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MRS. POLLIFAX AND THE SECOND THIEF by Dorothy Gilman

MRS. POLLIFAX AND THE SECOND THIEF

by Dorothy Gilman

Pub Date: Oct. 3rd, 1993
ISBN: 0449149056
Publisher: Doubleday

Grandmother, garden-clubber, karate expert, and part-time CIA agent Emily Pollifax (Mrs. Pollifax and the Whirling Dervish, 1990, etc.) is sent by boss Carstairs first to a funeral in Virginia, then to Sicily. From there, ex-agent John Farrell, now owner of a Mexico City art gallery, has sent an SOS asking for her help. He's in Sicily to authenticate a document bearing the signature of Julius Caesar for collector Ambrose Vica—and he's in deep trouble. Carstairs assigns gutsy young agent Kate Rossiter, who knows the area, to assist Emily. Together, they find Farrell—injured and shaken; take on a couple of pursuers; and end up in the fortress villa of Kate's aunt Franca—an unflappable type who paints first- class forgeries, sells them, and helps the villagers with the proceeds. It takes a while to find out what's behind all the brouhaha—an assassin prematurely released from a French prison, plus a deeper conspiracy thwarted with much help from Franca and villagers. A heavily contrived plot sparks little tension, and the movie- script characters are uniformly unreal. Pollifax fans may love it, but Gilman's best work lies outside this series.