Auntie Poldi and the Sicilian Lions

By: Mario Giordano, John Brownjohn

Narrated by: Matt Addis

Length: 9 hrs and 32 mins

Publisher's summary

Auntie Poldi, sassy, brassy, and 60, 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.

©2015 Bastei Lubbe AG, Koln; Translation: 2016 John Brownjohn (P)2018 Hodder & Stoughton Limited

Wonderful!

Murder / Food / Sicily - What's not to like? This is a wonderful book with delightful characters. The author has an interesting style of writing. He begins each chapter telling us (generally) what will happen and then tells the detailed story of how it happened. The story is revealed by Aunti Poldi's nephew (oddly un-named), so we hear the story mostly in third-person and well after the events occur. An excellent first book in a series. Highly recommended! (especially to Inspector Montalbano fans...)

An excellent vacation read.

Auntie is a free spirt that. is willing to be led by her instinct and her heart.

Loved this book!!

Such a fun mystery with great characters! Well written, smart, quirky. The performance is great!

So much fun!

This was a light-hearted, fun book thinly veiled as a murder mystery. I enjoyed it thoroughly. The narrator, Matt Addis, was absolute perfection - my new favorite narrator! He had a smooth silky European voice and did every voice wonderfully. I’m looking forward to any sequels because Aunt Poldi has won my heart.

Did Not Finish

After awhile I felt I wasn't getting into this one, but decided to soldier on. At around 2/3, I fell asleep finding the book at the end when I awoke. I just didn't care enough to go back and listen - moving on. The gimmick of the narrator nephew was okay, but I think one has to be "Bavarian" (NOT just German) to appreciate it Poldi and her background.

What FUN!

I loved this book and learned so much about Sicilian everyday life and culture. However the character of Auntie Poldi is the STAR. Not often does one find a book where a 60 year old woman solves a murder (actually two murders). The beginning is all about Poldi and why/how she came to Sicily, but soon picks up the pace when she finds a young man she knows lying dead on the beach. How I wish I could adopt Poldi's outlook on life, her enthusiasm, courage, and bright mind. You go Auntie!
Hopefully there will be another Poldi book . I liked how the tale unfolded with the nephew as the narrator. Well done!

Not the best book

Not the best book or the worst ever. But the best part was the last chapter.

Auntie Poldi Rocks!

Would you consider the audio edition of Auntie Poldi and the Sicilian Lions to be better than the print version?

The narrator did an excellent job. I enjoyed the audio version because the pronunciation of the different languages and accents was on point.

Any additional comments?

It was a fun, smart and and sweet murder mystery, great for spring break listening. I thoroughly enjoyed this book. I cannot wait for the other books in this series to be translated into English.

Great fun in Sicily!

This book was such great fun!! Auntie Poldi is such a fun & bawdy character! Just the kind of gal I'd like to hang out with or eve be one day and even better that she lives in Sicily! I found the first chapter a little hard to keep up with all the names but once the mystery started, I was hooked! I loved Poldi and her family and friends and her blossoming relationship with the police inspector! The narrator was good too. More than once I wondered if I were listening to Sean Connery in character when he was reading the police inspector. I can hardly wait for more to be recorded!! Bravo!!!

A Fun Romp!

I really enjoyed this fun romp with the eccentric Auntie Poldi, and the narrator made me believe he was her nephew. Wonderful descriptions of Sicily! Then I discovered Audible had several of the the series in the original German and loved those even more, because Poldie could truly be Bavarian -- All versions lift your spirits and at times you want to -- and do -- laugh out loud!