Mrs. Pollifax on the China Station - Keeper Shelf Review

Goodreads: Mrs. Pollifax on the China Station (Mrs. Pollifax #6) by Dorothy Gilman

Rating: Really Liked It!
Source:   Purchased

Description: Once again, Mrs. Pollifax, the cheerful cozy little woman with the flyaway white hair and a penchant for old hats is plunged headfirst into another hair-raising CIA mission.
Posing as a tourist in China, Emily Pollifax meets the sinister challenges of the Orient to safeguard a treasure for the CIA...and all but loses her life in the bargain.

Genre: Fiction



My Impression: There's no such thing (in my opinion) as a bad Mrs. Pollifax book but this was probably my least favorite of the series so far.  It is a bit different from the past books as Mrs. Pollifax isn't front and center in the most dangerous part of the adventure.  In fact she really doesn't know how it is going to go.  With some mild deviation - it is still Mrs. Pollifax after all - she mostly stays on the plan laid out by Carstairs in the begining.

What kept this book from being a "Love It" for me was Mrs. Pollifax doesn't has as much page time as I prefer.  We see the other agent's POV several times as well as seeing the dynamics of the people in the tour group.  I'm pretty much convinced the character of Jenny was based on someone Gilman knew in real life and this was her way of venting her annoyance at that person. As well, since Mrs. Pollifax is just an ordinary tourist for the first half of the book it's a bit slower paced than previous books.  It's still delightful and the last half flies by but it didn't catch my attention and pull me in as much as I usally expect from this series.

I did really enjoyi seeing Mrs. Pollifax in more of a senior agent role with experience under her belt.  I also liked that we are seeing a bit of growth with Mrs. Pollifax as the danger she finds herself in does have some consequences and she is sorting out her relationship with Cryrus, who she met in the previous book.   There's also some brilliant scenes with Mrs. Pollifax in action as an agent which I always love to see.

This series is such fun and one I always enjoy.  While each story is a stand alone it's best to at least read the first book before this one so you understand just how all this craziness came to be.

Would I Read More of this Series/Author?  Absolutely!  After reading the blurb I'm already super excited for the next book.  

Would I Recommend this Book? Definitely!  If you can suspend belief a bit this is a fun fast paced read with an endearing main character who is way more complicated than meets the eye!