Mrs. Pollifax (franchise): Difference between revisions

* [[Absent-Minded Professor]]: Dr. Gibbons, a minor character from ''Mrs. Pollifax and the Lion Killer'', is an almost stereotypically absent-minded academic.

* [[Abusive Parents]]: Amanda Pym's parents in the backstory of ''Mrs. Pollifax Unveiled'' were emotionally abusive, denying her love and any kind of support or encouragement, and treating her as an unwanted burden which was impoverishing them.

* [[The Alcatraz]]: The Panchevsky Institute in Communist [[Bulgaria]] in ''The Elusive Mrs. Pollifax''.

* [[Arson, Murder, and Jaywalking]]: Near the end of ''Mrs. Pollifax and the Second Thief'', Mrs. Pollifax refers to "people chasing us, shooting at us, and generally being tiresome".

* [[Bungled Suicide]]:

** Mrs. Pollifax's own suicidal tendencies in the earliest part of the first book are thwarted by a neighbor.

* [[The Caper]]: Ambrose Vica arranges for Farrell to commit one for him in ''The Second Thief''.

* [[Catch Phrase]]: "Wotthehell" for Sandor in ''The Amazing Mrs. Pollifax''.

* [[Dance Party Ending]]: Well, maybe not dancing, ''per se'', but Mrs. Pollifax delays her return to the United States at the end of ''The Amazing Mrs. Pollifax'' because a party is being thrown in her honor.

* [[Darker and Edgier]]: Although none of Mrs. Pollifax's adventures could possibly be described as "fun romps", ''Mrs. Pollifax and the Hong Kong Buddha'' is substantially darker in tone and details than the other books in the series, including among other moments Mrs. Pollifax's [[Cold-Blooded Torture]] at the hands of a terrorist.

* [[Death Seeker]]: Emily gives every indication of being this in the first few chapters of ''The Unexpected Mrs. Pollifax'', thanks to being so engulfed in ''ennui''. She nearly walks off the roof of her apartment building (and has to be stopped from doing so by a neighbor) and even while interviewing for a job as a spy at the CIA emphasizes that her value is [[More Expendable Than You|her expendability]], that she can be sacrificed to save a younger, better-trained agent. Of course, once she gets a taste of spy work, and discovers she's ''good'' at it, these tendencies disappear (and stay disappeared as long as she gets her yearly "fix" of espionage).

* [[Double Agent]]:

** In ''Mrs. Pollifax Pursued'' {{spoiler|Henry Bidwell}} suffers an Emotional faint upon having his plans, and the fraud he executed to accomplish them, revealed and thwarted.

** Mrs. Pollifax faints in the wake of a bullet wound and several severe shocks, all within a few minutes, in ''Innocent Tourist''.

* [[First-Name Basis]]: Almost exclusively averted for the title character -- even close friends (and the narrative voice) call her "Mrs. Pollifax" (if, like Farrell, they don't have a nickname for her).

** The first time she explicitly tells someone to call her Emily is a telling moment, as it marks a deepening in the relationship between her and Cyrus Reed, the man who would become her second husband.

** The second time she does so is several books later at the end of ''The Second Thief'', marking the transition of Franca di Assaba from helpful acquaintance to personal friend.

* [[Fortune Teller]]: Anyeta of the Inglescu Gypsies in ''The Amazing Mrs. Pollifax'' chooses to trust Emily based on doing a palm reading. That said, she appears to be a genuine [[Seers|seer]].

* [[From Bad to Worse]]: What usually happens to Mrs. Pollifax's missions, often because of her tendency to [[Spot the Thread|Spot]] and [[Pull the Thread]], or to try to help someone in need. In the earlier books, her innocence of proper tradecraft would sometimes cause problems as well. And in some cases her missions go wrong through no fault of her own.

"Now ''that''," said Mrs. Pollifax, "is one of the nicest complements I've had from a professional."}}

* [[Gory Discretion Shot]]: ''Mrs. Pollifax and the Hong Kong Buddha'' has several, most prominently Mrs. Pollifax's torture at the hands of a terrorist. For the murder of Mr. Detwiler, Emily provides her own discretion shot, by closing her eyes before he is shot by one of the terrorists. And Gilman ends a chapter just before a gunfight breaks out... then picks up again well after it's over.

* [[Gray Eyes]]: Psychic Albert Hitchens from ''Mrs. Pollifax and the Hong Kong Buddha'' has "silver" eyes, the "spiritual" version to go with his psychic abilities.

* [[Great Escape]]: Mrs. Pollifax engineers one for Philip Trenda and several members of a nascent Bulgarian Underground from Communist Bulgaria's Panchevsky Institute in the third book.

** An earlier CIA scandal resulted in a strongly-worded ''phone call'' from Mrs. Pollifax, who was unhappy with what another part of the agency had been up to.

* [[Suicide by Cop|Suicide by Hijacker]]: What a depressed Amanda Pym attempts in the backstory of ''Mrs. Pollifax Unveiled'', only to [[Bungled Suicide|accidentally become a hero]].

* [[Tempting Fate]]: Carstairs all but says "[[What Could Possibly Go Wrong?]]" when he chooses to send Mrs. Pollifax to Bulgaria in ''The Elusive Mrs. Pollifax''. Naturally, things go wildly different from what he anticipated.

* [[Title Drop]]: