Mrs. Pollifax and the Second Thief

Dorothy Gilman has charmed and delighted millions of readers worldwide with her portrayal of the witty and unpredictable Emily Pollifax - part-time CIA operative, full-time garden-clubbing grandmother from New Jersey. In this tenth mystery in the popular Mrs. Pollifax series, the inimitable and irrepressible Mrs. Pollifax finds herself in Sicily, dodging assassins' bullets in another fast-paced and suspenseful adventure. When wealthy art collector Ambrose Vica invites CIA-spook-turned-art-dealer John Sebastian Farrell to Sicily, it's to find and authenticate a document bearing Julius Caesar's signature, presumably owned by a mysterious Mr. Raphael. Farrell doesn't hesitate to break into the Sicilian villa of Mr. Raphael - a man known for his exquisite taste in art, as well as his shady underground connections - to open his safe. But instead of finding Caesar's signature, Farrell discovers a mysterious list of names - and ends up taking a bullet to the ankle. Narrowly escaping capture, he hides out in a mountain village, where he sends an SOS to CIA headquarters requesting Mrs. Pollifax's help. With the aid of Kate Rossiter, a feisty young CIA agent who happens to be vacationing in the Sicilian countryside, Mrs. Pollifax and Farrell uncover the truth about the Caesar document. And in the process they become targets for a deadly cartel of professional killers. With Mrs. Pollifax and the Second Thief Dorothy Gilman has written another page-turning mystery filled with the intrigue, colorful characters, humor, and exotic locales that have made the Mrs. Pollifax series both a critical and commercial success.