Dorothy Gilman – författare

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.

“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.

"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.

Next to the incomparable Mrs. Pollifax, Dorothy Gilman’s best-loved character is the mysterious Madame Karitska, who is blessed with a powerful gift of clairvoyance that attracts to her a stream of men and women craving help with their misfortunes, desperate to know what the future holds. . . .When a brilliant young violinist dies in a horrific accident, Madame Karitska has only to hold the victim’s instrument in her hands to perceive the shocking truth. But when an insecure wife asks whether her husband will abandon her to join a sinister cult, Madame Karitska–as wise as she is lovely–chooses not to reveal all that she foresees. And when an attaché case is suddenly dropped into her lap by a man fleeing a crowded subway, she knows it’s time to consult her good friend Detective-Lieutenant Pruden.A nine-year-old accused of murder, a man dying a slow death by witchcraft– for the hunted and the haunted, Madame Karitska’s shabby downtown apartment becomes a haven, where brilliant patterns of violence, greed, passion, and strange obsessions mix and disintegrate with stunning, kaleidoscopic beauty.Once again Dorothy Gilman exercises her own uncanny power to render readers spellbound.From the Hardcover edition.

After facing down hijackers on a flight to the Middle East and saving the lives of the passengers on board, 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 Amanda Pym’s worried aunt, Mrs. Pollifax begins her determined search, slipping through Damascus’s crooked streets and 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. Only a miracle–or a brilliant counterplot– can forestall a disaster that will send shock waves around the world.

"Mrs. Pollifax is an enchantress."THE NEW YORK TIMES BOOK REVIEWMrs. Virgil (Emily) Pollifax of New Brunswick, New Jersey, was a widow with grown children. She was tired of attending her Garden Club meetings. She wanted to do something good for her country. So, naturally, she became a CIA agent. This time, the assignment sounds as tasty as a taco. A quick trip to Mexico City is on her agenda. Unfortunately, something goes wrong, and our dear Mrs. Pollifax finds herself embroilied in quite a hot Cold War--and her country''s enemies find themsleves entangled with one unbelievably feisty lady.

"Absorbing and worthwhile...You won''t want to put the book down"PORTLAND TELEGRAMOnce again, Mrs. Pollifax, the cheerful little woman with the flyaway white hair and a penchant for old hats is plunged headfirst into another hair-raising CIA mission. Posing as a tourist in China, Emily Pollifax meets the sinister challenges of the Orient to safeguard a treasure for the CIA...and all but loses her life in the bargain.

"Mrs. Pollifax gives Agatha Christie''s Miss Marple a rival to reckon with."TORONTO STARA secret agent like no other, Mrs. Pollifax was leading a very full life: Garden Club, karate, yoga--and a little spying now and then. This time the mysterious Mr. Carstairs sent her to Switzerland--to a famous health resort where the world''s intelligence agents had gathered. Her mission: to track down a missing package of plutonium--just enough to make a small atomic bomb. It was a job that suited Mrs. Pollifax''s talents. She''s good with people and even better at sniffing out their secrets. But it was not until she became enchanted with Robin, the young jewel thief, that her new adventure really began....

When Emily Pollifax answers the phone that Sunday morning, she quickly forgets all about her Garden Club tea that afternoon. For the voice on the other end belonged to a man she had never seen, a man from the CIA who asked her if she could leave immediately on a mission that would take her halfway across the world! What could Mrs. Pollifax say but yes?