Isolde Oberreiter, known in the story as Auntie Poldi, is a Bavarian widow who retires to Sicily on her 60th birthday with an intention of drinking the rest of her days away at her seaside house.

Poldi's plan to interrogate Russo is foiled by Mimi's incessant discussion of Friedrich Hölderlin's poetry.

Chief inspector Vito Montana later arrives at the scene as a leader of the police investigating Valentino's murder and questions Poldi.

There is a sulfur mine called Femminamorta, so they go investigate it and find a dead body dumped in an old iron cistern and locked with a brand-new padlock.

Signora Cocuzza, a worker at the town's gelateria (a shop that sells gelato), goes to Poldi's house and reveals that she knows who the body in the cistern was.

Signora Cocuzza leads Poldi to the virgin Mary statue where Marisa and the man exchanged love letters.

Poldi discovers poetry in the imitation of Hölderlin, which leads her to suspect Mimi not only as Marisa's murderer but also Valentino's.

In interviews, Giordano spoke about the pieces of his own life that led him to create the character of Auntie Poldi.

[4] Giordano said he specifically loves the roughness of the Bavarian dialect, which he feels suits Auntie Poldi as a character.

[6][complete information for source verification needed] In Auntie Poldi and the Sicilian Lions, a member of the mafia is the first major suspect of Valentino's murder.

[7] When Poldi finds Valentino's body, she accidentally calls the Carabinieri instead of the Polizia di Stato (state police).

In contrast, the Polizia di Stato handles investigation and arrests of criminals associated with human crimes such as murder.

[9] Located in each city, members of the Polizia di Stato also act as rangers, traffic police, and coast guards.

For example, the Lisle Library District located in Illinois hosted a book club which reviewed Auntie Poldi and the Sicilian Lions.