Mrs. Pollifax and the Hong Kong Buddha

Mrs. Pollifax heads to Hong Kong to investigate a CIA asset who seems to have been feeding the agency incorrect information in this seventh novel devoted to her adventures. Traveling solo, she befriends psychic Mr. Hitchens on the plane ride over, and soon discovers that her new friend's mission - to help a former student find his missing father - is connected to her own. Something very strange is going on at Feng Imports, and as Mrs. Pollifax struggles to discover just what that is, she reconnects with some old friends. Sheng Ti, the young Chinese man she helped to flee his oppressive homeland in Mrs. Pollifax on the China Station, is working at the import shop, while Robin Burke-Jones, the jewel thief turned Interpol agent she show more befriended in A Palm for Mrs. Pollifax, is also in town. Soon our grandmotherly heroine finds herself confronting a terrible terrorist plot, and one of the most physically and spiritually taxing experiences of her career as an unlikely spy...

As other reviewers have noted, Mrs. Pollifax and the Hong Kong Buddha is somewhat darker than the previous entries in the series, addressing as it does such issues as terrorism, and depicting Mrs. Pollifax being tortured, toward the close of the book. It isn't that the geopolitical realities underpinning the story are more serious than in previous books - after all, in A Palm for Mrs. Pollifax, we met a religious extremist bent on creating his own nuclear bomb! - but somehow the atmosphere here feels decidedly more disturbing. Perhaps that is because Gilman captures the trauma experienced by our heroine after her terrible experience being tortured, and then seeing a confederate murdered before her eyes. Whatever the case may be, although an engrossing adventure, this was a far less amusing entry in the series, and didn't have any of the hilarity I associate with the first few titles. I enjoyed meeting Sheng Ti and Robin Burke-Jones again, and of course, Cyrus Reed also appears, just in the nick of time. Recommended to anyone who has read and enjoyed previous entries in the Mrs. Pollifax series. show less

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.

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.

When we left Mrs. Pollifax after her African safari she and Cyrus Reed had just started a new romance. Now ten months later they are newlyweds living in a house they bought together. He's off in upstate Vermont somewhere on a bird-counting expedition and Emily is overseeing renovations on their house when who should stop by for a visit, but old friend (and CIA man), Bishop. Of course, he needs Mrs. Pollifax for a delicate assignment and, but of course, there is no time to waste. If she agrees to take the case she doesn't even have time to contact the hubby or pack properly (although she does remember to grab a snazzy hat). In an era when you could leave strangers in your house, Emily pops off a note to Cyrus and leaves the handymen to show more work unsupervised. Mrs. Pollifax's new mission is a trip to Hong Kong to find missing agent Sheng Ti (a character from a previous story I didn't read). Here's the thing about Mrs. Pollifax - she will talk to just about anyone so the characters she meets run the gamut. She blithely shares information with double agents, gangsters and psychics alike. You could call this an adventure with just the right amount of silliness boiled in. There is death and violence and the threat of terrorism but take, for examples, the agents's "secret" language, "...should be arriving you-know-where in fifteen minutes..." (p 128). I'm surprised the statement wasn't followed by a wink-wink.
Mrs. Pollifax gets herself in a pickle but now she has a secret weapon to help save the day, her lovable husband, Cyrus!
Author fact: According to the back flap of Mrs. Pollifax and the Hong Kong Buddha, Dorothy Gilman lived in New Mexico and Nova Scotia. That sounds like the best of both worlds. show less

Having Cyrus as an additional recurring character has changed the series for the better. Mrs. Pollifax, in the first few novels, regarded danger with a bit of disregard, feeling she didn't have much to lose. Now, her fear seems more realistic and she seems more real too. This was a bit dark, as Mrs. Pollifax novels go - despite the attempt at levity with the psychic there was really a sense of urgency and evil in this novel - terrorists do that I suppose. It's a nice change of pace that serves to keep this reader, at least, still interested in Mrs. Pollifax.

7
Two books after going on safari, Mrs. Pollifax is now married. Marriage, however, doesn't slow her down. One day while discussing the position of her bay window with her contractor, Mr. Bishop from the CIA pulls into the driveway. He says they urgently need her to fly to Hong Kong. It seems that Sheng Ti, the young man she helped smuggle out of China a year ago, is working at a shop in Hong Kong under the guidance of another CIA agent, Mr. Detwiler. Detwiler's reports to the CIA have proved to be false, so he is suspected of being a double agent. Carstairs, Bishop 19s boss, wants Mrs. Pollifax to make contact and figure out what is going on. Sheng Ti almost certainly knows and he trusts Mrs. Pollifax.

She soon meets and befriends a show more psychic and then unexpectedly finds herself reunited with Robin Burke-Jones, one-time jewel thief and now Interpol operative. He's pursuing the answers to questions of his own and is looking for a missing police inspector and investigating several diamond thefts. Then the man she met on the plane stumbles into her room with a wound on his head. Before long, as is always the case with Mrs. Pollifax, things soon spiral out of control.

I'm a big fan of the Mrs. Pollifax cozy mysteries. This wasn't my favorite of the seven I've read but I still found it enjoyable. I'm halfway through the series and absolutely intend the finish the final seven this year. show less

This was written before China took over Hong Kong and it was still a protectorate of England, it is interesting to read of the difference of opinion of that takeover, though I know many Hong Kong Chinese who moved to the US so they wouldn't be under China rule. I can always depend on Dorothy Gilman to provide an enjoyable read.

Apparently I only read books when they're almost due now. :) This was quite similar to the others. Good fun, fresh (but only because I haven't read one in months), and missing a couple of plugged holes. But it was very diverting.