Mrs. Pollifax, Innocent Tourist

Locations
Call Number: Mystery
On Shelf At: Downtown Library

Location & Checkout Length	Call Number	Checkout Length	Item Status
Downtown 2nd Floor 4-week checkout	Mystery	4-week checkout	On Shelf

COMMUNITY REVIEWS

writings almost like glittering swords submitted by camelsamba on July 2, 2011, 9:20pm I read - and listened to - many Mrs Pollifax books many years ago, but hadn't visited the series in over a decade when I picked this up in Sept 2009. It is set primarily in Jordan, some years after the first Gulf War. I was a bit worried at first that it was going to be a tiresome flag-waving book (from the overleaf, discussing a central plot element: "Allegedly fiction, the script encodes the shocking truth of Saddam Hussein's reign"). But it wasn't. Certain elements are predictable, and certain aspects are nearly unbelievable, but there were enough plot twists to keep things interesting and Mrs P is such an entertaining character that I enjoyed the book. Back when I was following the series, we listened to some as audiobooks, and I can hear the narrator in my head as I read her dialog.

Nice quote:

Mrs. Pollifax shivered. "Such madness! I wonder ... can one man's book make a difference? Is it worth Ibrahim's risking his life?"
Farrell smiled. "when I visited Antun Mahmoud the night before I telephoned you, I asked him the same question. He quoted to me an Arabic saying -- and I sure hope I get it right." He closed his eyes, remembering, and said softly, " 'The words of eloquent men are like a mighty army, and their writings like glittering swords.' "
" 'Like glittering swords,' " she repeated. "Yes, I like that."


I like that, too. Glittering swords. This book doesn't necessarily qualify as a glittering sword, but it's a great reminder of the power of words.