Auntie Poldi and the Sicilian Lions by Mario Giordano

Reviewed by Jeanne

Auntie Poldi, a sixty year old force of nature, has been battling depression since the death of her husband—well, ex-husband, but that’s a mere detail—and decides she is going to retire to somewhere with a view of the sea.  Her alarmed family is afraid she intends to drink herself to death there and dispatches a nephew to keep tabs on her when they can’t.

Poldi is a Bavarian lady, very stylish, with maybe a few extra pounds these days, but still someone to be reckoned with, as the Sicilian police are about to find out. Just because she’s retired and possibly slightly suicidal doesn’t mean one can’t enjoy life, and most especially the sight of a handsome man wearing a uniform (taking photos of said men being one of Poldi’s hobbies) or the attractive young handyman who is helping Poldi out in her new abode. When her handyman fails to show up, Poldi is concerned.

She is the only one, however.  Most people haven’t even noticed Valentino has gone missing and even fewer seem to care.  But Poldi is not one to leave a mystery unsolved, and wig firmly on her head and a vow to remain sober (well, except for a bottle of Prosecco and a beer or two, and those hardly count), she sets out to find what has happened to her handyman.

I found this book to be a delight from start to finish.  Poldi is a most memorable character, but the whole extended Italian/German family is a treat.  Poldi’s nephew, who serves in part as narrator, is supposedly writing a novel of his own, so at times the narrative stops while Poldi gives him helpful criticism. While some readers may not like the little asides or Poldi’s encounter with Death (who was rather confused as she was not on his list), I thought it funny and charming. Humor abounds, and I loved many of the phrases—a very elderly character is described as “smelling of mothballs and eternity” while a young woman is “every chain-smoking French film director’s dream.” The descriptions of Sicily and most especially Sicilians are wonderful, as are the meals—the family knows food. Poldi smokes, drinks, flirts, and generally bulldozes her way into any situation.  There are suspects galore, including a very suspicious businessman who is, Poldi is sure, a Mafioso. 

Have I mentioned Poldi is not the soul of discretion?

I laughed my way through this book and its sequel, and am looking forward to the third in the series, not yet published in the U.S.  Long live Auntie Poldi!