Customer Reviews

Mrs. Pollifax & the Second Thief

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

Dorothy Gilman is one of my favorite mystery writers. I've read all of her first nine books many, many times, and highly recommend them. In this book and the ones that follow the author's voice shifts so completely, I wonder if she is actually the one continuing to write them. Mrs. Pollifax's character changes, she is "cross" several times in the first few chapters and the old Mrs. Pollifax was curious and philosophical and observant. This philosophical bent disappears entirely from these later books.

The adventures no longer sizzle along. An early chase in this book is poorly crafted; as it happens it is described without enough detail to make it interesting or suspensful and we are told Mrs. Pollifax looks back on it as a "nightmare," when there is no basis for this in the story. The earlier Mrs. Pollifax would roll with the punches and reserve "nightmare" for full fledged torture. These later books are so disappointing because the first nine are so wonderful....

The first 4 or 5 books in the Pollifax series are wonderful. This is the worst of those that follow. I think the problem that I am having is that Mrs. Pollifax no longer seems to be the author of her own success. Lucky chance may be the reason she wins through in the end, or some individual she meets up with does it all for her. And I don't care for these partnerships, especially with Farrell. The wonderful thing in the past was how Mrs. Pollifax would come to a case with lovely excitement and by being herself assemble a group of unusual people around her and inspire them to great things. The recent Pollifaxes have seem tired and dependent.

I can wholeheartedly recommend all other Mrs. Pollifax books, but this one left me wishing it hadn't happened. The plot was obvious and contrived - not her usual level of writing at all. While it was nice to see old friends, they were not as entertaining and funny as they have been both before and since. I'd pass on this one.

I just finished listening to Mrs. Pollifax and the Second Thief on audio, and I must say, I was disappointed. I had to force myself to listen to it all the way through. This is definitely the worst Mrs. P, book I've listened to.. Why? Too many irritating minor characters. Not enough suspense, and, unbelievably stupid villains. Usually I can expect a TAD more realism than this from a Gillman book, but, this book was just plain silly and tried too hard to be cute.

Yes, it starts out okay, with Mrs. P, getting involved in the rescue of an old friend, Farrell, who owns an art gallery. We are led to believe that Farrell is some sort of super-agent, and super handsome, but instead he's just super annoying. Mrs. P, teams up with a spunky blonde agent, soon find themselves embroiled in a mystery surrounding an ancient roman scroll, art theft, and murder. Can Mrs. P and her gang of friends save the day?

By the end of this novel, I just didn't care. Farrell, was the world's most irritating character.All he does is whine and complain. The spunky blonde agent who was Mrs. P's sidekick would never pass any Intelligence Agency's background check with a family like hers... And Aristotle? This villain was silly, *choke* get real.

Overall, I'd give this one a pass. I've listened to much better Gillman books, and this one was beyond disappointing.

stop! before you read this book, read the first book first! (The Unexpected Mrs. Pollifax.) it will let you get to know the funny and "unexpected" grandmother turned CIA agent. This series by dorothy gilman, has got my hooked to the effervescent mrs. pollifax. this is one of my favorites so far. the worst book would have to be the Amazing Mrs. Pollifax. all the others are winners. i have read the whole series twice, and am looking forward to perhaps another book. For those of you who have read the first books, and are about to start this one: enjoy. Those of you who haven't read any Pollifax books yet, save this one for later, but dive right into the series. I promise you won't regret it.

Dorothy Gilman is an artist when she came up with Mrs. Pollifax series. Fast pace spying and resortfulness is our 60-plus secret agent Mrs. Pollifax who want to do something for her country. Gilman is a fun ride to read!

This is a good product the only bad thing is the format, I have a CD player and this was MP3. Go my next purchase will be a MP3 player, but I am old fashion and oppose new things.

Gilman really twisted this one around with many humorous lines. enjoy Mrs. P a lot

i thought the plot had interesting directions. not the best mrs. pollifax book, but definately one of them. i think farell is my all-time favorite character. (besides the wonderful mrs.p, of course) a must read for pollifax fans

Mrs. Pollifax, intrepid Garden Club member and holder of a brown belt in karate, has gone on several assignments to exotic places for the CIA. In this book, she is called by old friend John Farrell to help him in his latest predicament. He is a former CIA agent who is now an art dealer and he has been asked to authenticate the signature of Julius Caesar on a document. In the process of doing so, he has been chased and shot at and he is currently in hiding. Mrs. Pollifax shows up with a young woman named Kate who has been assigned to help her. When they have trouble finding a safe haven, Kate takes them to her aunt's house. Mrs. Pollifax finds all sorts of interesting activities going on there and learns more about the people who are chasing Farrell. This story has the amusing complication of having Carstairs assign a person to follow and protect Mrs. Pollifax. She is not aware of this and she levels the poor man with a well-placed karate chop. Mrs. Pollifax fans will not be disappointed in this entry in the series.