Dorothy Gilman – författare

"You are in effect replacing a dead man, Mrs Pollifax ..."When Emily Pollifax answers the phone that morning, all thoughts of her garden club tea in the afternoon have to wait. Her CIA handler is asking if she could leave immediately on a mission that would take her halfway across the world. What can she say but yes?Once again she finds herself off on an incredible escapade of international intrigue ... this time from the exotic towns and countryside of inner Turkey, to a mysterious rendezvous with a gypsy caravan.Armed with only an open mind and a little karate, Mrs Pollifax is the most unlikely and lovable of international spies.

"If you make it across the border, get us help. Some of us care. Do you understand? ... The arrests grow insane."At the very hour this message is en route to the CIA, Mrs Pollifax is waiting for her night-blooming cereus flower to do its thing. She hardly gets to see its flowers, though, before being whisked off for another daring mission halfway across the world.Soon she is sporting a beautiful new hat - perfect for hiding eight forged passports.Armed with only an open mind and a little karate, Mrs Pollifax is the most unlikely and lovable of international spies.

“If you make it across the border, get us help. Some of us care. Do you understand? ... The arrests grow insane.”At the very hour this message is en route to the CIA, Mrs Pollifax is waiting for her night-blooming cereus flower to do its thing. She hardly gets to see its flowers, though, before being whisked off for another daring mission halfway across the world.Soon she is sporting a beautiful new hat – perfect for hiding eight forged passports.Armed with only an open mind and a little karate, Mrs Pollifax is the most unlikely and lovable of international spies.What readers are saying:“Love, love, love Mrs Pollifax. Ms Gilman has an extraordinary way of keeping you on the edge of your seat and turning the pages of her books.” “How can a sweet little old lady get into so much trouble? Mrs Pollifax is a gem and a hoot!”“A book that gives you a big smile on every page. I'm looking forward to my next Mrs Pollifax adventure.”“Who wouldn't fall in love with a senior citizen who wears absurd hats, pushes the book cart at the hospital, and knows karate?”“I first read the Mrs Pollifax books when I was a little girl and I keep coming back to read the books again and again.”“Read it, it's the best thing you can do for yourself. It's like a reminder of the zest for life.” Editorial reviews: “Mrs Pollifax is an enchantress.” New York Times“Mrs Pollifax gives Agatha Christie’s Miss Marple a rival to reckon with.” Toronto Star“Filled with adventures–and misadventures–but through it all Mrs Pollifax is triumphant.” Booklist“Absorbing and worthwhile ... You won’t want to put the book down.” Portland Telegram                                                                                                “The pace never flags, bolstered by the shrewd Mrs P. and a host of well-defined characters who all work their surprising wiles.” Publishers Weekly“Should delight you whether you’re looking for smiles or thrills.” New York Times Book Review“All’s right with the world as long as Mrs Pollifax is part of it.” Mobile Register

Resolved to give up spying for good, Mrs Pollifax can’t stop herself agreeing to carry a small object to an agent in Thailand, and get one in return.The moment she lands, Mrs P. is horrified to find her contact dead and her husband kidnapped. The next thing she knows, she’s tramping through the unfamiliar Thai countryside, led by a curious fellow who may be trying to help her find her husband.Or he may have other, more sinister plans ...Armed with only an open mind and a little karate, Mrs Pollifax is the most unlikely and lovable of international spies.

Mrs Pollifax undertakes perhaps her most high-stakes mission of all.After facing down hijackers on a flight to the Middle East, a young American woman steps off the plane in Damascus in a blaze of celebrity and disappears. The CIA believes Amanda Pym was kidnapped, possibly murdered.Masquerading as her worried aunt, Mrs Pollifax begins a determined search to find her, slipping through Damascus's crowded souks, and trekking deep into the desert. Yet she is shadowed by deadly enemies, whose sinister agenda threatens not only Mrs P. but the fragile stability of the entire Middle East ...Armed with only an open mind and a little karate, Mrs Pollifax is the most unlikely and lovable of international spies.

Mrs Emily Pollifax is a 60-ish widow wanting more from life than teas and garden club meetings. In search of adventure, she decides to offer her services to the CIA - who, after all, would spot a suburban grandmother as a cold war secret agent? - and adventure she finds.Her first assignment, in Mexico City, doesn't sound dangerous - until something goes wrong. She suddenly finds herself abducted across the world, embroiled in quite a hot Cold War... and her abductors find themselves entangled with one unbelievably feisty lady. Armed with only an open mind and a little karate, Mrs Pollifax is the most lovable and unlikely of international spies.

Mrs Pollifax is sent on a safari to smoke out an international assassin whose next target is the president of Zambia.“Just take a lot of pictures of everyone on that safari,” the CIA man told her. “One of them has to be our man.” It sounded simple enough.But it wasn’t. Because shortly after she started taking pictures, someone stole her film. And right after that she was kidnapped by Rhodesian terrorists. And right after that – well, read for yourself ...Armed with only an open mind and a little karate, Mrs Pollifax is the most unlikely and lovable of international spies.What readers are saying:“Love, love, love Mrs Pollifax. Ms Gilman has an extraordinary way of keeping you on the edge of your seat and turning the pages of her books.” “How can a sweet little old lady get into so much trouble? Mrs Pollifax is a gem and a hoot!”“A book that gives you a big smile on every page. I'm looking forward to my next Mrs Pollifax adventure.”“Who wouldn't fall in love with a senior citizen who wears absurd hats, pushes the book cart at the hospital, and knows karate?”“I first read the Mrs Pollifax books when I was a little girl and I keep coming back to read the books again and again.”“Read it, it's the best thing you can do for yourself. It's like a reminder of the zest for life.” Editorial reviews: “Mrs Pollifax is an enchantress.” New York Times“Mrs Pollifax gives Agatha Christie’s Miss Marple a rival to reckon with.” Toronto Star“Filled with adventures–and misadventures–but through it all Mrs Pollifax is triumphant.” Booklist“Absorbing and worthwhile ... You won’t want to put the book down.” Portland Telegram                                                                                                “The pace never flags, bolstered by the shrewd Mrs P. and a host of well-defined characters who all work their surprising wiles.” Publishers Weekly“Should delight you whether you’re looking for smiles or thrills.” New York Times Book Review“All’s right with the world as long as Mrs Pollifax is part of it.” Mobile Register

The cheerful Mrs Pollifax is once again plunged headfirst into a hair-raising secret mission.Posing as a tourist, she is sent on a CIA operation to China, to help rescue a dissident engineer from a labour camp and smuggle him out of the country ... "before the Russians get to him".Not all goes as planned though - and Mrs P. all but loses her life in the bargain.Armed with only an open mind and a little karate, Mrs Pollifax is the most unlikely and lovable of international spies.

Just recently married, Mrs Pollifax is persuaded at a moment's notice to travel to Hong Kong on a new mission.There a young agent, Sheng Ti, holds the answers to goings on at the sinister Feng Imports - a one-time agency front.Mrs Pollifax has earned Sheng's trust, and only she can possibly stop what turns out to be an ominous plot involving drugs, smuggled diamonds, a famous burglar turned Interpol agent, a mysterious psychic, and, of course, murder ... possibly her own.Armed with only an open mind and a little karate, Mrs Pollifax is the most unlikely and lovable of international spies.

Mrs Pollifax is on hand in Morocco to back up an inept CIA agent, and it's a good thing... All she has to do is to masquerade as his aunt while he confirms the identities of seven undercover agents in Morocco - and keep him from making an unpleasant ass of himself. But things quickly go wrong. Their first informant is killed, and Mrs Pollifax begins to get the idea that her colleague is not who he says he is.Still, she forges ahead, checking out suspicious informants, and coming to the conclusion that someone is an impostor and someone wants her dead.Armed with only an open mind and a little karate, Mrs Pollifax is the most unlikely and lovable of international spies.

The last thing Mrs Pollifax expects to find in her closet is a young woman hiding. Kadi Hopkirk insists that she is being followed by two men in a dirty white van. Under the cover of darkness, Mrs Pollifax tries to drive Kadi back home, only to have a dark green sedan give them a run for their money and, she begins to suspect, their lives.Ever resourceful, Mrs P. puts in a call for help to her CIA colleague, Carstairs, who installs them in a safe house. Before she knows it, a dash to safety expands into an assignment that leads to hair-trigger violence in exotic places ...Armed with only an open mind and a little karate, Mrs Pollifax is the most unlikely and lovable of international spies.

The intrepid Mrs Pollifax is drawn into another nerve-racking mission. In response to a desperate SOS, young Kadi Hopkirk flies to the African country of Ubangiba, where her childhood friend, Sammat, is soon to be crowned king. Mrs Pollifax joins her, reluctant to allow the girl to venture alone into what she fears may be grave risk. On arrival they soon discover that Sammat has dangerous enemies. Rumors are springing up that he is a sorcerer who is responsible for a rash of shocking murders. So Mrs P. steps in, hunting for the source of the bloody terrorism that threatens them all... Armed with only an open mind and a little karate, Mrs Pollifax is the most unlikely and lovable of international spies.