Mrs. Pollifax, Innocent Tourist

Dorothy Gilman

Jul 2012 · Recorded Books · Narrated by Barbara Rosenblat

About this audiobook

In Dorothy Gilman's best-selling mystery series, loveable grandmother Emily Pollifax has captured the hearts of millions with her secret CIA missions. Mrs. Pollifax, Innocent Tourist whisks the gray-haired agent into a perilous web of intrigue that spreads across the drifting sands of the volatile Middle East. An old CIA friend, Farrell, must collect an inflammatory manuscript smuggled out of Iraq into Jordan. Farrell has a simple request for Emily-provide cover during his trip to Jordan by posing as his fun-loving elderly cousin. But before the plane even lands, danger begins stalking the sprightly Mrs. Pollifax. Outwitting her wily opponents with her keen eye for the truth and her impeccable karate, Mrs. Pollifax is the lively senior citizen everyone dreams of someday becoming. You'll feel you know the aging spy and her colorful opponents personally with Barbara Rosenblat's outstanding narration.

Ratings and reviews

thriller, suspense, friendship, ex-spy, sexagenarian, country-Jordan, Bedouin, cultural-exploration, smuggling, family, famous-author, historical-fiction***** Somehow, I never read this one of the series. Farrell has a need to go to Jordan and wait for an unknown contact to rescue a last manuscript for a friend who died in Saddam Hussein's prison. But he needs a plausible cover and Emily is the only one he trusts to go with him. Add in terrorists, camels, and the historical site of Petra to make this an engaging and gripping mystery. This falls into historical fiction even though it was written in 1997. The wonderful narrator Barbara Rosenblat really makes it even better!

About the author

Dorothy Gilman was born in New Brunswick, New Jersey on June 25, 1923. She studied at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts. Under her married name, Dorothy Gilman Butters, she began publishing children's books in the late 1940s including Enchanted Caravan and The Bells of Freedom. In 1966, she published The Unexpected Mrs. Pollifax, which became the first novel in the Mrs. Pollifax Mystery series. The series concluded in 2000 with Mrs. Pollifax Unveiled. The series was the basis of two movies: the 1971 feature film Mrs. Pollifax - Spy starring Rosalind Russell and the 1999 television movie The Unexpected Mrs. Pollifax starring Angela Lansbury. Her other works include The Clairvoyant Countess, Incident at Badamya and Kaleidoscope. A Nun in the Closet won a Catholic Book Award. She died due to complications of Alzheimer's disease on February 2, 2012 at the age of 88.