"If you make it across the border, get us help. Some of us care. Do you understand? ... The arrests grow insane."

At the very hour this message is en route to the CIA, Mrs Pollifax is waiting for her night-blooming cereus flower to do its thing. She hardly gets to see its flowers, though, before being whisked off for another daring mission halfway across the world.

Soon she is sporting a beautiful new hat - perfect for hiding eight forged passports.

Armed with only an open mind and a little karate, Mrs Pollifax is the most unlikely and lovable of international spies.