Mrs Pollifax And The Hong Kong Buddha

"Like the proverbial first potato chip [this book] gives you an irresistible craving for the first six Mrs. Pollifax books." Newport News DAILY PRESS Although recently married, Mrs. Pollifax is packed and ready to go to China, where a young agent, Sheng Ti, holds the answers to goings on at the sinister Feng Imports--a one-time agency front. Only Mrs. Pollifax has earned Sheng's trust, and only she can possibly stop what turns out to be a frightening and ominous plot involving drugs, smuggled diamonds, a famous cat burglar turned Interpol agent, a mysterious psychic, and, of course, murder.....possibly her own!

Working with her retired CIA friend John Farrell, Mrs. Pollifax must smuggle a manuscript out of Jordan, a document that encodes the shocking truth of Saddam Hussein's reign. Hardly are the two airborne when the coils of Middle Eastern intrigue begin to unwind. Mrs. Pollifax's seatmate is not the affable Arab businessman he pretends to be. It is not imagination that persuades Mrs. P. that wherever they go, she and Farrell are followed. To elude their pursuers in such a politically volatile country isn't easy. In fact, it can be downright deadly. . . .

"A rousing caper for Pollifax fans." BOOKLIST Although Mrs. Pollifax is determined to give up spying for good, she can't help but agree to carry a small object to an agent in Thailand, and get one in return. The moment she lands, however, Mrs. Pollifax is horrified to find her contact dead and her husband kidnapped. The next thing she knows, she's tramping through the ominous Thai countryside, led by a curious fellow who may be trying to help her find her husband. Or he may have other, more sinister plans....

Mrs. Pollifax is on hand in Morocco to back up an inept CIA agent, and it's a good thing. Their first informant is killed, and Mrs. Pollifax begins to get the idea that her colleague is not who he says he is. Still, she forges ahead, checking out suspicious informants, and coming to the conclusion that someone is an imposter and someone wants her dead....

“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

As millions of readers know, that intrepid charmer and part-time CIA agent Emily Pollifax is a joy, with a warm heart, nerves of steel, and manners as impeccable as her karate. The New York Times calls her "an enchantress," and Publishers Weekly describes her deeds of derring-do in exotic places as "sheer pleasure." In her new adventure, Mrs. Pollifax accompanies her young friend Kadi Hopkirk to the African country of Ubangiba, where Kadi's childhood friend, Sammat, is soon to be crowned king. This impromptu journey is a response to an S.O.S. from Sammat to Kadi; and Mrs. P., reluctant to allow the girl to venture alone into what she fears may be grave danger, crashes the party. Sunny little Ubangiba is no great shakes as nations go. Under Sammat's selfless leadership it is recovering from the devastation wrought by two greedy presidents-for-life who preceded him in office. But Sammat has dangerous enemies. Everywhere rumors are springing up that he is a sorcerer and that his evil power is responsible for a rash of shocking murders in which the victims appear to have been clawed to death by a lion. These crimes are especially terrifying because there are no lions in Ubangiba. Without the comforting backup of the CIA, Mrs. Pollifax wades into the fray, hunting for the source of the bloody terrorism that threatens Sammat and Ubangiba. Not to mention Kadi and Mrs. Pollifax. Home has never looked so good, or seemed so far away.

The assignment is a snap: Mrs. Pollifax just has to shoot some pictures at a quiet funeral outside Washington and take them to Sicily, where her old friend Farrell -- a former CIA agent turned art dealer -- anxiously awaits them. But like all Mrs. P's assignments, so ostensibly suitable for the CIA's favorite garden club member, this one quickly turns lethal. Her welcoming committee in Palermo includes a most unlikely CIA agent and several unseen enemies. Unfriendly eyes also observe Mrs. P's rendezvous with Farrell in a secluded mountain village and weapons are soon displayed. With mysterious forces hot after them, she and Farrell scurry for safety to a fortified country villa, where the bizarre chatelaine, once a star on Madison Avenue, is almost as unnerving as the dangers she's protecting them from. So, though the sun shines brightly, the food is delicious, and romance is in the air, Mrs. Pollifax is too busy handing out karate chops and playing catch-me-if-you-can with an assassin to enjoy the amenities . . . . "Mrs. Pollifax gives Agatha Christie's Miss Marple a rival to reckon with." -- The Toronto Star

“Absorbing and worthwhile . . . You won't want to put the book down.”—Portland Telegram The cheerful Mrs. Virgil (Emily) Pollifax of New Brunswick, New Jersey, is once again plunged headfirst into a hair-raising CIA mission. Posing as a tourist in China, Mrs. Pollifax meets the sinister challenges of the Orient to safeguard a treasure for the CIA . . . and all but loses her life in the bargain. “Filled with adventures—and misadventures—but through it all Mrs. Pollifax is triumphant.”—Booklist