Mrs. Pollifax and the Second Thief

 

Mrs. Pollifax and the Second Thief / Dorothy Gilman
read by Barbara Rosenblatt
Blackstone Audio, c1993.

Another trip for Mrs. Pollifax! Her latest assignment is to take some photos at a small funeral in Virginia, then deliver them to her old friend Farrell in Sicily. He has specifically asked for her and Cyrus, but as usual Cyrus is busy with something else and Mrs. P goes alone (I do find it amusing how Gilman regularly gets rid of Cyrus, after introducing him in Book 5). 

Nothing that Mrs. Pollifax does ever turns out as easy as promised. Here, she is met in Sicily by Kate, a young woman also from the CIA but who is on holiday and just doing a favour. But their trip to meet Farrell turns into a car chase, rescue and retreat to a safe house of sorts - Kate's aunt's country house where she is staying. This aunt turns out to be almost as mysterious as the men searching for Farrell. 

This book was a bit slow for me, with most of it taking place within one house. There is some adventure beyond its walls, and an unlikely romance for Farrell too, but overall it's not as dramatic or eventful as some of the others. The plot can be a touch thin at times. 

However, it is always enjoyable to see Mrs. P and Farrell back together, and the main element that is tying this story together is a suspected assassin who they put behind bars some books ago, who Farrell is sure he has seen in Sicily. The resolution of that is a little amusing but definitely suitable for an Emily Pollifax story. This one was just okay for me, but there was still that layer of social commentary that made it worth reading.