In Dorothy Gilman's previous book, "Mrs. Pollifax Pursued", she introduces us to Kadi, the daughter of Ubandiba missionaries, and her college friend Sammy, who is now trying to rule the country after many years of dictatorship. Sammy calls upon Kadi for help and Mrs. Pollifax decides to accompany her. There have been a series of violent deaths at the hands of a "lion killer", one who dons a lion costume, and Sammy's enemies have accused him of being behind the murders. When Kadi arrives in Ubandiba, she becomes the target of an old enemy, and Mrs. Pollifax does her best to protect the young girl. A potential archaeological dig and the hint of romance for Kadi combine with political intrigue and murder to create another satisfying story of Mrs. Pollifax.

While the story is interesting and Gilman does a good job of describing an African nation in the shaky position between "President for Life" and new king, the amount of attention paid to daily life in Ubangiba was a little boring for me. Toward the end of the book the story picked up a little and I was more interested, but "Lion Killer" is definitely not Gilman's best work. Still Mrs. Pollifax is a charmer and a Pollifax book that rates four stars is still head-and-shoulders above many five star mysteries by other authors!

Gilman's charming spy is back, this time in a book that is more of a sequel than another series entry. Even if you don't normally read series books in order like I do, I strongly suggest you meet Kadi and friends in MRS POLLIFAX PURSUED before reading this one. Now our beloved Emily Pollifax is traveling to Kadi's home turf, Ubangiba, to untangle a web of political intrigue with her usual clever style.

There was a noticeable lack of CIA presence in this book that made me wonder if Emily had made a copmlete break from the agency, but then I noticed INNOCENT TOURIST and UNVEILED both come after this one and seem to involve the CIA again. I found the clues a little easier to spot in this book than in earlier stories, but it was great fun putting them together for a satisfying conclusion. All in all, another great Mrs. Pollifax adventure.

The newly-married Mrs. Pollifax is in the process of fixing up her new home in the country when Bishop appears on her doorstep and offers her another assignment for the CIA. Cyrus is out of town and Mrs. P. must give an immediate answer, so an hour later she is on her way to Hong Kong. Her mission is to contact Sheng Ti, whom she met in an earlier book and find out what is going on at Feng Imports where Sheng Ti is working for an agent named Detwiler. Detwiler's reports to the CIA have proved to be false, so he is suspected of being a counterspy and giving evidence to the enemy. Mrs. Pollifax meets some other interesting characters, including a psychic, and another old friend who is a reformed cat burglar while in pursuit of the truth about Feng Imports. She is captured and suffers from some unnecessarily harsh treatment, probably the reason this is not most people's favorite book of the series.

(Review of the audiotape, no longer available (?) )

Two books after going on safari, Mrs. Pollifax is now married to Cyrus, the gentleman she met on that safari. Marriage, however, doesn't slow her down, as she's sent to Hong Kong to meet up with someone she knew from the previous outing (which unfortunately I have not yet read). Enroute she meets a psychic on the plane, something that disheartened me: not only am I extremely skeptical of psychics, but it's very easy for the writer to use the psychic to effectively perform magic and circumvent plot holes through mysticla means. Not surprisingly, this psychic's ability waxes and wanes according to the author's needs, in one instance finding someone's body in a particular hut in Hong Kong, while, when Mrs. Pollifax is in danger, can only indicate a broad area where she might be - of course, since the book would be over if they could find her!

Other than that, it's another good read, with typically vivid characters both in the text and brought to life by Rosenblat's superb narrative skills. Mildly recommended.

I remember distinctly that my grandmother did not care for this episode in the Pollifax adventures. "Mrs. Pollifax and the Hong Kong Buddha" was a little too violent and disturbing for her. I, on the other hand, love it! Thrilling, exciting, never a dull moment. Not for the squeamish!

The first 4 or 5 books in the Pollifax series are wonderful. This is the worst of those that follow. I think the problem that I am having is that Mrs. Pollifax no longer seems to be the author of her own success. Lucky chance may be the reason she wins through in the end, or some individual she meets up with does it all for her. And I don't care for these partnerships, especially with Farrell. The wonderful thing in the past was how Mrs. Pollifax would come to a case with lovely excitement and by being herself assemble a group of unusual people around her and inspire them to great things. The recent Pollifaxes have seem tired and dependent.

Mrs. Pollifax, intrepid Garden Club member and holder of a brown belt in karate, has gone on several assignments to exotic places for the CIA. In this book, she is called by old friend John Farrell to help him in his latest predicament. He is a former CIA agent who is now an art dealer and he has been asked to authenticate the signature of Julius Caesar on a document. In the process of doing so, he has been chased and shot at and he is currently in hiding. Mrs. Pollifax shows up with a young woman named Kate who has been assigned to help her. When they have trouble finding a safe haven, Kate takes them to her aunt's house. Mrs. Pollifax finds all sorts of interesting activities going on there and learns more about the people who are chasing Farrell. This story has the amusing complication of having Carstairs assign a person to follow and protect Mrs. Pollifax. She is not aware of this and she levels the poor man with a well-placed karate chop. Mrs. Pollifax fans will not be disappointed in this entry in the series.

Of course, I love all of Mrs. Pollifax's adventures! I want to be her when I grow up;) But this one had wonderful, colorful (to say the least) characters, plot twists, and bits of Sicilian culture that made for a overall very enjoyable read.

I had never read a Dorothy Gilman book before this one and I was very, very dissappointed. If it were not such a short book (about 224 pages) I would have abandoned it before even finishing it, which I do not like to do, but I did hang in there until the bitter, bitter end. I have read some good mysteries before, and this "mystery" lacks a significant plot. The only "digging" the sleuths do is watch this Madame at work with her psychic powers. Soon after that, the mysteries were solved too easily and were not at all believable. I am trying not to let this book ruin me for other Dorothy Gilman books. I keep telling myself that this one was written early on in her career and she probably got better with age.

I couldn't put this one down...although it's more of a group of mysteries strung together,rather than just one, I still found it very entertaining. A nice, light read.

I love Dorothy Gilman's Mrs. Pollifax series (particularly the early books -- through and including Mrs. Pollifax on Safari, although I still eagerly read all of them as soon as they're published), and adored A Nun in the Closet. Although I hadn't expected to like this one, I was very pleasantly surprised. It is thoroughly entertaining and enjoyable -- one of the few mysteries I've saved to reread.

This is the author's account of her time spent re-inventing and re-discovering herself in Nova Scotia. It was intriguing to learn about this writer in such a fresh, unpretentious examination of her life's journey. I had to skim over the occasional dip into new-age hokum, but this book is an inspiration for all women to take stock of just who they are and who they'd like to be.

This book could have been written for me. I am green with envy. The peace of living alone in a beautiful, but challenging setting.....I want that, and until I can have exactly that, great books like this one with have to suffice!

I love Dorothy Gilman's books. I have all the Mrs. Pollifax and am collecting her stand alone novels. After I labored through Uncertain Voyage I thought it should be retitled "Uncertain How It Ever Got Published". Thankfully, I only payed $.50 for it at a used bookstore. If you've never read Dorothy Gilman, please don't start with this book. Read her Mrs. Pollifax series or Thale's Folly to really find out what a terrific author she is.

I have read most of Dorothy Gilman's books and loved them. I especially enjoyed the "Mrs. Pollifax" series. However, I have found "Uncertain Voyage" to be the worst Dorothy Gilman book I have ever read. I have read 142 pages of it so far...thinking with each page that I read the next one will be better, but it is so boring I don't know if I will be able to finish it. Melissa is so cocerned with her past nervous break down and Adam there is hardly time for anything else. Basically it is just very predictable. There no twist and turns or surprises in it. If you have ever read a mystery novel you know how it ends almost from the begining. Some people may love the book. However, I do not think it was worth buying brand new. In my opion it might be worth buying it used for 25 cents or less, but only if you are desperate to find something to read.

I like this book probably because in a real strange way it mirrored my own life just a little. Coming out of a 15 year marriage to a psychologically abusive alcoholic marriage.. this book just felt good.. the story fit like a glove for me.
I just enjoyed this book tremendously. It is a departure from the Mrs Pollifax series stories but very enjoyable.
I cant believe this book didnt get more stars from other readers.. but thats ok.. to each his own.. I loved this book!