"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
From the Paperback edition.
**
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.
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
From the Paperback edition.
**
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.