Auntie Poldi and the Sicilian Lions

Entertaining but overhyped. Also a bit strange at times, with the nephew narrator and all.

Entertaining mystery set in Sicily, with a structure that could have been too confusing and contrived, but somehow worked for me - the “author” is the title character's nephew, a writer working on a family saga that never gets off the ground, who visits Poldi periodically and ends up writing about her amateur sleuthing adventures instead.

Lots of local color and an eccentric MC (based on the real author's real aunt) make this an amusing way to while away a few hours. I might try reading the next adventure in the original German, hoping not to get too derailed by Bavarian dialect.

Also great to have an older woman as the energetic and sensual center of the story, egging her nephew on to live life more fully, but her periodic bouts of depression and recurrent wish to drink herself to death added a jarring note. Also, her wig slipping off kept distracting me. What did she look like without the wig? Did this not interfere with her amorous adventures? The nephew wondered this too, but she did not answer him.

I didn't finish this but I don't plan to go back to it. I like charming mysteries just shy of cute, with a tendency toward melodrama. This one was too far into the “cute” zone for me.

Not for me

An enjoyable crime mystery. Easy to read.

Aunt Poldi is an interesting creation - imagine Miss Marple as a mildly depressed, alcoholic German/Italian played by a late middle-aged, slightly over-weight Sophia Loren in modern-day Sicily.

I need time to reflect on whether there was enough in this book to tempt me to buy the next in the series.

I adore Auntie Poldi! I'm not quite as old as she is, but it is refreshing to see a middle-aged heroine who hasn't lost her sass and zest for living.

Poldi moves to Sicily, ostensibly to die. Her husband has passed away, and she's depressed. She finds a little house close to her family, and she reckons on drinking herself to death. But Auntie Poldi's father was a police officer, and she's inherited some of his investigative skills. When Valentino, a handsome young man who's done some work around her house, goes missing, Poldi wants to find out what happened.

The story is told from the viewpoint of Poldi's nephew, a struggling writer who stays with Poldi from time to time. He makes an interesting narrator! The story is also full of all kinds of detail about Sicily, and now I'd really like to visit.

There is a blurb at the beginning of each chapter that gives the reader a hint of what's to come. I really like that technique. The blurbs are hilarious, as is the writing in general.

And Poldi herself is an absolute joy. She is a mature woman who knows what she wants. When she wants to solve a crime, nothing will stop her from investigating. She charges ahead like a ship under full sail. And when she decides she fancies local investigator Vito Montana, well, nothing will stop her there, either. Even though she moved to Sicily thinking her life was over, it's the start of a whole new set of adventures for Poldi. Maybe she's not quite so ready to shuffle off this mortal coil after all.

Brava, Donna Poldina! You are an inspiration to us mature women everywhere, and I look forward to reading more of what you get up to in Sicily.

Important reasons for reading a book and how this book fared:

Excellent writing? No. Rather tedious writing.
Fascinating characters? Nope, a main character who does little except drink.
Learning great truths about life? Sorry, but no.

That leaves little but a delightful setting? Surely, this book had a delightful setting? Okay, a weak yes for this one...thus, the two-star rating.

For whatever reason, the first time I opened up this first installment of the Auntie Poldi series, I couldn't get into it. I don't know if it was just me or if it took me a minute to get into the translators rhythm.

I am so glad I pick the book back up a few days later! The characters live and breathe and the author does a fantastic job of making you feel like you are in Sicily enjoying a drink or seven with Auntie Poldi.

The author, like Auntie Poldi, is German with Italian relatives. I read that he based Poldi's character in a real aunt, who may remind many people of Auntie Mame.

Whether you like the mystery or not, you'll probably get as much of a kick out of Auntie Poldi as I did.