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    Auntie Poldi and the Sicilian Lions
    Auntie Poldi and the Sicilian Lions
    Auntie Poldi and the Sicilian Lions
    Audiobook9 hours

    Auntie Poldi and the Sicilian Lions

    Written by Mario Giordano

    Narrated by Matt Addis

    3.5/5

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    About this audiobook

    Auntie Poldi, sassy, brassy and sixty, moves to Sicily for a quiet alcohol-fuelled retirement. A murder spoils her plans. This is the first novel in a charming new mystery series set in Sicily and laced with Italian sensuality and humor. It features an amateur sleuth, the sassy and foul-mouthed Auntie Poldi. Recently widowed Poldi moves to Sicily in order to quietly drink herself to death with a sea view, but fate intervenes. When she finds the corpse of a young man on the beach, his face blown off with a sawn-off shotgun, she becomes a potential suspect in his murder case. Poldi soon falls for the gorgeous Commissario Montana who has been assigned to lead the case. They form an investigative-and romantic-partnership. The delightful details of this romance, and the extreme awkwardness of Poldi's retelling it to her mortified nephew, are some of the novel's many high points. Sicily, a vivid backdrop, is an island of people obsessed with food. They talk passionately about which remote village produces the best olives, pistachio ice cream, oyster mushrooms, mandarins, and marzipan, and about which restaurant serves the best pasta al nero di sepia or canolli a la crema di ricotta. And there is never a direct reference to the mafia ("an invention of those fascists in the North"), even when confronted with murders committed with sawn-off shotguns.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherRecorded Books, Inc.
    TranslatorJohn Brownjohn
    Release dateMar 6, 2018
    ISBN9781501977893
    Author

    Mario Giordano

    MARIO GIORDANO, the son of Italian immigrants, was born in Munich. Auntie Poldi and the Sicilian Lions, his first novel translated into English, was an Indie Next Pick, a Barnes &Noble Discover selection, an Amazon Best Book of the Month, and a Costco Staff Pick. He lives in Berlin.

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    Reviews for Auntie Poldi and the Sicilian Lions

    3.5/5

    163 ratings34 reviews

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    • 3/5
      Gooddreads tells me I read this book four years ago; I sure don't remember it. I gave it two stars back then--which I rarely do--but this time I've bumped it up to three. Memorable characters for sure (though why the wig?). The mystery is simply a ploy to run the characters around: there's no way it's solvable.
    • 3/5
      I bought this book one day, because I was busting for the bathroom and the Library was the closest public one; I felt a little bad about just going in to use the facilities, so I popped into the FOTL shop (again) and picked this one up. Meh. It wasn't bad or great; it had it's moments, but while I liked the narrator (Aunti Poldi's nephew), and Poldi's sisters-in-law, I didn't really care for Aunt Poldi, probably because she was a drunk. The author attempts to make her desire to drink herself to death sound romantic, and–weirdly–funny, but it just comes across as: she's a bleeding drunk. The mystery was good though; I didn't see the solution coming at all and it held my attention when the MC failed to. I read this for space #19 as the cover is easily 50% blue.
    • 4/5
      This was a silly romp of a murder mystery novel. People expecting a tightly plotted Ms. Marple style sleuthing might be disappointed, but I greatly enjoyed the adorable, overwhelming mess of a woman that is Auntie Poldi and the adorable, overwhelming mess of a novel that is this book. It gave me a big hankering for Sicilian food!
    • 2/5
      Auntie Poldi retires to Sicily and almost immediately gets caught up in a police investigation even though she was repeatedly told "no." She thinks authorities neglect the case so her determination to solve it drives her to ignore threats and warnings from officials. The story does not flow well. Whether that lies in the original story or in the translation, I do not know. I never developed a liking for Auntie Poldi, and I doubt I will read future installments.
    • 4/5
      I think I rarely laughed as much as I did while reading this book. What makes it special is the language. Auntie Poldi is a Bavarian who was married to a Sicilian. After his death, everything is too dull in Munich, so she emigrates to Sicily to her sisters-in-law and their families. She buys a house with sea views from the roof terrace. Since she is no longer the youngest, she gets help from the young Valentino when renovating the house, who one day does not show up and Autie Poldi finds him murdered on the beach three days later. Auntie Poldi has a strong commitment to amateur detective and decides she has to solve the murder herself, against the will of the police, especially the handsome chief commissioner Montana.She tells the story to her nephew Giordano, who actually wants to write a family epic and is still in his infancy with his great-grandfather.The Bavarian language is the charm of this cozy reading. I will certainly read the other books too.
    • 3/5
      I thought this sounded like a fun read, but I was disappointed. I never really liked the main character, and the plot didn’t flow well. So 3 stars for being somewhat entertaining. Maybe 2.5.
    • 4/5
      I went to Italy with my parents and sister this year. It was an amazing experience and I would love to go back and explore more of the country someday. We ventured all over Tuscany but we didn't make it to Sicily and our adventures were more in the line of bathroom mishaps than stumbling on a dead body but Mario Giordano's Auntie Poldi and the Sicilian Lions, the first in a series of mysteries, had me smiling and remembering our trip with great fondness. Maybe if I go back and visit Sicily, I can meet my very own Auntie Poldi.Auntie Poldi, a sixty year old Bavarian woman, has recently retired from her job as a costume designer. Despite having lived forever in Munich, she decides that she wants to be closer to her sisters-in-law in Sicily and so she finds and purchases a crumbling home there. Her plan is to drink herself to death in the warmth of the sun near the ocean but her nephew Giordano, a frustrated writer floundering with his ever changing family history novel, is dispatched to live on and off with Poldi to keep an eye on her. More than keeping an eye on his eccentric aunt though, he narrates the story of Poldi's at first accidental and then intentional involvement in a murder with all of the chaos, theories, danger, and uncomfortable situations that accompany that involvement. As Poldi is a personable and caring woman, she collects friends and acquaintances in her new home, including the handsome, young Valentino Candela, a handyman who helps out around her dilapidated house. When Valentino goes missing, Poldi is concerned, and more so when no one else seems to blink an eye at his disappearance. Then she stumbles on his body on the beach and vows to uncover his murderer. This brings her in direct opposition to the official investigator, Vito Montana, to whom Poldi has an immediate attraction despite his seeming indifference to her and his explicit warning to her to stay out of his investigation. But Poldi has some theories and she's determined to follow them up and find out the truth.Poldi is a quirky, feisty character. She is generally confident and self-assured both sexually and intellectually but she also has moments of definite faltering and self-doubt. She can be a figure of fun (constantly setting her wig straight) but there's never any doubt that she'll eventually find out what she wants to know. Her relationship with Montana is well developed and the personal and professional tension between them moves along at a good pace. The search for Valentino's murderer is as much a search for the motive as much as it is for the killer. The setting was very well done; the reader could easily visualize both the beauty and the seediness of Sicily and while there were occasional info dumps about the history of the island, they were ultimately significant to the search for the murderer. Giordano, the author (as opposed to the nephew narrating the story), explains the general Sicilian character nicely without resorting to cliche and then personalizes each of his carefully created characters. The story did take some time to get moving, building Poldi's past and her family's worry for her, as well as establishing the character of the town and the people in it, but once Valentino's body appears on the beach, the story picks up, even when Poldi runs into dead ends or has to reassess her theories. There is a dry humor here and the language is perhaps a little more literary than usual so it's not a book to breeze through. But the setting is sublime, the characters are engaging, and the mystery unfolds so that the reader only comes to figure out whodunit when Poldi herself does. A promising start to a series for mystery readers who like a little flamboyance and a little foreignness in their mystery reading.
    • 3/5
      Poldi is what you would get if Phryne Fisher had been created by French and Saunders and had her adventures recounted by Patrick Dennis. The mystery is a bit ho-hum, though.
    • 4/5
      Feisty German widow living in Sicily - hard to keep straight at times. Droll.
    • 3/5
      This was a fun read, especially for people who have visited Sicily. what a cast o characters inhabit this island.
    • 2/5
      The plot/story was a cute idea, but the narrator's voice, in the book, didn't do anything for me. Needless to say I was very disappointed.I didn't warm up to any of the characters, they didn't feel alive... I was also confused in the beginning with Auntie Poldi's various names & nick-names.This is a popular book, there is even a waiting list at the Library of people wanting to read it. I'd like to know what they think about it.Synopsis: "On her sixtieth birthday, Auntie Poldi retires to Sicily, intending to while away the rest of her days with good wine, a view of the sea, and few visitors. But Sicily isn’t quite the tranquil island she thought it would be, and something always seems to get in the way of her relaxation. When her handsome young handyman goes missing—and is discovered murdered—she can’t help but ask questions . . .Soon there’s an investigation, a smoldering police inspector, a romantic entanglement, one false lead after another, a rooftop showdown, and finally, of course, Poldi herself, slightly tousled, but still perfectly poised.This “masterly treat” (Times Literary Supplement) will transport you to the rocky shores of Torre Archirafi, to a Sicily full of quirky characters, scorching days, and velvety nights, alongside a protagonist who’s as fiery as the Sicilian sun."
    • 2/5
      This book is just not the book for me.
    • 3/5
      Auntie Poldi moves to Sicily and as her nephew, the narrator informs us “Sicily is complicated – you can’t simply die there; something always gets in the way…. Someone was murdered” and Auntie Poldi “had to take matters in hand... and sort them out. And that was when the problems arose.” Isolde Oberreiter, a/k/a Auntie Poldi, is an outrageous character transplanted from Germany to her beloved Sicily where she only desires a sea view and family for company. She makes coffee in the nude, greets Namaste to all things including a camera and the clouds, falls in lust with a forlorn detective, promises to solve a murder and falls off the wagon repeatedly. This is a mildly entertaining murder/detective story which appears to be the first in a possible series.Thank you NetGalley and Houghton Mifflin Harcourt for an advance copy.
    • 3/5
      I loved the vivid descriptions of Sicily. However, I felt like the story dragged. There were several times where I set the book down and read another book instead. Auntie Poldi is a raging alcoholic. I am surprised that her memory is good enough to solve this case.
    • 2/5
      Auntie Poldi retires to Sicily from Munich, to drink and enjoy flirting with men. When her handyman disappears she decides to investigate and finds him murdered and a gruesome murder it is. She continues to ask questions, getting on the nerves of the investigator (and me too). Soon she is traveling all over the place to get to the bottom of it all. So much for a quiet retirement. I enjoyed the descriptiveness of the locations but that is about it. I didn’t really care about Aunt Poldi and her exploits and the rest of the characters did anything for me. I really tried to get into the story and continued on. Although I finished reading it, I didn’t care for it at all. Maybe it was the translation or the cultural differences but this was not for me.
    • 3/5
      An interesting read especially for the Italian backdrops. Good character development. It would have been an easier read if there had been a glossary or dictionary to translate the Italian terms.
    • 4/5
      Oh that I were as brave as Auntie Poldi! When life in Munich just seems to much to bear, Aunti Poldi moves to Sicily where she has a view of the seas, good food, and good wine. Everything is going along just swimmingly, when her handyman turns up dead and Aunti Polid just happens to be the one to find the body.This book is great fun and looks to be a winner for this spring and summer. If you love mystery and intrigue set in a gorgeous, brilliant Italian town, then you will love this book. While the plot is not that intricate and situations seem a little coincidental, all in all "Aunti Poldi and the Sicilian Lions" is a terrific read.
    • 4/5
      Auntie Poldi is an enchanting lady of a certain age who moves to Sicily to be near family. The novel is narrated by her nephew; he holds his aunt in high esteem. Auntie Poldi's handyman turns up murdered, and she has to have a hand in solving the mystery. I thoroughly enjoyed meeting Auntie Poldi, and I hope other books about her will be coming out at some point. She is quirky and lovable, as are other characters in the book. The only problem I had was picturing her as being only 3 years older than I am. By the descriptions in the book, I would have guessed she was older than that. Most 60-year old ladies I know are still working hard and look and act quite young. I never could reconcile the descriptions of her with the actuality. **I received this book for free in exchange for an honest review from LibraryThing's Early Reviewers programs. **
    • 2/5
      Thank you LibraryThing for sharing a copy of this book. However, I truly did not care for it and felt it was a waste of my time trying to wade through it. Maybe the gripping parts of the story were lost in the translation. I just did not enjoy getting through this story.
    • 4/5
      Auntie Poldi wants to die. Not really but that's what her family thinks. What Poldi really wants is to feel at home and a part of something. She's not feeling that in Germany and so decides to move where she can see the sea.She promptly makes connections, one of those is a young man who would like to learn German so he does odd jobs in return for the lessons. He goes missing for a few days and Poldi has a feeling that something bad has happened.The story was exactly like an Italian story should be "sweet, salty, bitter, smooth - hitting all the notes". Very enjoyable and from the way the book ends a possibility of more Auntie Poldi stories.
    • 5/5
      Sicily, amateur-sleuth, women-sleuths, murder-investigation, law-enforcement, verbal-humor, situational-humor, cultural-exploration ------What a great read! As soon as I poked my nose into this book it held on and made me finish it in one day! Auntie Poldi is wonderful with her towering black wigs, risqué attire, fashion sense, and involvement in life even when she is battling depression. She involves herself in the investigation and won't let go until the right person is charged with the murder. The publisher's blurb gives hints and there is no need for spoilers, but that can't begin to prepare you for all the laughs! The whole thing is told by her nephew as she fills him in during his monthly visits from Germany while he tries to write a novel. Don't miss this, especially if you enjoy Comissario Montalbano. I don't speak Italian or Sicilian, but everything flows well so I credit that to the work of the translation team. I originally won an uncorrected proof in a LibraryThing Giveaway, had some problems with sight reading, then saw that it would soon be on audio, so I bought it. I actually prefer narrated books when I suspect that I would screw up the other language's pronunciations. Matt Addis is really super at narrating this one and I hope that he will be doing the others.
    • 4/5
      I found this book to be a very light and entertaining mystery. It was enjoyable to have the book based in Sicily. I would have preferred the book to have been written directly about Poldi rather than through her writer nephew; I didn't think that added to the book in any way. It seemed like the author wanted us to consider Poldi the Sicilian Auntie Mame. Poldi was a fun and refreshing character and the book kept my attention.
    • 4/5
      Loved the bits about Sicily. Liked but didn't love the rest. I know Poldi is supposed to be lovable, brash, and outrageous, but maybe it suffered in translation. Still, nice to see another mystery series, in a new location, that is not police based, and is more lighthearted. many thanks to LibraryThing Early Reviewers for my copy of the book. It's due out in March 2018.
    • 4/5
      If you love reading quirky murder mysteries similar to the style of M.E. Beaton, you will enjoy this read. Love that European writers do not shy away from an elderly protagonist as Auntie Poldi is not your endearing old Aunt.The book is narrated by her nephew, an inspiring writer, who weaves an enjoyable tale of his Aunt's first year in Sicily. Aunt Poldi's husband who was born in Sicily immigrates to Sicily from her home country of Germany. Poldi moved on her sixtieth birthday intending to drink herself comfortable to death with enjoying an ocean view. Poldi is a glamorous figure, always ready to make a dramatic entrance and the locals can either take her or leave with no middle ground.When Valentino, her handyman, is missing she makes it her job to find him. Unfortunately, she does find his dead body on her local beach. Regardless of words of caution from the police, she continues to find his murderer. Here is hoping this book is truly the first in the series of Aunti Poldi's murder mysteries.
    • 4/5
      For a first novel, this was pretty good. I was also impressed by the translater. I was reduced to using a dictionary several times-but yup, those were English words, just not ones I have ever seen or heard before! I’m sure other authors have used Giordano’s trick of telling us what to expect in the chapter—sort of a sentence outline—but I have never encountered it used to such good effect. I suspend complete approbation of the series until a few more are published. I hope this is a winner!
    • 3/5
      The advance review copy I received prior to Aunt Poldi’s American debut contained an introductory blurb from Nancy Simpson-Brice of Book Vault, “Move over, Alexander McCall Smith...Mario Giordano is in the room!” I love serial novels and mysteries and McCall Smith is my all-time favorite,so my expectations were high. Aunt Poldi is a 60 year old German divorced retiree who moves to Sicily to enjoy a sea view as she drinks herself to death. She is slightly overweight, always wears a wig, smokes, drinks, and keeps a photo album of hot male police officers that she encounters on her travels. When a handyman she has hired to do some work on her newly restored villa disappears, Poldi begins an investigation. The novel is narrated by Poldi’s nephew, a struggling writer. This was the where the story begin to strain credulity for me. The nephew describes her thoughts (often quite witty),what she sees, and even her romantic trysts. Granted, my nephews don’t occasionally board in my attic, but I can’t imagine them knowing such details about my day to day life. The mystery itself was an adequate one, the sort that you might find in a cozy series with a few too many coincidences to be believable but you enjoy anyway because you love the characters and it offers a wonderful escape. It was a rather small part of the novel. Much space was devoted to character development for almost every character, however minor their role may be and creating atmosphere. Aunt Poldi and the Sicilian Lions was originally written in German, and I would guess that much of its charm was lost in translation. I felt like there was subtle humor and cultural references I might have appreciated more if I were more familiar with German and Sicilian cultures. I don’t anticipate that I will seek out the second installment of Auntie Poldie’s adventures, but if you want to, I believe it is already out in the UK. The German covers are my favorite! Some of my series recommendations:Cozy series, not necessarily mysteries: Everything by Alexander McCall Smith, Miss Julia by Ann B Ross, An Irish Country Doctor series by Patrick Taylor, and Needlework Mysteries by Monica FerrisSet in Italy: Commisario Brunetti by Donna Leon and Inspector Montalbano by Andrea Camilleri I’d love to find more -feel free to comment!
    • 3/5
      Delightful tale of a wacky wig wearing 60 year old busy body who loves men!! Sort of like an Auntie Mame sleuth. A german resident who moves to Sicily to be closer to family becomes involved with solving the murder of a young handy man she hired to help around her run down home.Fun, light read with a memorable character. Look forward to reading more of her adventures.
    • 3/5
      If I had to read one more sentence that started "My Auntie Poldi" ... I think this would have been a lot better read if Giordano had just stuck with plain old standard third person. Preempting scenes as if he was there, witnessing/hearing it got to be distracting and annoying.The gist of the story is "my auntie Poldi" interferes with the police as she tries to solve a mystery she is involved with. There is an attraction between her and the main investigator, friction between another and the perpetrator makes attempts on her life.I really tried.
    • 3/5
      Auntie Poldi and the Sicilian Lions (Tante Poldi #1)by Mario Giordano, John Brownjohn (Translation) 3 ★Auntie Poldi, a Bavarian widow, is a quirky character who survives on "escapades, entanglements" and excitement."On her sixtieth birthday, Auntie Poldi retires to Sicily, intending to while away the rest of her days with good wine, a view of the sea, and few visitors."The disappearance and subsequent murder of her young handyman Valentino, begins a series of adventures imbued with alcohol and Poldi's lusty vigor.Isolde is not my favorite heroine but she definitely was a unique comedic character.You can't help but laugh frequently and I'm sure her adventures will have a loyal following.Auntie Poldi and the Fruits of the Lord (Auntie Poldi, #2)follows.
    • 4/5
      Thank you to Houghton Mifflin Harcourt and NetGalley for providing an e-galley of Auntie Poldi and the Sicilian Lions by Mario Giordano in exchange for an honest review. This mystery is narrated by the nephew of Auntie Poldi, a sixty-year-old retiree from Munich who has decided that Sicily will be ideal for her quiet, alcohol-imbued retirement. However, life changes unexpectedly when her handyman is murdered and our heroine becomes an amateur sleuth. Her meddling ways cause problems for the police officer charged with the investigation. And she also makes a nuisance of herself with the individuals that she suspects of the murder. This mystery flows well and is often quite amusing. A most enjoyable read.