The first Mrs. Pollifax novel.
Mrs. Pollifax is depressed, so much so that she briefly contemplated jumping off the roof of the apartment building where she lives. But a visit to her doctor recalls to mind that when she was a youngster, she wanted to be a spy.
Having nothing to lose, she pays a visit to CIA headquarters and, in a case of mistaken identity, finds herself assigned to be a courier in Mexico City.
Naturally, Mrs P. disobeys her instructions and visits her contact at a bookstore before the appointed time, just to take a look around, don't you know. She has a pleasant visit with the bookstore clerk. She returns to the store on the assigned day, only to find someone else manning the store. This man kindly invites her to join him in a cup of tea and she ends up drugged and tied up and hauled off along with another person to Albania.
The other person, Farrell, is one of the CIA's agents in Central America. But Mrs. P maintains her cover as an innocent tourist who is being mistaken for someone she is not. Farrell is cruelly interrogated by their communist captors and manages to briefly escape, only to be recaptured, having been shot and with a broken leg from a fall down a cliff. Mrs. P and Farrell know that their days are numbered. Their only hope is to escape. But Farrell is too injured to travel and Mrs Pollifax refuses to even think of going without him.
I read this book decades ago and I didn't really remember anything about it. So rereading it was like reading it for the first time. It's an improbable story and everyone's failure to realize that Mrs. Pollifax unknowingly had the sought-after documents was more than a little unbelievable. But it was an interesting read and I understand how it lead me to read more of the Mrs. Pollifax books at the time. Although I don't think it would have had the same effect on me now, being a lot older and lot less easily impressed.
Review by Kirkus Reviews.
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