Armchair Detectives Circle the Globe

I seem to have been on a binge of reading mysteries that take place in foreign countries. If you enjoy mysteries and travel adventures, you may enjoy the following books.


Auntie Poldi and the Sicilian Lions 
Auntie Poldi and the Sicilian Lions by Mario Giordano is a Felliniesque account of Auntie Poldi’s adventures when she retires to Sicily to drink herself to death. Auntie Poldi is larger than life (morning salutations in the nude on her roof-top patio, vodka for breakfast, photograph albums of traffic police – ah! men in uniform!) and so are her relatives and neighbours – the sad lady who owns the gelateria, the handsome police detective banished to Sicily for his misdeeds in Milan, the impoverished nobleman who quotes German poetry non-stop, and the businessman who may well be a member of the Mafia. I’ll be reading more of Giordano’s books.


Death in Sunset Grove 
If I’m even half as feisty when I’m 80 as these three old ladies in a Finnish retirement home, I’ll be very, very happy. The plot is absurd (evil retirement home managers, motorbike gangs, tram rides and funerals), but the characters in Death in Sunset Grove by Minna Lindgren will have you marching out the door ready to tackle the neighbourhood bullies.


Dogstar Rising 
Dogstar Rising by Parker Bilal brings modern-day Cairo to life – the poverty, the corruption, the miserable housing conditions. It’s also a tale of immigrants and the choices they make to survive in a foreign land. I’m not sure I’ll continue reading this series, but I did enjoy the insight it gave me into life in Cairo.


Murder on Brittany Shores 
Murder on Brittany Shores by Jean-Luc Bannalec is a police procedural with a solid plot line. The detective is an outsider (from Paris) so you get an outsider’s perspective on Brittany from a German author who spends half the year in Brittany. The sea and Breton pride are front and centre. I plan to read more in this series.


 A Very Pukka Murder 
A Very Pukka Murder by Arjun Raj Gaind is set in India in 1909. The hero, Sikander, Prince of Rajpore, with his attention to fashion, good wine, and manners reminds me of Lord Peter Wimsey, but his frustration with British colonials in India turns that model on its head. The plot is convoluted with many possible suspects who Sikander gathers around his dining room table at the close of the book when all is revealed. Well worth reading. I’ll be looking for more in this series.

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