Product Description

"Mrs. Gilman has a nice, relaxed style and an easygoing way of telling a story....Should delight you whether you're looking for smiles or thrills."
--The New York Times Book Review
The last thing Mrs. Pollifax expects to find in her junk closet is a young woman hiding. Kadi Hopkirk insists that she's being followed by two men in a dirty white van. Under the cover of darkness, Mrs. P. tries to drive Kadi back 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.
Finally Kadi shares the startling truth: her friend, Sammy, is the son of the assassinated president of an African country and, unbeknownst to the young man's bodyguard, he passed her something under the table during a recent meeting. Ever resourceful, Mrs. P. puts in a call for help to her CIA colleague, Carstairs, who installs them in a safe house--at a carnival! Before Mrs. P. knows it, a dash to safety expands into an assignment that leads to hair-trigger violence in exotic places....
"Lively...Funny...All's right with the world as long as Mrs. Pollifax is part of it."
--Mobile Register
"This fast-moving tale sports a lively, energetic style, much like its heroine."
--Library Journal

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #40919 in Books
• Published on: 1995-11-29
• Released on: 1995-11-29
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Mass Market Paperback
• 240 pages

Features

• ISBN13: 9780449149560
• Condition: NEW
• Notes: Brand New from Publisher. No Remainder Mark.
• Click here to view our Condition Guide and Shipping Prices

From Publishers Weekly
In her 10th adventure, the observant and unflappable Mrs. P. discovers a young woman hiding in a closet of her Connecticut home on the same day that she observes a suspicious white van patrolling the neighborhood. Kadi Hopkirk says the men in the van have been following her ever since she met Sammy, a childhood friend from the African country of Ubangiba, in New Haven, where he told her he was being guarded and secretly gave something for safekeeping. Mrs. Pollifax hides Kadi in the car and takes to the highway but is unable to shake the van until she calls on two former colleagues at the CIA, who send a helicopter to whisk them away to a traveling carnival in rural Maine. Mrs. Pollifax, last seen in Mrs. Pollifax and the Second Thief (1994), poses as a journalist, and Kadi becomes the lower half of the woman who is sawed in two, while the CIA pals find out who Sammy is and why he is being so heavily guarded. Like a magician pulling a rabbit from a hat, Gilman, a deft stylist, adroitly resolves her plot's mysteries, finally bringing together a stabbing at the carnival, Kadi and Sammy's story and the abduction of a wealthy executive. Mystery Guild selection.
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal
Mrs. Pollifax (Mrs. Pollifax and the Second Thief, Fawcett: Ballantine, 1994) discovers a young woman in her hall closet hiding from some men in a white van. Eager as always, she elicits the girl's story, eludes the villains, and enables the CIA to resolve the situation, which involves kidnapping, shady investments, attempted murder, and the grandson of Ubangiba's last king. Agents actually consult reference books for essential background information, and a few literary allusions build character or relate to earlier Pollifax appearances. This fast-moving tale sports a lively, energetic style, much like its heroine, and should prove popular for light reading.
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist
The beloved Mrs. Pollifax is back, this time in an adventure that takes her on a nostalgic visit to an old-time carnival. When the intrepid undercover agent finds young Kadi Hopkirk hiding out in her storage closet, she doesn't stop to ask questions about the improbable but chilling story the young runaway tells her about being pursued by strange men in a white van. Instead, Mrs. Pollifax calls her friend Bishop at the agency for help. Bishop arranges for Mrs. Pollifax and Kadi to go underground as carnival workers until Mrs. P. can find out what has Kadi running scared. Imagine Mrs. Pollifax's surprise when she finds herself involved in kidnapping, international intrigue, and the crowning of an African ruler! Dauntless in the face of danger, cool in every crisis, and unflappable in the midst of mayhem, Mrs. Pollifax solves yet another mystery, and everyone--except the villains, of course--lives happily ever after. Warm, witty, charming, and fun, Emily Pollifax's latest outing will delight her growing cadre of fans. A Mystery Guild Main Selection. Emily Melton

Customer Reviews

Not Gilman's greatest, i'm afraid
I had read a Mrs. Pollifax novel before and not enjoyed it at all. This is the first time i've tried one after reading two other Gilman novels, and i expected to like it. I do. It is a funny thing, however, that i do not enjoy it as much as her other, non-series novels. Somehow it is a little forced, a bit as thought she feels she really needs to write this to satisfy the readers who love Mrs. Pollifax. It is far less believable a story than "Thale's Folly" was, for instance, though the characters are, perhaps, less exotic than "Thale's". There is something about the set-up, some fashion in which Gilman is saying, "I know none of this is at all true to life, but here you are ~ you wanted it ~ hope you like it." Several of the characters ~ Kadi, Willie, Boozy Tim, Mrs. Pollifax herself ~ are nice, believable, real even; it must be the situation they find themselves in which displeases me. The plot relies on coincidence too much for its resolution, and does not carry the ring of truth a perect novel makes echo in my mind. Looking back onto it, i feel that all it is is some real charactes interacting on a cardboard plot; i was never drawnn in the way i want to be by any book i read. Nevertheless, a fun read; i will try another Mrs. Pollifax, to be sure ~ along with any non-Pollifax Gilmans i can find.

A few too many coincidences, but still fun
For a change, trouble finds Mrs. Pollifax instead of the other way around, when she finds a young woman hiding out in her closet. An extended chase ensues, ending up with Mrs. Pollifax and Kadi, the young woman, hiding out in a carnival subsidized by Mrs. P's CIA friends for just such a purpose. The threads are complex, and there are a few more coincidences than are comfortable, but it all boils down to a plot to take over the African country where Kadi grew up and where her friend Sammy has a politically prominent position.

It's another enjoyable Pollifax romp, weakened a bit by the coincidences, but again brilliantly read by Barbara Rosenblat, whose skill I admire ever more increasingly with each new voice she comes up with.

A great series especially for older readers!!
There is a great difficulty in finding all the works of this author and that is a shame. They would be a great series especially for those of us entering retirement and preferring to listen to books rather then reading them. They are well written and fun and thoroughly enjoyable.The author needs to have all of the series put on tape or cd!!