Mrs. Pollifax and the Hong Kong Buddha

Enjoy these books for their wonderful sense of adventure, humor and daring. Love the perspectives of the author and her protagonist, enjoying life, people and different cultures. Mrs Pollifax is a gen l would love to know personally.

The biggest thing on newlywed Mrs. Pollifax's mind is making sure the contractor installs the bay window in her new home slightly off center. But then Bishop from the CIA pulls into the driveway and her whole world changes again. Seems that a young man she helped smuggle out of China a year ago is working at a shop in Hong Kong where another CIA agent has been placed, but that agent's reports have grown useless. Carstairs, Bishop's boss, wants Mrs. Pollifax to make contact and figure out what exactly is happening.

But as is always the case with Mrs. Pollifax, things soon spiral out of control, and it starts when she runs into an old friend from a previous assignment. Then the man she met on the plane stumbles into her room with a wound on his head. Slowly, she suspects that her assignment is leading to something much bigger. But just what is it?

It had been so long since I read this book that I'd forgotten much beyond the basics, so I was pulled along for the ride just like it was new. And what fun it was filled with the usual mix of coincidence and deductive reasoning to reach the astonishing conclusion. The characters are charming like always as well.

However, I was disappointed by the climax. Despite attempts to explain things, it felt like the author wasn't sure how to resolve things. It worked, but not seemed improbable, even for a Mrs. Pollifax book. There's also the fact that it was dark, although not as dark as the next book in the series.

Still, I do recommend this book. It's mostly fun although not quite as enjoyable as early books in the series.

This book was written and published quite some time ago and has hung around in my TBR pile for a very long time. I finally picked it up and quite enjoyed it. It was definitely dated but aged well. Coincidentally I had recently read another book published the same year, and Mrs. Pollifax had a much better portrayal of women. I expected to see a somewhat dated approach to the role and portrayal of women but the attitudes of the characters seemed realistic for the times. The main character, and other women seemed real, only limited by their own learned attitudes as well as those around them.

Generally I found the tone of the book a bit dark, and surprising. I expected a lighter read but the subject matter was deadly serious and thought provoking. It was also very interesting reading this type of international thriller written pre-9/11, knowing how the world has changed.

I recommend this book to anyone who enjoys mysteries and thrillers, and I am surprised I haven't discovered Dorothy Gilman before now.

Her last experiences in China (in Mrs. Pollifax on the China Station) haven't dimmed the enthusiasm of the CIA's favorite maverick agent for that country. Now officially Mrs. Reed-Pollifax (at the insistence of her new husband Cyrus), she's absorbed in overseeing the construction of their new home while Cyrus is off bird-watching when her friend Bishop arrives with the news that she's needed once again. It seems that the young "nonperson" Sheng Ti whom she helped to escape from the Mainland was placed in Hong Kong with a long-time agent of the Company's--a man it has recently discovered has been feeding it doctored information. Sheng Ti almost certainly knows what's going on--and he trusts Mrs. Pollifax.

Arriving in Hong Kong, Mrs. P soon meets and befriends a psychic--and finds herself reunited with Robin Burke-Jones, one-time jewel thief and now Interpol operative (they met in A Palm for Mrs. Pollifax), who is pursuing the answers to questions of his own: he's looking for a missing police inspector and investigating several diamond thefts. Before long they discover that a notorious international assassin is also in the city. Is he connected to the inspector's fate? And is that in turn somehow related to Mrs. Pollifax's mission? The longer they go on, the more both seem likely--and soon Mrs. P. finds herself in greater peril than she has ever faced. This lighthearted spy series becomes a bit darker and more serious in this seventh outing, though Robin--with help both expected and otherwise--saves the day in the end.

This book was my first introduction to this series of mysteries, and I found it quite enjoyable. The series revolves around an improbable CIA operative, middle-aged Mrs. Emily Pollifax, who is now living in the country with Cyrus Reed, her husband of ten months. Unfortunately, her idyllic existence is shattered, when she is pressed into service yet again.

Ever mindful of her duty as an agent, and leaving a message for her husband, she bounds off to Hong Kong. Apparently, there is something not quite right at a local agency front and Mrs. Pollifax is charged with discovering just what the problem is.

What Mrs. Pollifax discovers is far more than that for which she bargained, and the reader will be lead a merry chase through an intricate plot and a book filled with quirky characters. Written with a great deal of humor, those who enjoy cloak and dagger mysteries will, undoubtedly, enjoy this one. This book has left me wanting to read the other books in the series. I look forward to doing so.

When I was a child I remember my grandmother reading and loving Mrs Pollifax. This book was a joke between us from years and she gave it to me at least 10 years ago. It took me until now to read. Not only is Mrs Pollifax a bad ass but she is simply one of a kind. I found myself loving the descriptions of her clothing and her mannerisms. She was so polite and an expert at Karate. Will definitely read more!!!!!

(Review of the audiotape, no longer available (?) )
Two books after going on safari, Mrs. Pollifax is now married to Cyrus, the gentleman she met on that safari. Marriage, however, doesn't slow her down, as she's sent to Hong Kong to meet up with someone she knew from the previous outing (which unfortunately I have not yet read). Enroute she meets a psychic on the plane, something that disheartened me: not only am I extremely skeptical of psychics, but it's very easy for the writer to use the psychic to effectively perform magic and circumvent plot holes through mysticla means. Not surprisingly, this psychic's ability waxes and wanes according to the author's needs, in one instance finding someone's body in a particular hut in Hong Kong, while, when Mrs. Pollifax is in danger, can only indicate a broad area where she might be - of course, since the book would be over if they could find her!
Other than that, it's another good read, with typically vivid characters both in the text and brought to life by Rosenblat's superb narrative skills. Mildly recommended.

The newly-married Mrs. Pollifax is in the process of fixing up her new home in the country when Bishop appears on her doorstep and offers her another assignment for the CIA. Cyrus is out of town and Mrs. P. must give an immediate answer, so an hour later she is on her way to Hong Kong. Her mission is to contact Sheng Ti, whom she met in an earlier book and find out what is going on at Feng Imports where Sheng Ti is working for an agent named Detwiler. Detwiler's reports to the CIA have proved to be false, so he is suspected of being a counterspy and giving evidence to the enemy. Mrs. Pollifax meets some other interesting characters, including a psychic, and another old friend who is a reformed cat burglar while in pursuit of the truth about Feng Imports. She is captured and suffers from some unnecessarily harsh treatment, probably the reason this is not most people's favorite book of the series.

I like "Mrs Pollifax" books because although they are fairly predictable, they do have developed characters that I enjoy meeting again. I just wish there were more. I am "of a certain age now", but I enjoyed them when I was younger too. Not everyone is ready to roll up and die when they are over 60.

Very good but not quite as charming as the previous Mrs Pollifax books (1-4, I've not yet read 5) If the others had not set such a highly enjoyable tone (set in a world where bad things happen but some people remain both good and bullheadedly unaffected) this would not have lost a star. Also, I wish that as in previous books Mrs Pollifax could have saved herself or at least found her actions to be important to how the day was saved.

Also the extent to which the psychic was relied on - even by Interpol- was just kind of weird, especially compared to how it was used (sparingly) in book 2.

I was disappointed in this book. The plot develops very slowly, with very little action involving the person Mrs Pollifax is sent to Hong Kong to see. You have to wait until the last 20 pages until you see this "mystery" is about some terrorists, who for the cause of Chiang Kai-Shek want to take over Hong Kong. Weak weak weak, and sad.

It cracks me up how Mrs Pollifax and other Americans act more British than American in this series.

I remember distinctly that my grandmother did not care for this episode in the Pollifax adventures. "Mrs. Pollifax and the Hong Kong Buddha" was a little too violent and disturbing for her. I, on the other hand, love it! Thrilling, exciting, never a dull moment. Not for the squeamish!

I haven't missed a single episode in Mrs. Polofax's journeys. This one is every bit the intrepid Mrs. Pollifax at her best. I wondered how she was going to work with a husband at her side. Now I know. GREAT. Wonderfully done. Don't miss it!

Apparently my review of Mrs. Pollifax and the Hong Kong Buddha (Mrs. Pollifax Series Book 7) has been bundled into some other things. This review is for that book, not whatever page it is now on.

This mystery pushes the boundaries of "cozy" mystery. There is more pain and death than I am used to in this mystery series. Still, it was a page-turner and a good story. Mrs. Pollifax is becoming more used to the world of espionage, even if her superiors think they are sending her into relatively safe situations. In this book we meet some old friends out in the field and I found the people are far more important to the story than the setting.

I would give this book 4.5 stars if half stars were possible. I rounded it down because I think Mrs. Pollifax fans will find a couple of scenes a bit more disturbing than they are used to. However, if you like cozy mysteries, you'll like this book. While I suggest you read the earlier books first, it isn't strictly necessary as people are introduced with enough background that you can easily follow along.

I have been reading and rereading Mrs Pollifax for over 30 years.
She inspired me to start roaming the world as an independent tourist at age 55 after almost dieing of a pulmonary fibrosis. I'm 69 and up to 45 countries. I have met the most incredible people, and have done things most only dream of. Not aware of any spies or bad guys, but incredible individuals who have treated me with much respect because of my age and the fact I travel alone. I have had tea with gypsies, as well as bedouin. Had a real prince ask my opinion of a sarcophagus we were both visiting as well as a lovely fashion model who helped me kill time at a Turkish airport at 4 in the morning, she also gave me great advice on islands to visit in Greece....thank you Mrs Pollifax