Thursday, September 29, 2022


How long have you been reading cozy mysteries?
Me? I've been reading cozies for 11 or 12 years now.

My sister, Darlene introduced them to me. She has been reading them for longer than I can remember. My guess would be around 30 years. Since before cozies were called cozies. I think back then they were just mysteries. 

Like today, you could tell a cozy back then by it's cover. They were never as deadly looking as other mysteries. 

On of my sister's favorite series was 
Mrs. Pollifax by Dorothy Gilman.
Have any of your read the series?
Since Darlene was the one who introduced me to cozies, I thought I'd share Mrs. Pollifax with you.
 

Mrs. Virgil (Emily) Pollifax of New Brunswick, New Jersey, was a widow with grown, married children. She was tired of attending her Garden Club meetings. She wanted to do something good for her country. So, naturally, she became a CIA agent.

She takes on a “job” in Mexico City. The assignment doesn’t sound dangerous at first, but then, as often happens, something goes wrong. Now our dear Mrs. Pollifax finds herself embroiled in quite a hot Cold War—and her country’s enemies find themselves entangled with one unbelievably feisty lady.


Book 1, THE UNEXPECTED MRS. POLLIFAX was published in 1966. Hey, that's the year I was published, I mean born, as well! 


Once again the irrepressible Mrs. Pollifax, that very special agent with her own very special brand of logic, is off on an incredible escapade of international intrigue . . . from the exotic towns and countryside of Turkey to a mysterious rendezvous with a gypsy caravan.

“You are in effect replacing a dead man, Mrs. Pollifax. . . .”

When Emily Pollifax answered the phone that Sunday morning she quickly forgot about her Garden Club tea in the afternoon. The last time she had heard the voice on the other end of the line it had sent of her off on a journey that plunged her into a wild tangle of secret agents and high adventure.

Now the man from the CIA was asking if she could leave immediately on a mission th
at would take her halfway across the world. What could Mrs. Pollifax say but yes?

Some of the new "mass market" paperbacks don't have the cozy look, which is a shame. I suspect they were trying to keep bringing in new readers with more up to date covers. 

Here are the covers of the rest of the series.

 






There you go!

I haven't read the series myself, but according to my sister, you can't go wrong!


Dorothy Edith Gilman was an American writer. She is best known for the Mrs. Pollifax series. Begun in a time when women in mystery meant Agatha Christie's Miss Marple and international espionage meant 
Born: June 25, 1923
Died: February 2, 2012
As always, please leave a comment 
and let me know what you think!

Follow my blog by submitting your email in 
the upper right hand corner of this page 
(on the side bar).

Reading from your phone? Scroll to the bottom of
your page and click "View web version". Then follow 
the above directions.

1 comment:

  1. I’ve never read the Mrs. Pollifax series but I might have to give it a try. I’ve been reading cozy mysteries for almost ten years but read mysteries prior to them being called cozy, the more “traditional” ones.

    Pat T

    ReplyDelete