Mrs. Pollifax and the Hong Kong Buddha by Dorothy Gilman

In the last book, Mrs. Pollifax met and helped a young man named Sheng Ti. Now, he holds the answer to why one of the CIA's best operatives seems to be giving them bad information. So she decides to go back to China. On the plane, she meets a psychic, Mr. Hitchens who will play a larger role in this story. When they get to their hotel, she also sees Robin, an agent for Interpol with whom she has worked before. 

The three of them (with some ancillary characters) uncover a plot that is bigger than any of them. And it leads to one of the darkest endings that we've seen in a Mrs. Pollifax book. There is nothing explicit on page but there is a lot alluded to when Mrs. P is captured. 

Gilman definitely leans into the psychic angle in her latest books. This one has it most blatantly with touches in some of her previous books in the series. I wasn't expecting how dark this got as these books are generally a bit of fluff with darker aspects being hinted at or thought of but rarely seen.

Three stars

This book came out in 1985

Mrs. Pollifax #7

Follows Mrs. Pollifax on the China Station

Followed by Mrs. Pollifax and the Golden Triangle

Borrowed as audiobook from Audible Plus

Opinions are my own''

Mrs. Pollifax on the China Station by Dorothy Gilman

Mrs. Pollifax is on the road again. This time she's joining a tour group in China. Someone on that tour is a CIA agent and she is to help that agent find a labor camp. In that labor camp is someone who is going to be able to help them with more information. All Mrs. Pollifax needs to do is find a barber who can help her get to the camp. Of course, that is not all she does.
She is going to be going by herself since new husband Cyrus is in Africa but she is ready to go. In addition to her studies into various religions, she also did a report on China in grade school so she knows quite a bit about the country.
We get a bit more into psychic abilities in this book. It makes sense based on Gilman's other series and the fact that the CIA really was looking into psychic abilities around this time. Maybe a little more jaundice view from more recent times (depending on what you believe).

Three stars

This book came out in 1983

Follows Mrs. Pollifax on Safari

Followed by Mrs. Pollifax and the Hong Kong Buddha

Borrowed as audiobook from Audible Plus

Opinions are my own

Mrs. Pollifax and the Second Thief by Dorothy Gilman

The book opens with Mrs Pollifax standing in the rain at a funeral. She's been asked to take pictures by her old friend Farrell. The same Farrell who's sent out an SOS asking her and Curtis to come to Sicily. Curtis can't make it but Mrs Pollifax is up for the challenge.

She meets not only Farrell there, but also a young CIA agent named Kate. Kate and her aunt are the ones to hide Mrs. Pollifax and Farrell when they are followed from their meeting spot. There is something interesting going on with Kate's aunt and the village that she supports with her art. Somehow it overlaps with the work that Farrell has been doing, trying to retrieve a supposed signature of Julius Caesar. Oh, and old enemy rears his head once again.

Oh, these books are dated. Terms that were maybe acceptable in the early 80s now cause a twinge. Is this book believable? No. Does it need to be? Also no.

Three stars

This book came out in 1993

Follows Mrs. Pollifax and the Whirling Dervish

Followed by Mrs. Pollifax Pursued 

Hard copy I didn't keep

Opinions are my own

The Clairvoyant Countess by Dorothy Gilman

I had read a handful of the Mrs. Pollifax mysteries and thought this series might be interesting as well. There are only two books but it is a fast, fun, and fluffy book which Gilman shows her talent as she adds layers to each of the mini-mysteries that come around and pay off in the end. I think a lot of my enjoyment came from  Ruth Ann Phimister, the narrator. 

The book opens with a dream. Madame Karitska dreams of a street, not a fashionable one, but one she can afford to live on. On the street is a yellow door. As she is walking down the street, she notices a sign in the window. There is a room for rent. The sign went up only 5 minutes ago. Once in the rooms, she slowly builds her clientele and proves to the police that her gift is real. Along the way, she picks up a couple of other psychics as well, one is a wealthy man who just came into his gift and one is a child whose family is at the heart of one of her mysteries.

Four stars

This book came out in 1975

Followed by Kaleidoscope

Audiobook from Audible

Opinions are my own

Mrs. Pollifax on Safari by Dorothy Gilman

A famous assassin is going on safari? Does that make sense? Maybe not but it does mean that Mrs. Pollifax is pulled back into service AND she gets to see an old friend again. 

When Bishop turns up asking if Mrs. Pollifax will go on a safari and take pictures, just take pictures, of the participants, she readily agrees, visions of Tarzan dancing in her head. Of course, that is not what really happens and Mrs. Pollifax ends up in mortal danger once again. She also finds an admirer in a retired judge who is on vacation with his daughter.

Fun, fast, and fluffy. Just what a Mrs. Pollifax book is expected to be.

Four Stars

This book came out in 1976

Follows A Palm for Mrs. Pollifax

Followed by Mrs. Pollifax on the China Station

Borrowed as audiobook from Libby

Opinions are their own

A Palm for Mrs. Pollifax by Dorothy Gilman, Barbara Rosenblat

Settling into her later life isn't something that Mrs. Pollifax wants to do. Yes, she's got full days with neighbors, learning judo and yoga, and attending her garden club. But it's all so distressingly... normal. So when she gets a letter and then shortly after a phone call, she is ready for an adventure. 

Mr.  Carstairs is sending her to Switzerland. To a health spa, no less. But why? Because somebody at that spa is connected to a rash of plutonium thefts. And they are close to enough plutonium to make an atom bomb and that would be a very bad thing for the world.

At the health spa are a number of interesting people including Robin Burke-Jones, a young man who dresses in the loud clothes of the day but seems to be at the spa for reasons of his own; Hafez, a boy who is just a little too anxious to make Emily his friend; a man in a wheelchair who is interested in the goings-on across the hall (Hafez's room); a young woman who has caught Robin's interest and goes hiking early every morning; Marcel, a waiter who might be more than he appears.

Even though Interpol is also on the scene, Emily is in more danger than she has been in many past books. 

A wonderful listen made even better by narrator Barbara Rosenblat. A little overwrought and maybe didn't age completely well but good for a day of data entry.

Four stars

This book came out in 1973

Follows The Elusive Mrs. Pollifax

Followed by Mrs. Pollifax on Safari

Borrowed as audiobook from Libby

Opinions are my own