Auntie Poldi and the Handsome Antonio

I thoroughly enjoyed the previous two Poldi mysteries but this one is a tiresome mess. Things are going well between Commissario Montana and Poldi until Poldi's Tanzanian husband appears. His brother is missing. What results is a difficult to follow and unbelievable plot complete with spies, orgies and tech run rock concerts. Poldi's nephew tells the tale and fills it with snippets of his own novel a nice way to add filler to this book. I have always enjoyed sexagenrian Poldi's allure to men, but here the author has gone overboard. I hope the next Poldi is better. This one is tiresome and disappointing. I couldn't wait to finish it.

Auntie Poldi, the nephew, Uncle Martino and dog wildly careering around Sicily in a stolen Mazerati is the wildest adventure yet. Did you know Auntie Poldi is an expert at some martial art? If I did I had forgotten. She is also wise sometimes when she says things like "Happiness Equals Reality Minus Expectations". Poldi also loves her family which causes her to feel as though her suicide is the only way to save them. Of course, her plans are always knocked sideways by unexpected events like (but not exclusively) a great looking man in a uniform.Mario Giordano, the author, has the wildest/craziest imagination that crams multiple unusual adventures and characters into the shortest periods of time possible. The translator, John Brownjohn is excellent. His translation is so completely smooth that I didn't realize these Poldi books are translated until recently.

I love Auntie Poldi, as much for her character as the beautiful sun drenched settings. But this one suffered from a common writer's problem - - - the next plot in a series doesn't quite work. Don't let this discourage you from an outing with Poldi- - -even if the plot wanders and drifts a bit, it's still Poldi, as vivid as ever, and the Scilly scenery, food and wine, as well as the characters are as wonderful as ever. It more than makes up in atmosphere for a small drop off in plot. I hope other Poldi fans will disagree and love this series. One glitch shouldn't spoil a wonderful string of mysteries!

I thoroughly enjoyed the first two Aunti Poldi novels by Marco Giordano; however, The Handsome Antonio was a bit far fetched. Poldi is no longer the bugling amateur sleuth but a former CIA agent and karate expert with contacts all over the globe! The shootout scene where the police charge in on the criminals, guns firing away countless rounds of ammunition, only to have no one shot because of some curse that was placed on the briefcase! And the novel concludes with the most outrageous revelation of the contents of the briefcase that everyone has been pursuing throughout the novel! A real disappointment!

This totally charming woman with her flaws is awesome. Not only is she a clever detective, but she is also, she is also full of fire not allowing anything to stand in her way in pursuit of truth. It is so appealing that she doesn't allow being 60 stand in her way of adventure and romance.

I really enjoyed the first book, but doesn't appear that this story and characters can continue. I would've enjoyed it more if it was about Auntie Poldi and not any about the goofy story the nephew is writing. Horrible waste of time.

This third book departs from the first two by being very fantastical and unrealistic but it’s such a fun story I didn’t care. I’m hooked and can’t wait to read the next one.

This series is delightful. Aunt Pouldi is far from perfect which makes her so much fun. Love all of the characters in the series.

Dear Poldi.Having just read your third book, and having so enjoyed the first two, all I can ask is…what happened?Your first two books introduced me to your unique character, amazing life, friends and family, intuitive detective skills; in short, your world, (although I was frustrated at having to keep an Italian/English dictionary to hand).Without those first two books I wouldn’t have understood anything about the people and relationships in this latest one, so I don’t think it would work as a ‘stand-alone’ read.But, and this is a big BUT, why was this more about your nephew than you? I wanted to read about how you solved the mystery, but instead was subjected to your nephew’s ponderings, musings and frankly, tangential and introspective thoughts.I hope your other fans, who like me have waited with eager expectation for the latest chapter in your life, won’t be disappointed, so I’m not going to spoil it for them by going into detail about all that I didn’t enjoy.Hopefully they will like the various contrived MacGuffins and won’t think that in the background the author was struggling to deliver contractual word-count, which made, for me, what should have been an enjoyable read into an endurance event – ‘I’ve started so I’ll finish’.I am undecided as to whether I will continue to follow your journey. If I don’t, I hope you live long and prosper and tell your nephew in future his is a bit part – you’re the star!Namaste Poldi.John

This is a great yarn, brilliantly told. Full of well drawn wonderful characters. One minute full of fear the next, laughing out loud! Of course, Auntie Poldi is triumphant, yet again!

I love the Auntie Poldi books and usually read them on the beach in Sicily so maybe that's why I did not like this one as much as the others. The plot is chaotic and the ending is really silly. However, I liked the way that lots of my favourite places were included such as Erice, Enna and Palermo. I think the books would make really good films

Great book, the stories of Auntie Poldi just get better and better. The description of Sicily makes you understand the situations even better. Recommend it easily.

It's so funny the Character of Poldi which is unfolding during each book. Cant wait for the next one.