Another Delightful Adventure

This is the third in the Mrs. Pollifax series. Again, Dorothy Gilman has created an engaging, and fairly believable, plot. This one sends Mrs. Pollifax, a 60-ish widow from New Brunswick, NJ, to Bulgaria on a courier job for the CIA. As always, Mrs. P encounters unexpected danger, some of it created by her own actions, but comes out on top. These books are written with lively humor but still make you care about the characters.

The book is lovely, and is made even better by the narration of Barbars Rosenblat, who can create quite believable male characters and children along with adult female characters. And the accents! In this book, she is called upon to embody American, English, French, Russian, Bulgarian and assorted other Balkan and Eastern European men and women, and handles them all exceedingly well. Each time I listen to one of Rosenblat's performances I am freshly amazed by her skill and talent. Many of the books I have listened to were chosen because she was the narrator.

All in all, this book was a very satisfactory experience.

32 people found this helpful

Bravo

What made the experience of listening to The Elusive Mrs. Pollifax the most enjoyable?

Barbara Rosenblat is an excellent narrator. She brings life to the characters and, along the way, makes you forget that all of the voices are coming from the same person. Her wide range of character voices includes believable male voices.

What other book might you compare The Elusive Mrs. Pollifax to and why?

The entire series is excellent. I wish there were more.

Which scene was your favorite?

I've listened to this series more than once and enjoy them fully. I'm unable to list a most or least favorite seen.

Any additional comments?

When I grow up, I'd like to be as moxie as Mrs. Pollifax.

13 people found this helpful

Take a Trip with Mrs. Pollifax to Bulgaria...

What did you like best about this story?

I visited Bulgaria last summer and actually stayed in the Rila Hotel! I went to Tarnovo (now Veliko Tarnovo) and saw the fortress where Mrs. Pollifax encounters more trouble. I also went to Gabrovo, and the ruins of Pliska, the Alexander Nevsky Cathedral and the cript of icons below, and well...I saw almost the whole country and most of the places mentioned in the book. The author is pretty accurate in her descriptions, except for minor details such as the elevator doors at the Rila Hotel do not slide shut. It is a door that you close and you can see the wall sliding in front of you as you go up or down. Communism thoroughly devastated the country and they are still trying to recover. More than once I saw a donkey & cart on the road; fields of roses and sunflowers being tended by hand, just like a painting from the 1800 or 1900s. The setting for this book may be in the 1960s, but going to Bulgaria today is like traveling back in time to the early part of the 1900s. That being said, the countryside and mountains have a raw beauty...not touched by man. An unforgettable trip that I was pleased to relive while reading this book.

9 people found this helpful

My favorite Pollifax story so far!

This is my favorite Pollifax story so far! It is so exciting, the characters are so endearing and it leaves you feeling like you don't want it to end!

7 people found this helpful

Delightful Spy Story

Would you listen to The Elusive Mrs. Pollifax again? Why?

Yes. It was an interseting, engaging story and narrated very well by Barbara Rosenblat.

Who was your favorite character and why?

Mrs. Pollifax, of course. She keeps her cool in crisis, has a kind heart and is an interesting character.

What about Barbara Rosenblat’s performance did you like?

Excellent reading by Barbara Rosenblat. She did each character's voice very well.

If you could rename The Elusive Mrs. Pollifax, what would you call it?

I don't know.

Any additional comments?

This is the first Mrs. Pollifax book I have ever listened to. It was so enjoyable that I plan on listening to or reading the whole series. I really like that it does not have graphic violence or strong language. It has a Murder She Wrote style to it.

7 people found this helpful

Move Over Ms. Marple

Mrs. Pollifax is a wonder - like Ms. Marple people dismiss her and then she totally outwits and out maneuvers her adversaries as well as her associates. Ms. Rosenblat's narration is excellent, as usual. I am never disappointed with any of her readings. A series well worth listening and hopefully Ms. Gilman's heirs will allow all of her books to be available on Audible.

6 people found this helpful

Love Mrs. P.

Any additional comments?

I love the Mrs. Pollifax series! They are nice, clean, cozy fun reads. Barbara Rosenblat is the voice of Mrs. P. I heard her years ago in the series and that just became the

5 people found this helpful

It's about the hats!

reread, historical-novel, mystery, suspense, spies, action-adventure
Read from July 24, 1992 to July 24, 2016

Interesting tale first published in 1971 about spies, communism, Balkan States politics, and a widowed senior citizen amateur volunteer employed as a courier by the CIA. Call it historical fiction.
Just suspend disbelief for a while and enjoy this view into a time and place not so different from now with a fascinating cast of characters doing things improbable even then. The story line holds interest, and the length is far from epic. The series is addictive and yet appropriate for any age reader, maybe even Harry Dresden.

4 people found this helpful

What a hat!

For many years I've wished that ladies' hats were still in style, and I love Mrs. Pollifax because she always wears the coolest, most outrageous hats! Her hat plays a crucial role in this story, and it is an amazing hat! But her simple brown quilted coat has a role to play too. As usual, there are laugh-out-loud moments, as well as tender moments, and new friends made. Mrs. Pollifax shows that even during the Cold War, people are people wherever they live, and can connect and help each other despite the enmity of their governments.

4 people found this helpful

Mrs. Pollifax is always to date even if set in 60s

I love Mrs. Pollifax her stories seem current and with the narration of Barbara Rosenblat I can be transported back to the 60s and have the fun of all those spy novels without the tech they have today.

4 people found this helpful