In The Unexpected Mrs. Pollifax, the series begins on a strong note with Mrs. Pollifax becoming a CIA courier whose mission was supposed to be a simple job to pick up some information in Mexico City. The book was first published way back in 1966 which was right in the middle of the Cold War, so there are plenty of potential adversaries who could be very interested in the information that Mrs. Pollifax is supposed to bring back home. Needless to say, the mission turns out to be a bit more difficult and complicated than it was supposed to be!
Mrs. Pollifax is a delightful character who is a resourceful person who can talk, charm, and sometimes shoot herself out of jam after jam. She has a way about her that is reminiscent of Agatha Christie’s Miss Marple, of course because of her age, but also because of her unassuming demeanor backed up by extraordinary intelligence and wit.
I recently finished re-reading this first book of the series, which for me was actually listening to the audio book. I decided to re-listen to it mainly because the Audible version is narrated by the wonderful Barbara Rosenblat. She is one of my very favorite narrators. I know I have talked about her before, but I just have to say that she brings the books she narrates so much to life that listening to them seems like watching movies. (And, as I have mentioned in the past, originally, I listened to all of the Mrs. Pollifax books. My library actually had the cassettes. >>> That’s how long it has been since I listened to them!)
Speaking of movies, The Unexpected Mrs. Pollifax has been made into two movies, Mrs. Pollifax-Spy in 1970 starring the delightful Rosalind Russell, and The Unexpected Mrs. Pollifax starring the also delightful Angela Lansbury in a 1999 made-for-television version >> I don’t believe I have seen this version.
Mrs. Pollifax is one of my very favorite Cozy Mystery characters even while not being a traditional Cozy Mystery sleuth who solves murder mysteries.
If you’re interested in other entries about some highly recommended Cozy Mystery series, you can see them on the Most Recommended Cozy Mystery Series page on my site.
Jennifer M. says
I totally enjoy the Mrs. Pollifax series!! I own them all. She (Dorothy Gilman) has written several other novels in her career. Some of my other favorites that she penned are: A Nun in the Closet, about a group of nuns who are left property, sending 2 of them to check it out—finding a man begging asylum, hippies and the mob crawling all over the property. And: The Clairvoyant Countess, followed by Kaleidoscope–about a woman that’s clairvoyant, who works with a police detective and helps solve various cases.
Danna - cozy mystery list says
Jennifer, thanks for the recommendations! I think I’ve only ever read the Mrs. Pollifax series, but the rest do sound interesting.
Margaret StashEmpress says
OH I loved those other books too! I have old tattered copies of both the Nuns & the Countess books & reread every few years!
Melissa says
I love the Mrs. Pollifax books–the earlier ones are the best, toward the end of the series the author was getting older, of course, and they got simpler. They are much more spy novel with a very enjoyable main character, than cozies in the usual sense, though, I think. But anyone who likes mysteries and a good character should like these. I am lucky enough to have 2 letters from Dorothy Gilman. In the late 1980s the library where I worked was expanding so we had an auction to raise money. I wrote to several favorite authors, asking for donations and we got one from her, a book which I won at the auction (along with other books by other favorites, which I also won, ha). After we built the addition, and that was in the newspaper, I sent her a copy of that with another thank you note and she wrote back to say she was glad to hear what had happened, that normally all she got was the first letter of inquiry, she never knew how the story ended, so to speak.
Danna - cozy mystery list says
Melissa, like most series, I’d definitely agree that this one is best when it is “freshest”, with the earlier books. The rest are still very good though!
Danna - cozy mystery list says
(Melissa, you aren’t kidding about being “lucky enough to have 2 letters from Dorothy Gilman”!)
Melissa says
I do indeed feel very lucky in that. Before the days of facebook when you could actually send notes to your authors and get a reply–this was very special to me, both letters and I have them, as well as others, in my “favorite author file” in my desk.
Susan Bernhardt says
Mrs. Pollifax is probably my favorite series. I own the books. I even have fond memories of waiting for the next book to come out and then going to the bookstore…I am a fan!
Danna - cozy mystery list says
Susan, they definitely are a very good series! Definitely worth a couple of reads through.
Debra says
I have every one of the books. The character of Miss Polly facts is so interesting I can just picture her. And then I also had them on my iPad that I am now re-reading them for the second and third time some of them. I recommend them Anyone I can. I am a compulsive reader and I love everything she has written it’s a shame that they’ll be no more from such a wonderful author.
Cindy McCord says
I love the Mrs. Pollifax series! Her books are on my keeper shelf and have had them for years. I also have a couple of Dorothy Gilman’s other books, Nun in the Closet (funny) and Clairvoyant Countess.
Danna - cozy mystery list says
Cindy, they’re definitely a really good series, worth saving over the years.
Kimberley Cornwell says
Totally agree with you about the Mrs Pollifax series. A co-worker introduced me to them years ago and I loved them. This reminds me to revisit.
Danna - cozy mystery list says
Kimberley, they’re definitely worth another read if it’s been a while!
Elaine Gajarsky says
Mrs. Pollifax has been one of my favorite series of books. I was so delighted when I discovered the first one. I still have them in my library and will read them again. Thanks for sharing such a great character and book series with others.
Danna - cozy mystery list says
Elaine, they’re definitely worth holding onto and rereading occasionally. I do love the characters as well.
Kathy V. says
I totally agree with you! I love the intelligence and humanity Mrs. Pollifax displays. She may not be a cozy read, but she is a comfy one. Thanks for promoting her.
Danna - cozy mystery list says
Kathy, comfy is really a good word for this sort of not-quite-Cozy book.
Rebecca S. says
Love, love, love Mrs Pollifax!
Danna - cozy mystery list says
Rebecca, so do I!
Margaret StashEmpress says
I LOVE Mrs. Pollifax! Have read the series over & over. What’s amazing is that they managed to accomplish so much *spying* (etc.) in the low tech 60’s! No cellphones, no GPS, no drones, no computers, just good old fashioned brain power!
Danna - cozy mystery list says
Margaret, a big part of the series’ charm is definitely the low tech approach to spying. And the fact that it was in the “golden age” of spy fiction that the Cold War promoted.
Patrick says
Dear Danna,
Go to YouTube and there is the Angela Lansbury TV movie The Unexpected Mrs. Pollifax
Danna - cozy mystery list says
Patrick, thanks for the suggestion! I haven’t seen that particular movie yet.
Danna - cozy mystery list says
Patrick, I told my husband about it being on YouTube, and we will definitely be watching it in the near future. What a treat … Mrs. Pollifax and Angela Lansbury!
Alison says
Wonderful tip, Patrick. I went there (to YouTube), watched and was delighted. Angela Lansbury made a wonderful Mrs. Polifax! What fun!
Susan Bernhardt says
Patrick, I saw that movie a long time ago and absolutely loved it. I’ve always pictured Mrs. Pollifax as Angela Lansbury when reading the books. 🙂
I’ve also enjoyed Dorothy Gilman’s other books and have most of them.
Debra says
I have seen both versions of the movie put out about Mrs. Pollifax. But that one is the best they couldn’t of picked anyone better to be Miss Pollifax. The other one is does not fit the character of Miss Pollifax too young looking. I think that one they just picked a person they liked it just wasn’t a good match to the character. The one with Angela kinda joined a few of the series together. But it was done in a very good way. And only if you read all the books in the series would you realize that there’s a combination of some of the other books. Worth seeing!
Cheryl says
This series is one of my favorites. Mrs. Pollifax could always get out of a jam!
Danna - cozy mystery list says
Cheryl, she certainly is a talented improviser!
robin in oregon says
I love the Mrs. Pollifax series. They are one(of many)! of my keepers and I reread them. Her stand alones are also very good and I really enjoyed her two books with the Clairvoyant Countess. I wish that she had written more to follow the two books.
Danna - cozy mystery list says
Robin, I’ve heard her other books are good as well – I’ll have to look them up some time! (My To Be Read pile grows yet again…)
deb b says
Is this, possibly, the premise for the old tv show “Scarecrow and Mrs. King”?
Danna - cozy mystery list says
Deb, there are enough similarities that I wouldn’t be surprised if it was part of the inspiration for the TV show.
Nancy says
Love this series.
Danna - cozy mystery list says
Nancy, so do I!
susan says
I remember reading one of them maybe in the late 70s and loved it.
Danna - cozy mystery list says
Susan, they’re definitely very memorable!
Connie says
Mrs. Pollifax is one of my very favorites. I try to read the entire series every year. It’s like visiting a favorite aunt!
Danna - cozy mystery list says
Connie, it’s definitely worth rereading when possible!
Alison says
I love Mrs. Polifax and Barbara Rosenblat creates her character wonderfully on audio. Entertaining, creative and quite amusing!
Danna - cozy mystery list says
Alison, the audio versions of this series bring a wonderful extra dimension to the work. I’m a bit spoiled because I can’t consider revisiting Mrs. Pollifax without the audio version.
Alison says
Me, too! Somehow, Barbara Rosenblat IS Mrs. Polifax, at least via audible. Angela Lansbury was a wonderful Mrs. P. in the film Patrick recommended.
Georgann L. says
Hi Danna ~ I LOVE MRS. POLLIFAX! I read them several years ago and I have all of her books. I also love MISS SILVER, by Patricia Wentworth. I have all of those paperbacks (used) except one. Danna, I really do like a TRUE cozy. Really clean, good story, honorable protagonists. I have not been on your site for a while and I was wondering if you have an area where you set apart true cozies? PS -I was considering getting a James Patterson audio book for a road trip and decided to check your site, and you said: “Not Cozy!” That’s what I want to know. Thanks for keeping this blog going all these years!
Danna - cozy mystery list says
Georgann, while I do try to point out the series I have listed on the site that don’t quite qualify as Cozies, unfortunately I just haven’t read them all! So unfortunately there might be some that slip through the cracks.
Susan* says
Add another one to the ‘Love this series’, list. I must admit I’ve always had a sneaking soft spot for John Sebastian Farrell – but I was in my teens when I first encountered these, starting with the very first one and what teenage girl doesn’t love a bad boy? Lol!
Her secondary characters were always as well-rounded and described as Mrs P herself, which makes a BIG difference! No cardboard, here! Plus, apart from right in the beginning – when she so naively goes to Washington – nobody patronises her because of her age. It’s never really a factor beyond the disguise / ‘underestimation by the bad guys’ element. It’s really a bit unusual for books like these, with ‘Senior Sleuths’. Even Miss Marple was ‘Old Aunt Jane’ or ‘The old lady’.
A bit of trivia: The settings – at least of the earlier books – are so completely authentic due to the fact that Ms Gilman would make a point of holidaying in the country before she wrote the books! It really did help, I think.
Yes, these are spy novels, technically, but could we make them ‘Honorary Cozies’, do you think? 🙂
As for Ms Gilman’s other books, I found ‘A Nun in the Closet’ a little silly for my taste – but that’s me. Danna (and anybody else) if you’ve seen – and enjoyed – the movie ‘Nuns On the Run’, you’ll probably love this!
“The Clairvoyant Countess” is brilliant!! Highly Recommended! An impoverished Eastern European Countess with the gift of psychometry. Very similar to Mrs Pollifax in many ways. Short stories – more like episodes – making up a contiuous narrative. It’s sequel… well, I’ll just say that it was set 2 years (?) on, but written 30 years later. Still good, but not quite the same, somehow.
Another one of hers that I thoroughly enjoy is ‘The Tightrope Walker’. Similar to Mrs Pollifax, but without the comedic elements – this is a serious one – and with the protagonist being a 20 something young woman who is unwittingly caught up in events beyond her control. Definitely give it a try.
Another piece of trivia: the plot of ‘Tightrope’ centers around a bestselling (and completely fictional) children’s novel, and the lost manuscript for the sequel. So many people wrote to Ms Gilman asking about the mentioned book that she sat down and wrote it!! Lol! Called ‘The Maze in the Heart of the Castle’ it’s currently out of print, unfortunately, and commanding ridiculous prices online – so if you find a copy: Grab it! Lol!
Ms Gilman was a prolific author with a lot of varied books to her name (Not just the above) but she definitely had a gift!
Danna - cozy mystery list says
Susan, as you say, Dorothy Gilman was certainly a gifted author! Thanks for the suggestions on her non-Pollifax books – I’m definitely interested in hunting them down, but just haven’t ever found the time to really do them credit!
PamB says
This blog introduced me to Mrs. Pollifax and quickly became one of my very favorite series. After reading the first book I knew I just had to have the whole series and was lucky to find most of them at
a used book store in great condition.
Danna - cozy mystery list says
Pam, that’s a pretty lucky find! It’s rare to see a whole series of this quality ready to get plucked up like that at a used bookstore.
PamB says
Danna, after reading all the comments about her other books (had Nun in the closet) I couldn’t resist looking for them..am now the owner of The Clairvoyant Countess, Kaleidoscope, The Tightrope Walker, Caravan, and Incident at Badamya…all nice paperbacks from the same bookstore.
Danna - cozy mystery list says
PamB, be sure to let me know what you think!
dannieL says
I am an avid mystery reader and really enjoy the cozy sub-genre. However, I loved, loved the Mrs. Pollifax mysteries and was lucky enough to listen to most of them narrated by Barbara Rosenblatt. I actually read 1 or 2, but the humor and Mrs. Pollifax’s philosophical comments on her adventures stand out much more when read by Ms. Rosenblatt. Another series I listened to at the same time was the Vicky Bliss Mystery Series by Elizabeth Peters (author of the Amelia Peabody Egyptian mysteries). Vicky Bliss, a museum art curator in Germany, is often recruited to act as a spy for Interpol, I believe. The antics Vicky & her very quirky boss get up to made me shed tears with my laughter, as I listened to them in my car. It is unfortunate that there are only 5 of these novels.
Danna - cozy mystery list says
Dannie, Elizabeth Peters is definitely another excellent author! It’s been too long since I’ve reread anything by her – I’ll have to remedy that at some point!
G. C. Dorrepaal says
I’ve read the first book, and my dad just ordered me “The Elusive Mrs. Pollifax” and “A Palm for Mrs. Polifax” and doesn’t know he skipped one, and I don’t want to hurt his feelings, but I really don’t want to give myself spoilers. Will I be ruining the series if I read them out of order?
Danna - cozy mystery list says
G. C., it’s been years since I’ve read most of this series, so it might be good if someone else could add more recent recollections, but aside from a few characters who show up in multiple books I don’t really remember any serious spoilers… I guess it depends on how spoiler-averse you are?
Melissa says
I’ve read them all, and reread a number of them recently. If possible, do read them in order. No huge spoilers, but there are occasional mentions of earlier books in the current one, and it will just be better to read them in order, particularly after “Safari”. Have you checked your local library? If they have them, and you don’t want to order the one your dad missed, read them there. Or just check the order of them, and order whatever you are missing via your dad’s order, yourself.
Debra says
I don’t think if you read an out of order it would hurt anything. She may refer back to something but it wouldn’t spoil it. Sometimes she does meet up with or have one of the oh characters show up but the adventures are so wonderful.
Debra says
I love the Pollifax series I have owned them all for years. And have at least read them 2 to 3 times each some more.