Mrs. Pollifax (franchise): Difference between revisions

'''''Mrs. Pollifax''''' is a series of fourteen books written by the late [[Dorothy Gilman]] between 1966 and 2000. A mix of [[Spy Fiction]] and [[Mystery Fiction]], they expertly blend suspense, thrills and no small amount of comic relief here and there. They take place in a world with rare but genuine psychic powers but is [[Like Reality Unless Noted|otherwise (mostly) identical to ours]], spanning nearly forty years of history starting in the mid-1960s. Over the course of the series, Mrs. Pollifax's assignments and travel reflect the changing sociopolitical challenges of the world, ranging Iron Curtain nations and Communist opposition, through African unrest, to Mideast terrorism. Despite this, one of the constant themes of the series is how Mrs. Pollifax is drawn to help people in need who seem unconnected to her assignments. These either turn out to be unexpectedly related to her task, or become invaluable help in accomplishing it. Another is defying the marginalization and disempowerment of the elderly -- in her sixties, Emily Pollifax is just as capable as, and sometimes ''more'' so than, the experienced agents she works with and against.

* [[Central Intelligence Agency]]: In her first appearance, Mrs. Pollifax (bored with being a suburban widow) walks into the CIA and applies for a job as a spy. As it so happened, one particular section head happened to need a previously-unknown courier for a completely-safe milk run...

* [[Joisey]]: Up until book seven, Mrs. Pollifax lives in New Brunswick, NJ, apparently not too far from the campus of Rutgers University. (Starting in the seventh book she lives with her new husband Cyrus in a house located in rural Connecticut, not far from Route I-95, somewhere southwest of New Haven.)

* [[Mighty Whitey]]: In ''Mrs. Pollifax Pursued'', {{spoiler|Henry Bidwell}}'s plan is to seize control of the tiny sub-Saharan African nation of [[Bulungi|Ubangiba]] and rule it as a personal fiefdom.

** A local encountered while they are being marched across the veldt in the fifth book is a bit more than he seems.

* [[Parasol of Pain]]: The fancy umbrella Mrs. Pollifax buys at Abercrombie and Fitch for her African safari in ''Mrs. Pollifax on Safari'' gets classified as a weapon by the airline and has to be checked as baggage.

* [[Part-Time Hero|Part-Time Spy]]: Mrs. Pollifax. Although she applied for a job with the CIA, she was never formally hired. However, one particular section head uses her as a freelancer, whenever he needs someone who is completely off the radar and would never be suspected. And when he realizes just how ''competent'' she is, he graduates her from "simple" courier jobs to actual missions. But she never performs more than one job a year for him.

** Carstairs himself is described as having hunches that are "positively psychic" based simply on seeing people's faces.

** Played with in the case of John Sebastian Farrell from the first book. He retires from the CIA about a year after his adventure with Mrs. Pollifax, but instead of actually going into retirement ends up in Africa helping train and equip Rhodesian freedom fighters. Several years later he's gone back to running the art gallery he had in Mexico City in the very first book, but he still is doing the odd job on the side.

* [[Tomboy]]: Emily's recollections early in ''The Unexpected Mrs. Pollifax'' make it pretty clear that as a girl in the 1910s she was this, thanks to the influence of [[I Have Brothers|a beloved older brother]].

* [[Two Lines, No Waiting]]: ''Mrs. Pollifax Pursued'' starts off this way, with Carstairs pursuing a kidnapping case while Mrs. Pollifax finds herself helping a college student whom she discovers hiding in her house. Naturally, it turns out they're [[Working the Same Case]], and it quickly becomes obvious to the reader that the two lines will converge -- in Ubangiba.

* [[Wannabe Secret Agent]]: Averted with Mrs. Pollifax. Although she decides to become a spy to alleviate the ''ennui'' of her life, she doesn't go about building a fantasy of spycraft around herself -- she goes right to the CIA to apply for a job as a spy. And gets it. And turns out to be spectacularly ''good'' at it.