Review: MRS POLLIFAX AND THE LION KILLER, Dorothy Gilman - audio book

• originally published in 1996, #12 in the Mrs Pollifax series
• available from Audible
• narrated by Barbara Rosenblat
• Length: 6 hours, 16 mins

Synopsis (Fantastic Fiction)

Part-time CIA agent Emily Pollifax accompanies her young friend, Kadi Hopkirk, to Africa on a mission to stop terrorists from disrupting the coronation of Sammat, Kadi's childhood friend, as the new king of Ubangiba.

My Take

Beneath the rather cozy exterior of this story are some quite serious considerations related to issues surrounding small African nations trying to establish their place in world affairs, and viable lives for their citizens, in the late 20th century.

Kadi Hopkirk is a reminder of the violent past of the improbably named Ubangiba for she is the daughter of white American doctors killed during a revolution. Sammat on the other hand is the overseas educated grandson of the old king. He once imagined that he could set up a democracy but finds that he is actually king-to-be.

The country of Ubangiba has been impoverished by megolomaniac rulers since Sammat's grandfather was assassinated and even now there is a group murdering people but making it look as if they have been killed by a lion. But there are no lions in Ubangiba. We are talking here of a population that still believes in witchcraft.

On the surface Emily Pollifax is an elderly woman, but, some years before, at the age of 60 she became a part time CIA agent, and she has rather Marple like qualities of observation.  Soon after their arrival young Kadi is attacked in the palace grounds, and, having survived that attack, she is abducted. Mrs Pollifax thinks king-designate Sammat is altogether too trusting of those around him.

My rating: 4.2

I have also reviewed #13,  4.0, MRS POLLIFAX, INNOCENT TOURIST

About the author
Dorothy Edith Gilman (June 25, 1923 – February 2, 2012) was an American espionage and mystery fiction writer. She was best known for the Mrs. Pollifax series. Emily Pollifax, her heroine, became a spy in her 60s and is very likely the only spy in literature to belong simultaneously to the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) and the local garden club.

In 2010 Dorothy Gilman was awarded the annual Grand Master by the Mystery Writers of America.
She died in New York of Alzheimer's disease in 2012, aged 88.
More at Wikipedia.

Review: MRS POLLIFAX, INNOCENT TOURIST, Dorothy Gilman

Publisher: Fawcett Books, 1997
ISBN 0-449- 91137-3
203 pages
Source: my local library
#13 of the Mrs Pollifax series

Blurb:
The spry Connecticut matron and secret weapon for the CIA, Mrs. Pollifax, poses as a New York City bag lady in order to catch a Middle Eastern smuggler who holds the key to the power of Iraqi strongman Saddam Hussein.

About the author:
Dorothy Gilman (1923 - ) is a United States author of mystery and spy fiction. She is most well-known for the Mrs. Pollifax series of spy novels, about spy and grandmother Emily Pollifax, who chooses to become a spy in her 60s, and who stars in fourteen books written over three decades. Gilman's books tends to feature unlikely heroines, often travelling to exotic locales.

My take:
Mrs Pollifax is commissioned by the CIA to accompany a retired CIA agent John Farrell to Jordan and Amman to retrieve the final manuscript of a dissident Iraqi novelist Dib Assen, allegedly recently murdered in an Iraqi prison. Mrs Pollifax will add credence to their tourist disguise while Farrell carries out his mission to retrieve the manuscript at a rendezvous at a castle near Amman. It takes them a while to realise that they have been under surveillance from the very beginning.

MRS POLLIFAX, INNOCENT TOURIST reminded me of plots that Agatha Christie constructed back in the 1920s especially the ones that involved Tommy & Tuppence, except that INNOCENT TOURIST is played out against the backdrop of the aftermath of the Gulf War of the 1990-1991.
The plot background details about Saddam Hussein and the political situation in Iraq after the Gulf War seemed mostly correct if a bit simplified.

Emily Pollifax seems like a less fragile version of Jane Marple.
However the whole plot felt a tad unrealistic, even though I liked the description of their Bedu guide and his teenage sister. The way the CIA uses Mrs Pollifax as an "unofficial" agent seems most unlikely.

I've been thinking about whether this book qualifies as a "cozy" and have decided that it does despite containing elements that could be described as "thriller".

Dorothy Gilman wrote INNOCENT TOURIST towards the end of her writing life. The series had begun just over 30 years earlier back in 1966 and I couldn't help feeling that the style of INNOCENT TOURIST hadn't really moved with the times. However it was a quick and entertaining read, partly because of the length but also because the writing style is not particularly complex.

My rating: 4.0

I'm adding this to my list for the Cruisin' thru Cosies Reading Challenge as well as for "Asia" in the 2011 Global Reading Challenge