifax.com

Have a great January and hope to hear from you soon!

I know that we may never get another book in the Mrs Pollifax series but I, as an avid FAN, would like to propose story lines that we can make up ourselves.  I have always wanted to go to Australia and I think a Mrs Pollifax story set in this country would be a GREAT idea.  There are so many possibilities for Mrs P. to get into trouble even if she was not “on-assignment” there.

Now according to the CIA World Fact website, which is the only place to look for information about any of the countries that Mrs Pollifax may go,  Australia is approximately  7.7 million sq km in area, has about 21 million people, races consists of white 92%, Asian 7%, aboriginal and other 1%  and the languages are English 78.5%, Chinese 2.5%, Italian 1.6%, Greek 1.3%, Arabic 1.2%, Vietnamese 1%, other 8.2%, unspecified 5.7%.  Granted the country is smaller than the U.S. but it has vast territories with little or nothing in them that could hold a mystery or two.  Not to mention the close proximity to Japan, New Zealand, and hundreds of thousands of islands off the coast.  If there are any fans out there that live in Australia, have relatives who live there or have visited there it would be greatly appreciated if you could contribute a mystery or spy-type thing that has happened there in the last 40 or 50 years that we could make up our own story about.

It is a challenge to think of story lines and the carry through with them but between all of us I think we can come up with some interesting plots and twists and enjoy them together.  Remember to think like Mrs Pollifax, Carstairs, Bishop, Cyrus and even her children.

Sadly, there are only two of Dorothy Gilman’s Books that are currently in Ebook form and they are offered by Barnes and Noble.  You will need to install their free ebook reader and they can be used on iPhone/iPod touch, Blackberry, PC or Mac from their website.

The first one is for Mrs. Pollifax Unveiled which is the last book in the Mrs. Pollifax books to be released. This story finds our favorite heroine being sent to the desert with her old friend John Farrell to try and find an American Tourist who averts a plane being hijacked and then promptly disappears! You can click on the picture below and be taken to the Barnes and Noble website for each of these books.

MRS POLLIFAX UNVEILED:



The second book available on the Barnes and Noble website in ebook form is the very last book published by our favorite author called Kaleidoscope. This is a continuing tale of the fun and exciting adventures of Madam Karitska and her friend from the police Detective Lieutenant Pruden.

KALEIDOSCOPE:



As for Amazon Kindle they only have one product available and that is the Kaleidoscope Book. Click below to be taken directly to that page to purchase this book:
dorothy gilman kindle


Remember you can request that each of the Dorothy Gilman Books be placed in Kindle format by going to each page with the book and on the left side of the screen you should see a box that says something about requesting that this title be added to the Kindle line.

Published in 2000

The late book in the series. After facing down hijackers on a flight to the Middle East and saving the lives of the passengers on board, a young American woman steps off the plane in Damascus in a blaze of celebrity and disappears….. The CIA believes Amanda Pym was kidnapped, possibly murdered. Masquerading as Amanda Pym’s worried aunt, Mrs. Pollifax begins her determined search, slipping through Damascus’s crooked streets and crowded souks….and trekking deep into the desert. Yet she is shadowed by deadly enemies, whose sinister agenda threatens not only Mrs. P. but the fragile stability of the entire Middle East. Only a miracle – - or brilliant counterplot — can forestall a disaster that will send shock waves around the world.

Mrs Pollifax Unveiled

Published in 1997.

Thirteenth book in the series. Working with her retired CIA friend John Farrell, Mrs. Pollifax must smuggle a manuscript out of Jordan, a document that encodes the shocking truth of Saddam Hussein’s reign. Hardly are the two airborne when the coils of Middle Eastern intrigue begin to unwind. Mrs. Pollifax’s seatmate is not the affable Arab businessman he pretends to be. It is not imagination that persuades Mrs. P. that wherever they go, she and Farrell are followed. To elude their pursuers in such a politically volatile country isn’t easy. In fact, it can be downright deadly…..

Mrs Pollifax Innocent Tourist

Published in 1996.

Twelfth one in the series. In response to a desperate SOS, Kadi Hopkirk flies to the African country of Ubangiba, where her childhood friend, Sammat, is soon to be crowned king. Mrs. Pollifax, reluctant to allow the girl to venture alone into what she fears may be grave danger, crashes the party. On arrival, Kadi and Mrs. P. soon discover that Sammat has dangerous enemies. Rumors are springing up that he is a sorcerer who is responsible for a rash of shocking murders in which the victims appear to have been clawed to death by a lion. These crimes are especially terrifying because there are no lions in Ubangiba. So Mrs. Pollifax wades into the fray, hunting for the source of the bloody terrorism that threatens Sammat and Ubangida – - not to mention Kadi and Mrs. Pollifax…..

Mrs Pollifax and the Lion Killer

Published in 1995.

It is the eleventh book in the series. The last thing Mrs. Pollifax expects to find in her closet is a young woman hiding. Kadi Hopkirk insists that she’s being pursued by two men in a van. Under the cover of darkness, Mrs. P. tries to drive Kadi home to Manhattan only to have a dark green sedan give them a run for their money and, Mrs. P. begins to suspect, their lives. Ever resourceful, Mrs. Pollifax puts in a call for help to her CIA colleague, Carstairs, who installs them in a safe house — at a carnival! Before Mrs. Pollifax knows it, a dash to safety expands into an assignment that leads to hair-trigger violence in exotic places…..

Mrs Pollifax Pursued

Published in 1993

Tenth book of the series. The assignment is a snap: Mrs. Pollifax just has to shoot some pictures at a quiet funeral outside Washington and take them to Sicily, where her old friend Farrell — a former CIA agent turned art dealer — anxiously awaits them. But like all Mrs. P’s assignments, so ostensibly suitable for the CIA’s favorite garden club member, this one quickly turns lethal. Her welcoming committee in Palermo includes a most unlikely CIA agent and several unseen enemies. Unfriendly eyes also observe Mrs. P’s rendezvous with Farrell in a secluded mountain village and weapons are soon displayed. With mysterious forces hot after them, she and Farrell scurry for safety to a fortified country villa, where the bizarre Chatelaine, once a star on Madison Avenue, is almost as unnerving as the dangers she’s protecting them from. So, though the sun shines brightly, the food is delicious, and romance is in the air, Mrs. Pollifax is too busy handing out karate chops and playing catch-me-if-you-can with an assassin to enjoy the amenities…..

Mrs Pollifax and the Second Thief

Published in 1990

Ninth Book in the Series. Emily Pollifax, pillar of the Garden Club and occasional agent for the CIA, is once again called into action, this time in Morocco. Her assignment seems simple enough: accompany Max Janko as he travels across Morocco confirming the identities of seven undercover informants — and try to keep him from making an unpleasant ass of himself. Immediately, things go horribly wrong. The first is Max is not who — or what — he says he is. With no one to bail her out, Mrs. Pollifax determines to outfox the enemy and check out the remaining informants on her own. Only Mrs. Pollifax would expose herself to the dangers of being an American and a woman alone in Morocco. And only she would forge ahead, knowing as she does that one of the original informants has been replaced by a deadly impostor….

Mrs Pollifax and the Whirling Dervish

Published in 1988

Eighth book of the series. On the very morning Mrs. Pollifax and her husband Cyrus are leaving for Bangkok, the CIA arrives on her doorstep with an urgent request for help. All she’s got to do is carry a small object to someone named Ruamsak, and get something from him in exchange. After her arrival, however, she discovers the body of a murdered man and, moments later, watches in horror as Cyrus is kidnapped! Soon Mrs. Pollifax is tramping through the ominous Thai countryside — known for its smugglers and drug warlords — led by a curious called Bonchoo, who may be trying to help find her husband. Or may have other, more sinister plans….

Mrs Pollifax and the Golden Triangle