The Amazing Mrs. Pollifax

 

The Amazing Mrs. Pollifax / Dorothy Gilman
read by Barbara Rosenblatt
Landover MD: Recorded Books, 2019, c1970.

After being introduced to this series by reading the first volume, The Unexpected Mrs. Pollifax, I knew I had to search out more in the series. I found all the titles available through Hoopla, in audiobook format, read by the inimitable Barbara Rosenblatt (who also reads the Amelia Peabody series). Score! 

I immediately checked out the second volume, in which Mrs. Pollifax is sent on another courier mission, this time to Istanbul. And of course she gets far more involved than she should, as she encounters a series of disasters on her mission and must get creative. But that's what she does best. And this time, she is more prepared - she's been studying karate.

Emily Pollifax is being sent, as the only agent that CIA man Carstairs can think of who would not be suspect in the city of professional spies. And with her flowered hats and grandmotherly demeanor, he could be right. Her mission is to get information to a defecting Soviet spy to help her escape the many countries and agents pursuing her. Things don't go so smoothly as they were supposed to, though. 

Thankfully Mrs. Pollifax has great skill (and luck) and picking up random strangers who prove helpful to her in many ways. She encounters a young man early on, thanks to talking to a young woman on the plane over, who ends up having a very important van available when Mrs. Pollifax needs to go on the run. And they both encounter a criminal in the dark, in a graveyard, who joins them, but WhatTheHell! (long story). 

The story leaves Istanbul and ranges across Turkey, where they find help from various strangers including clever young people creating distractions, to a band of gypsies (this book was published in 1970, so they are called gypsies and somewhat stereotyped, but they are presented very sympathetically). In the final scene, Mrs. Pollifax has to take some extreme and very unexpected measures to get her spy to an airport -- and it is hilarious as well as exciting. Overall, there was great pacing, lots of gorgeous Turkish landscape and culture, engaging characters and thoughtful writing. I love how Gilman creates a balance between crime caper, spy thriller and cozy mystery; it works beautifully. And Barbara Rosenblatt's narration is just A1. Loved this one, and will be continuing with the series.