I had never heard of mrs. Pollifax before. She is the main character in this book and a number of other books. She is an elderly lady and she reminds me of that other elderly mrs. : Mrs. Marple. But they are oceans apart. Marple is from the United Kingdom and Pollifax is from the United States. Mrs. Pollifax, in her spare time, helps the CIA once in a while. 

This time she travels to Zambia in a safari-outfit (can you imagine mrs. Marple in a safari-outfit?) to help the CIA in locating and identifying an international killer. This murderer will be at a Zambian gamepark for a meeting with someone else, but the CIA does not know whom. 

Mrs. Pollifax joins the safari and tries to find out which one of the fellow-travellers could be the professional killer. Every member of the group has peculiar things, e.g. an travel writer, was he present at the places where this murderer struck, a retired judge from the States, a salesman from the Netherlands, a missionary doctor who lives in Zambia, a fashionable lady from the United Kingdom. Next to that mrs. Pollifax also tries to meet with an old friend she met at the CIA, he moved to Zambia. 

At one of the camps mrs. Pollifax and the fashionable lady Amy are kidnapped by masked and armed men. After a long ride the two ladies are forced to stay in huts. They stay overnight and then, suddenly, one of the others of the safari turns up.

I will not tell you about the twist and turns, about the political implications, about freedomfighters from a neighbouring country, etc.

Just enjoy an easy going story, nothing fancy, just relax.

Dorothy Gilman – Mrs. Pollifax on Safari – 1976