Books like Mrs. Polifax and the Second Thief by Dorothy Gilman

During World War II, a foster girl in Nazi Germany steals books to share with neighbors and a hidden Jewish man, proving literature’s power to nourish the soul amid darkness.

Tom Ripley is hired to travel to Italy and persuade a wayward son to return home, but he becomes obsessed with taking the boy’s life, identity and wealth.

A charming and clever women detective, Precious Ramotswe, solves mysteries in Botswana's small town of Midsomin, South Africa, from 1986 to 1997, facing dangers and love in the process. The novel is beloved by readers worldwide for its clever dialogue and characters who are as flawed as the rest of us. The book is a bestseller and has been translated into 45 languages, including Polish, German, and Japanese, among others. It was also voted one of the International Books of the Year and the Millennium by the Times Literary Supplement.

Jason Bourne, a deep‑cover operative with no memory, is rescued after a beachwreck and discovers a bank account embedded in his body that leads him to Switzerland and the truth about his past.

A widowed matron turns into a CIA‑recognized spy, undertaking a globe‑spanning mission from New Jersey to Mexico City and Albania.

Mickey Haller, a cynical Los Angeles criminal defense lawyer, tackles a high‑paying case that turns out to be far more dangerous than it first appears.

John le Carré’s Cold‑War spy thriller follows British agent Alec Leamas as he takes one last perilous assignment to outwit East German intelligence.

An unassuming American widow, Mrs. Pollifax, impersonates a CIA widow to rescue her niece in Damascus after a hijacking, navigating souks and deserts while fending off foes who threaten Middle‑East stability.

Emily Pollifax, a bored homemaker with a love for gardening, unexpectedly joins the CIA and embarks on a surprising espionage adventure, blending humor, travel, and mystery.

"I very much need to be dead." These are the chilling last words left by a man who had everything to live for but took his own life. In the void that remains stands his widow, FBI agent Jane Hawk, surrounded by questions destined to go unanswered unless she does what all the grief and fury inside her demand: Find the truth, no matter what. People of talent and accomplishment, people seemingly happy and sound of mind, have recently been committing suicide in surprising numbers. A disturbing pattern is beginning to emerge. Jane is determined to give up everything to find out why. And if that means going rogue and becoming America's Most Wanted, then so be it. Those arrayed against her are legion, and devoted to protecting something profoundly important-or terrifying-enough to exterminate any and all in their way. But Jane is as clever as these enemies are cold-blooded, as relentless as they are ruthless. And she is driven by a righteous rage they can never comprehend. Because it is born of love.

Elderly Mrs. Pollifax embarks on a series of light‑hearted spy missions with the CIA, proving that wit and determination can outshine youth in intelligence work.