FREE! Click here to Join FunTrivia. Thousands of games, quizzes, and lots more!
Quiz about Mrs Pollifax Spy in a Flowered Hat
Quiz about Mrs Pollifax Spy in a Flowered Hat

Mrs. Pollifax: Spy in a Flowered Hat Quiz


From "The Unexpected Mrs. Pollifax" to "Mrs. Pollifax Unveiled", this quiz covers all 14 books in the series by Dorothy Gilman. Come join me on a world tour as we revisit the adventures of this surprising grandmotherly spy.

A multiple-choice quiz by akatriel1. Estimated time: 6 mins.
  1. Home
  2. »
  3. Quizzes
  4. »
  5. Literature Trivia
  6. »
  7. Authors D-G
  8. »
  9. G

Author
akatriel1
Time
6 mins
Type
Multiple Choice
Quiz #
352,256
Updated
Dec 03 21
# Qns
15
Difficulty
Average
Avg Score
10 / 15
Plays
153
- -
Question 1 of 15
1. In "The Unexpected Mrs. Pollifax", after admitting her childhood ambition to become a spy, Mrs. P. recalls preparations she once made to fulfill this dream. Which of the following did she NOT do as a child? Hint


Question 2 of 15
2. Originally accepted by the C.I.A. because she's the perfect "innocent tourist", Mrs. Pollifax soon proves to be a true asset by creatively and courageously escaping seemingly impossible situations. In "The Amazing Mrs. Pollifax", what new feat does she accomplish? Hint


Question 3 of 15
3. Always resourceful and never willing to admit defeat, in "The Elusive Mrs. Pollifax", our hero stages a prison break using, among other things, which of these? Hint


Question 4 of 15
4. This series has a few recurring characters--besides, of course, Mrs. Pollifax and her C.I.A. contacts. Robin Burke-Jones first appears in "A Palm for Mrs. Pollifax", as what? Hint


Question 5 of 15
5. "Mrs. Pollifax on Safari" includes the return of Farrell from book one ("The Unexpected Mrs. Pollifax"), as well as the introduction of a new permanent character. Who? Hint


Question 6 of 15
6. Mrs. Pollifax never did like quadrupeds, and her experience in "Mrs. Pollifax on the China Station" only deepens this dislike. She finds herself on a runaway horse, is nearly thrown off a cliff, and ends up with a broken wrist. What causes the horse to run away? Hint


Question 7 of 15
7. Mrs. Pollifax has a number of harrowing experiences, but in "Mrs. Pollifax and the Hong Kong Buddha", she suffers actual torture. In the shock that follows, what betrayal of the mind does she experience? Hint


Question 8 of 15
8. In every adventure before "Mrs. Pollifax and the Golden Triangle", our heroine manages to get captured at some point. This times, it's her husband Cyrus who's captured! What item does he drop at infrequent invervals to leave a trail as he's forced through the jungle? Hint


Question 9 of 15
9. In "Mrs. Pollifax and the Whirling Dervish", our heroine initially refuses the job that the C.I.A. asks her to do. Why is this? Hint


Question 10 of 15
10. What old friend and old enemy does Mrs. Pollifax encounter in "Mrs. Pollifax and the Second Thief"? Hint


Question 11 of 15
11. Our heroine is the one calling in the favors in "Mrs. Pollifax Pursued". What is the nature of the "safe house" in which the C.I.A. puts her? Hint


Question 12 of 15
12. In which book is the C.I.A. not involved? (If you know the name of the twelfth book in the series, this should be easy.) Hint


Question 13 of 15
13. While Mrs. Pollifax and Farrell aren't actually on a job for the C.I.A. in "Mrs. Pollifax, Innocent Tourist", they are on a socio-political mission, so it isn't THAT big a coincidence when they end up in the middle of a C.I.A. case anyway. However, the WAY they become involved is painfully coincidental. How does it happen? Hint


Question 14 of 15
14. In "Mrs. Pollifax Unveiled", Mornajay (Carstairs's boss) is assigned to help our heroine without her knowing it. Here we have another "Mrs. WHO?" moment. Why? Hint


Question 15 of 15
15. If you don't remember (or never knew), you've probably been wondering how our heroine could begin the series as Mrs. Pollifax, get married, and yet continue to be known as Mrs. Pollifax. How is this? Hint



(Optional) Create a Free FunTrivia ID to save the points you are about to earn:

arrow Select a User ID:
arrow Choose a Password:
arrow Your Email:




Quiz Answer Key and Fun Facts
1. In "The Unexpected Mrs. Pollifax", after admitting her childhood ambition to become a spy, Mrs. P. recalls preparations she once made to fulfill this dream. Which of the following did she NOT do as a child?

Answer: take karate lessons

She begins learning karate only after becoming a spy, as a "comfortable woman in her sixties" ... much to the amusement of young Agent Bishop.

When she reflects on these childhood preparations, she thinks that she must have been a very odd child--but then, her oddities end up being the very things that make her so valuable as a spy.
2. Originally accepted by the C.I.A. because she's the perfect "innocent tourist", Mrs. Pollifax soon proves to be a true asset by creatively and courageously escaping seemingly impossible situations. In "The Amazing Mrs. Pollifax", what new feat does she accomplish?

Answer: flies a helicopter

In a desperate bid for freedom--and survival--this completely untrained novice takes a helicopter and flies it...more or less. She never pilots a helicopter again (apparently deciding that karate would be a more useful skill to have), although she does use a helicopter to provide a diversion in a much later book, simply by turning it on and pressing a few buttons.
3. Always resourceful and never willing to admit defeat, in "The Elusive Mrs. Pollifax", our hero stages a prison break using, among other things, which of these?

Answer: geese

This plan with several parts and several players (including a tight-rope walker!) does indeed include a flock of geese--for noise, distraction, and misdirection. Her original assignment wasn't nearly so elaborate: she was merely supposed to deliver some passports. But somehow her simple assignments never stay simple for long.
4. This series has a few recurring characters--besides, of course, Mrs. Pollifax and her C.I.A. contacts. Robin Burke-Jones first appears in "A Palm for Mrs. Pollifax", as what?

Answer: a cat burglar

In this book, Mrs. Pollifax's "innocent tourist" guise fools her fellow agent and fails to fool those dangerous to her. Robin--who's neither--suspects her hidden layers when she says with obvious relief, "But you're only a jewel thief!"

This was one character who made it into a rather disastrous (in my opinion) attempt to render these books into a movie, albeit with a name change, from Burke-Jones to Hughes-Wright. This movie starred Angela Lansbury, not that I blame her. There was a much earlier (and possibly better) movie starring Rosalind Russell.
5. "Mrs. Pollifax on Safari" includes the return of Farrell from book one ("The Unexpected Mrs. Pollifax"), as well as the introduction of a new permanent character. Who?

Answer: Cyrus Reed, Mrs. Pollifax's future husband

A retired judge, Cyrus is accustomed to reading people and situations, and realizes that there's more to Mrs. Pollifax than meets the eye. When she's kidnapped away from her safari group and held hostage (a bewildering response to a rather innocent inquiry after her friend Farrell), Cyrus comes to the rescue, saying that it's the only way he could think of to get her attention.
6. Mrs. Pollifax never did like quadrupeds, and her experience in "Mrs. Pollifax on the China Station" only deepens this dislike. She finds herself on a runaway horse, is nearly thrown off a cliff, and ends up with a broken wrist. What causes the horse to run away?

Answer: Her co-agent sticks a burr under the horse's saddle.

She doesn't learn the identity of her co-agent until over a third of the way through her adventure, having been told only that it's a member of her tour group.

The burr was intentional--the danger was not. Yet another good plan that quickly gets away from them.
7. Mrs. Pollifax has a number of harrowing experiences, but in "Mrs. Pollifax and the Hong Kong Buddha", she suffers actual torture. In the shock that follows, what betrayal of the mind does she experience?

Answer: When Cyrus shows up in disguise to rescue her, she assumes that she's hallucinating.

The effects of the torture carry through into her next adventure, but she overcomes it in time. In fact, it gives her a bond with agents in future books who've undergone something similar.
8. In every adventure before "Mrs. Pollifax and the Golden Triangle", our heroine manages to get captured at some point. This times, it's her husband Cyrus who's captured! What item does he drop at infrequent invervals to leave a trail as he's forced through the jungle?

Answer: bits of a label from a tin of sardines

They were actually on vacation, only meaning to add one quick "errand" for the C.I.A. into their itinerary. Cyrus never goes on vacation without his sardines.
9. In "Mrs. Pollifax and the Whirling Dervish", our heroine initially refuses the job that the C.I.A. asks her to do. Why is this?

Answer: She has moral objections.

Since she isn't a regular agent, she's perfectly free to turn down jobs from the C.I.A. When Bishop reminds her that she trusts Carstairs--his boss--she concedes...and later learns that her objections were indeed unfounded.
10. What old friend and old enemy does Mrs. Pollifax encounter in "Mrs. Pollifax and the Second Thief"?

Answer: Farrell & "Aristotle", last seen in Africa

This one isn't actually a C.I.A. mission, but rather a favor for ex-agent Farrell (in hopes, naturally, that he'd agree to return to the agency). Since his troubles stemmed from an encounter with an enemy first met on a mission, I think they owed him that.
11. Our heroine is the one calling in the favors in "Mrs. Pollifax Pursued". What is the nature of the "safe house" in which the C.I.A. puts her?

Answer: a circus

In one of those fascinating but clearly fictional twists, her adventure becomes entwined with Carstairs's current case. Meanwhile, this book introduces Kady Hopkirk, immediately adopted as Cyrus's and Mrs. Pollifax's unofficial foster daughter.
12. In which book is the C.I.A. not involved? (If you know the name of the twelfth book in the series, this should be easy.)

Answer: "Mrs. Pollifax and the Lion Killer"

Actually, "The Clairvoyant Countess" is a non-Pollifax book by the same author.

As for this non-C.I.A. adventure, our heroine plays unlikely bodyguard to Kady when she returns to the African village where her parents' murderers still roam free.
13. While Mrs. Pollifax and Farrell aren't actually on a job for the C.I.A. in "Mrs. Pollifax, Innocent Tourist", they are on a socio-political mission, so it isn't THAT big a coincidence when they end up in the middle of a C.I.A. case anyway. However, the WAY they become involved is painfully coincidental. How does it happen?

Answer: Mrs. Pollifax's seatmate on the plane happens to be a terrorist.

In a hilarious moment, the reporting agent, while telling Carstairs of a "woman tourist" who's become involved, mentions her name, to which Carstairs replies in a stunned voice, "Mrs. WHO?" and Bishop bursts out laughing.
14. In "Mrs. Pollifax Unveiled", Mornajay (Carstairs's boss) is assigned to help our heroine without her knowing it. Here we have another "Mrs. WHO?" moment. Why?

Answer: He was a part of her "Golden Triangle" adventure but never knew she was a fellow agent.

Too many secrets. Mornajay never told the C.I.A. about his adventure in Morocco--or indeed that he'd even been there--Mrs. Pollifax never told the C.I.A. about meeting Mornajay, and the C.I.A. didn't--well, COULDN'T--tell her who they were sending to help.

Also, despite its title and the fact that this is the last in the series, Mrs. Pollifax was not "unveiled" to the world as a spy. After 34 years of writing Mrs. Pollifax books, Dorothy Gilman simply got too old to continue. Now for one last question...
15. If you don't remember (or never knew), you've probably been wondering how our heroine could begin the series as Mrs. Pollifax, get married, and yet continue to be known as Mrs. Pollifax. How is this?

Answer: She's Mr. Pollifax's widow, and chooses to retain his name, despite remarrying.

When she marries Cyrus Reed, she becomes legally Mrs. Reed-Pollifax, "defying every known law of convention". However, everyone continues to call her "Mrs. Pollifax", thus justifying the continuity of book titles.
Source: Author akatriel1

This quiz was reviewed by FunTrivia editor looney_tunes before going online.
Any errors found in FunTrivia content are routinely corrected through our feedback system.
3/29/2024, Copyright 2024 FunTrivia, Inc. - Report an Error / Contact Us