Working with her retired CIA friend John Farrell, Mrs Pollifax must smuggle a manuscript out of Jordan.

The document encodes the shocking truth of Saddam Hussein's reign. Yet hardly are the two of them airborne when the coils of Middle Eastern intrigue begin to unwind. Mrs Pollifax's seat neighbour is not the affable Arab businessman he pretends to be.

For Mrs P. and Farrell to elude their pursuers in such a politically volatile country is no easy matter. In fact, it can be downright deadly.

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