A Palm for Mrs. Pollifax by Dorothy GIlman

In A Palm for Mrs. Pollifax, Carstairs has given Mrs. Pollifax has a new assignment. She is to track down some missing plutonium at a famous health resort in Switzerland. It’s just enough plutonium to make an atomic bomb. Once there, she meets an eclectic bunch of characters. Some of them help her in performing her task; other hinder her. Mrs. Pollifax must be very discrete in her search for the plutonium. One wrong step could cost her her life.

I love this series and this installment is no exception. Mrs. Pollifax is a hoot. She always gets in more trouble than she should. She’s not bumbling, but sometimes she just stumbles upon the information or item she’s supposed to recover. Sometimes, she uncovers more than she should and that always gets her in trouble.

Besides Mrs. Pollifax, my favourite character is Robin Burke-Jones. He steals every scene he’s in. He’s funny, self-assured, forthright and despite his unsavory occupation, very helpful to Mrs. Pollifax. Hafez, the little boy who befriended Mrs. Pollifax, was also a delightful character. Because he was a child, he tended to go unnoticed and could eavesdrop on the sensitive situations. I loved how he just showed up sometimes. Of course, he became one of Mrs. Pollifax’s many distractions.

My one complaint about the series is that sometimes it’s a little too political. If that’s not bad enough, the series was written in the 70s, so the politics are dated. I don’t know a lot about the political climate at that time, so I think some of the nuances or implications are lost on me. I still love these books a lot, though. I wouldn’t change a thing.

I love this series and intend to read each of the books.