More Mrs. Pollifax in my quest to read the whole series - this time two books that work together almost as two volumes of the same story. They take place both in the US and an imaginary African country, Ubangiba. I thought it was a bit unusual to have this imaginary country, rather than the finely evoked real places in all of her other books. But listening to a lengthy author interview, I discovered that these two books were written during a time that she was suffering from a form of agoraphobia, and couldn't travel for research. So this choice makes more sense. I didn't feel that same sense of exploration and interest, though, because of the imaginary nature of the country. Still, these worked together well and had some new, intriguing characters.
This first story sets up the premise - Mrs Pollifax drives her husband Cyrus to the airport and when she gets home and feels something is up, she searches the house and discovers a young woman, Kadi Hopkirk, hiding in a utility closet. She had escaped from men trailing her a couple of days before. Mrs. Pollifax is of course interested in the story and decides to rescue Kadi, driving her back to NY City. But things go wrong, as Kadi's pursuers catch sight of them and trail them. Mrs. P, fortunately, has important friends -- and thinks quickly. She pulls in to a busy hospital and calls her CIA contacts from the ER.
They rescue and deliver Mrs. P and Kadi to an unexpected safe house: a travelling carnival. The story has a lot of fun with the characters and the setting of a carnival, and Mrs. P discovers new depths to herself! She also puzzles out why Kadi was being watched (her connections to Ubangiba, where she grew up thanks to her parents medical mission) and they end up travelling to Ubangiba to see the conclusion of Kadi's involvement. This one felt really escapist and light, thanks to the imaginary political setting of this invented African country. I loved the carnival and some of this story, but didn't find it as engaging as the others so far in the series. Still, the next book carries on this tale.
Mrs. Pollifax and Kadi head back to Ubangiba to see the coronation of Kadi's childhood friend Sammat. They are special guests of the government, but that doesn't mean there aren't shenanigans to deal with. There have been a rash of violent killings in the capital, where the victims are slashed with what looks like lion's claws. The catch is that there are no lions in Ubangiba. Rumours of supernatural causes abound, causing Sammat political difficulties.
Mrs. P is on the case - she explores the area quite fearlessly, and gets involved with locals in the way that she always does. And thank goodness, because the silent, grim bicycle seller named Moses turns out to be integral to the plot, and their survival! There isn't that much of a mystery going on here, and definitely not the exciting spy thriller sense of the other books -- this is an imaginary country, and there is no CIA involvement here. This duo of books is probably the weakest in the series because of these elements. Mrs. Pollifax is always delightful to read about though, so while they are not the best of this series, I still liked them well enough.
