Auntie Poldi and the Handsome Antonio

By: Mario Giordano

Narrated by: Matt Addis

The latest installment in Mario Giordano’s best-selling series of charming mysteries, starring Sicily’s most glamorous gumshoe, Auntie Poldi ("Long may she reign." *)

*Kirkus Reviews, starred review

All the beloved, irascible Auntie Poldi wanted from her Sicilian retirement was time to enjoy the sunshine, a free-flowing supply of wine, and a sultry romance with Chief Inspector Vito Montana. But then her idyll is rudely disrupted by the last person she wants to see on her doorstep: John Owenya, detective inspector with the Tanzanian Ministry of Home Affairs, who is also her estranged lying cheat of a husband.

Not only is John's sudden reappearance putting a kink in Poldi's dreamy love affair with Montana, but his presence also comes with a plea for help - and unwanted clashes with the Mafia.

Where is John's half-brother? What is the ten-million-dollar "it" that John's brother was last seen with, which has both the Sicilian and theTanzanian mobs in a frenzy? With only a postcard that has a phone number and a name, "Handsome Antonio," on the back, Auntie Poldi hops begrudgingly (albeit with a great deal of gumption and panache) back into the saddle (in this case, an immaculate red Maserati Cabrio from the eighties with cream leather upholstery).

The faster she finds Handsome Antonio, the sooner she can get John Owenya out of her hair and her love life. But the people Poldi discovers along the way may very well knock her immaculate wig askew.

©2020 Mario Giordano (P)2020 Hodder & Stoughton Limited

Quirky and Entertaining

I almost didn’t keep reading. It didn’t grab my attention right away. But I’m glad I kept going to discover one of the most original adventures I’ve ever read.

Filled with Italian romantic notions, Auntie Poldi is quite the character, romantic, homespun philosopher and detective.

It’s a romp through Sicily you won’t forget. You may have to suspend reality now and then , but that’s all part of the adventure.

Matt Addis does a great job, slipping in and out of accents and styles.

Very entertaining.

Characters are interesting though a bit fanciful. The plot was convoluted and hard to predict which made the novel compelling and engrossing.

Namaste Giordano, Addis, and Audible!

I'd read the first two Auntie Poldi books and was going to purchase the others to read when I decided to use Audible to refresh my memory in preparation for books 3 and 4. What I got was a wonderful gift all over again. Namaste Matt Addis! The narrator was pitch perfect and added so much vibrancy and sheer joy to the story. Each day I couldn't wait to get back to Poldi and her adventures. Thoroughly marvelous writing and a thoroughly marvelous performance.

Great writing, very entertaining

For fans of humorous, heart warming characters and smart mystery writing! For fans of mystery who don’t like it to go too dark. This series is so good and so well-written. The plot moves fast and the characters are well developed.

Best Poldi yet

The Poldi books are wacky but engaging. Part Sicily travelogue, part fairy tale, and a little self indulgent meandering by the author, they have humor, some suspense and colorful characters. I haven't been to Sicily, but the locations in Sicily seem to be real and the listening experience can be enhanced by looking at photos in Google Maps. This narrator is fantastic. He does each character to perfection and his Italian is superb.

Too much fun!

laugh-riot, situational-humor, verbal-humor, Sicily, mafia, law-enforcement, family-dynamics, friendship*****

"Italy is complicated. Something always intervenes." "In Poldi's case, a statistically significant cluster of handsome Antonios."
The nephew is back recounting his Auntie Poldi's escapades in Sicily with lots of laughs, innuendos, magic, the Mafia, police and the carabinieri, old spies, and even Mr Death. I thought that she couldn't get any more hilarious, but I was SO WRONG! This book is absolutely the very best antidote to the news media right now! I don't know if I laughed any harder with this one and I don't really care, I just know that I LOVED IT.
I do want to make certain to thank John Brownjohn for translating it into English so that my part of the world can enjoy it!
I requested and received a free ebook copy from Houghton Mifflin Harcourt via NetGalley. 07/30/2020
I 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. 04/17/2022

Apparently, everyone named Antonio is handsome.

This is the one I bought in paperback Memorial Day weekend 2022 in Boston at the Prudential Center's Barnes and Noble clearance. I still listened to audiobook since it was included in the Audible catalogue and made bookmarks in the paperback.

I didn't like this one as much as the first two. I still enjoyed some things, like the road trip adventure in the Maserati, there were still some very funny parts, and some of the descriptions were poetic. But I think it was the return of the estranged husband-ensue love triangle trope that made me not like this one as much; as well as the conclusion of the case.

Overall, this one was a middle of the road story in whole series.
3 out of 5 Maserati Cars