Auntie Poldi and the Sicilian Lions: A charming detective takes on Sicily's underworld in the perfect summer read

Description

'Alive with a tang of lemons to set the senses zinging' The Spectator Fiction at its most charming - A Man Called Ove meets Andrea Camilleri, Auntie Poldi is this summer's most unlikely hero. Auntie Poldi can think of no finer place to wait for death than Sicily. All she asks is a sea view, fine wine (and plenty of it), and her family close around. When death instead takes her handsome young friend Valentino - and under mysterious circumstances at that - Poldi will not take it lying down. Perhaps it's in her blood (her father was a detective chief inspector); perhaps it's a diverting excuse to spend more time with men in uniform; or perhaps it's just the promise she makes to Valentino while holding his poor dead hand. But Auntie Poldi's hunting instincts have never felt more alive. Justice must be served - if it's the last thing she does . . .

Mario Giordano, the son of Italian immigrants, was born in Munich in 1963 and studied psychology at the University of Dusseldorf. He writes novels, books for adolescents, and screenplays. He lives in Cologne. Auntie Poldi and the Sicilian Lions is his first crime novel.

Mario Giordano - a Bavarian of Sicilian parentage who writes in German - has created a delightful detective and a lively, humorous portrait of Sicilian society and gastronomy - The Times, Book of the Month Wonderfully evocative . . . a joyful light read - Crime Review Italo Calvino declared that profound art doesn't need to be weighty; it can also enjoy the virtues of lightness. Mario Giordano's Auntie Poldi and the Sicilian Lions attempts a balance of the two impulses, not always successfully, but always with panache and vigour . . . the whole book is alive with a tang of lemons to set the senses zinging. Refreshing - The Spectator Giordano is a novelist of high skill and originality with an eye for eccentric comedy, idiosyncratic characters and vivid scenes. John Brownjohn's translation is stylish and this book is a masterly treat - Times Literary Supplement