As myriad readers will gladly attest, there is nothing more entertaining than a Dorothy Gilman novel, for the author of the beloved Mrs. Pollifax novels brings to her work a distinctive mix of romance and mystery that inspired the New York Times Book Review to say of a recent Gilman jewel, "Should delight you whether you're looking for smiles or thrills." That promise is honored--with dividends--in Thale's Folly. At the request of his father, New York City novelist Andrew Thale tackles an odd assignment--to check out an old family property in western Massachusetts, neglected since Aunt Harriet Thale's death years ago. Much odder still is what he finds. Far from being deserted, Thale's Folly is fully inhabited--by a quartet of charming squatters, former "guests" of kindhearted Aunt Harriet. Elegant Miss L'Hommedieu, Gussie the witch, Leo the bibliophile, and beautiful nineteen-year-old Tarragon, who is unlike any girl Andrew has ever met in Manhattan. Andrew is entranced by these unworldly creatures and their simple life. Yet all is not well in Thale's Folly. A thief breaks into the farmhouse, and an old friend of the "family" disappears. While the peace that appears to have been Aunt Harriet's only legacy to her companions is destroyed, Andrew and Tarragon are drawn into mysteries they cannot fathom. But, for the first time, Andrew begins to understand that love and loyalty are life's greatest treasures. Once again, Dorothy Gilman enchants us. Thale's Folly is just as tempting as a delicious caper from the unsinkable Mrs. Pollifax.

Thale's Folly

Gilman, Dorothy

Romance

Ballantine Books

After facing down hijackers on a flight to the Middle East and saving the lives of the passengers on board, a young American woman steps off the plane in Damascus in a blaze of celebrity and disappears. The CIA believes Amanda Pym was kidnapped, possibly murdered. Masquerading as Amanda Pym’s worried aunt, Mrs. Pollifax begins her determined search, slipping through Damascus’s crooked streets and crowded souks . . . and trekking deep into the desert. Yet she is shadowed by deadly enemies, whose sinister agenda threatens not only Mrs. P. but the fragile stability of the entire Middle East. Only a miracle–or a brilliant counterplot– can forestall a disaster that will send shock waves around the world. From the Paperback edition.

Mrs. Pollifax Unveiled

Literature & Fiction

United States

Next to the incomparable Mrs. Pollifax, Dorothy Gilman’s best-loved character is the mysterious Madame Karitska, who is blessed with a powerful gift of clairvoyance that attracts to her a stream of men and women craving help with their misfortunes, desperate to know what the future holds. . . . When a brilliant young violinist dies in a horrific accident, Madame Karitska has only to hold the victim’s instrument in her hands to perceive the shocking truth. But when an insecure wife asks whether her husband will abandon her to join a sinister cult, Madame Karitska–as wise as she is lovely–chooses not to reveal all that she foresees. And when an attaché case is suddenly dropped into her lap by a man fleeing a crowded subway, she knows it’s time to consult her good friend Detective-Lieutenant Pruden. A nine-year-old accused of murder, a man dying a slow death by witchcraft– for the hunted and the haunted, Madame Karitska’s shabby downtown apartment becomes a haven, where brilliant patterns of violence, greed, passion, and strange obsessions mix and disintegrate with stunning, kaleidoscopic beauty. Once again Dorothy Gilman exercises her own uncanny power to render readers spellbound. From the Hardcover edition.

Kaleidoscope (Madame Karitska)

Mystery, Thriller & Suspense

Mystery

“A lushly romantic adventure story set in the North African desert in 1914, told by the impeccable Lady Treal as she reminisces in her London town house about her decidedly peccable past . . . Well-written, expertly plotted, perfectly paced.”—Newsday With her anthropologist husband murdered and their caravan stolen by fierce Tuareg tribesmen, Caressa has two choices: death or a life of slavery. Concealing her dangerous beauty beneath the faded robes of an Arab boy, she embarks on the adventure of her life, harassed by vicious nomads, slave traders and the envious witch doctor, Isa. Only a handful of carnival magic tricks stands between her and oblivion. Then she discovers an inner magic so mysteriously compelling that the desert people call her a sorceress. . . . “Sheer reading pleasure.”—Publishers Weekly

Caravan: A Novel

Genre Fiction

Random House Publishing Group

The Amazing Mrs. Pollifax

A middle-aged New Jersey suburbanite is called into service by the C.I.A. and finds herself in Istanbul

DOUBLEDAY

From the bestselling author of the Mrs. Pollifax books comes a new mystery habit to acquire. From the moment Sister John and Sister Hyacinthe reach the old house left to their abbey by a mysterious benefactor, their cloistered world begins to crumble. First, there is the wounded man hiding in the house, then the suitcase stuffed with money sitting at the bottom of the well, not to mention fearful apparitions in the night. Lord only knows what's going on. That is, until the good sisters, armed only with their faith and boundless energy, set things right--even if it means a shocking revelation or two about ghosts, gangsters...and murder.

A Nun in the Closet

The Locust: A Guide for Laboratory Practical Work

Doubleday Books

At the request of her old CIA contact, Carstairs, Emily Pollifax leaves New Jersey and her geraniums for Africa, where she battles dark forces of evil to save an African leader from assassination

Mrs. Pollifax on Safari

When Alison Bartlett is found murdered in her apartment, Lieutenant Pruden seeks the help of psychic, Madame Karitska

The Clairvoyant Countess

Contemporary

An innocent-looking grandmother who has a knowledge of karate agrees to help the CIA recover plutonium that has been stolen

A Palm for Mrs. Pollifax

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Books by Gilman, Dorothy