An Elderly Lady Is Up to No Good

September 1, 2018
Five connected stories about a murderous old Swedish lady.Maud has a good thing going. At age 88, she's lived in a large apartment rent-free for 70 years because of a clause in an old contract. Never married, she loves to travel alone and to be alone. In the first story, "An Elderly Lady Has Accommodation Problems," a rare event happens: Her doorbell rings. Jasmin Schimmerhof, a 40-year-old avant-garde artist who lives in the building, stops by to say hello. The daughter of celebrities, her past includes drugs, multiple divorces, and tragedy. Her current art project strives to "unmask the domineering tactics of the patriarchy," meaning that her small apartment is filled with phalluses--some even hanging from the ceiling. She is delightfully overbearing as she constantly tries to weasel her way into Maud's good graces. But Maud isn't stupid or senile, and she knows Jasmin is up to something. Once Maud figures out what it is, her solution is drastic, funny, and final. Maud is a seasoned world traveler who once, at age 18, had been engaged to Lt. Gustaf Adelsiöö. He'd emphatically broken off their engagement on learning her family wasn't rich. Now, in "An Elderly Lady on Her Travels," she reads in the newspaper that he is a wealthy 90-year-old widower about to marry the 55-year-old Zazza, whom ex-teacher Maud knows as her long-ago student, a schemer and a failed soft-core porn actress. When Maud arranges to get near her at a spa and then overhears Zazza's plans to take control of Gustaf's estate, Maud devises an emphatic countermeasure. And then in "An Elderly Lady Seeks Peace at Christmastime," she deals with "The Problem" in the apartment above her. Maud's murders always have plausible motives, and she is a sympathetic character as long as one keeps a safe distance. Each story takes its sweet time to develop and concludes with a juicy dose of senior justice.The book is pure fun, although slender. Another volume of Maud's misdeeds would be most welcome.

COPYRIGHT(2018) Kirkus Reviews, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

Starred review from September 17, 2018
The five stories in this exceptional collection from Tursten (the Irene Huss mysteries) feature Maud, a seemingly mild-mannered 88-year-old Gothenburg resident who’s perfectly willing to use wiles and sometimes deadly force to defend her independent lifestyle. In the delightful “An Elderly Lady Has Accommodation Problems,” a pushy neighbor has designs on Maud’s apartment, and that can’t be tolerated. When a gold digger hooks an old beau of Maud’s in “An Old Lady on Her Travels,” Maud decides to intervene, showing that she’s also ready to right wrongs that threaten others. Perhaps the best entry is “An Elderly Lady Seeks Peace at Christmas Time,” in which Maud cleverly puts a young clerk in his place and rids herself of an abusive neighbor. In the last two tales, she deals ruthlessly with a greedy antique dealer. Readers will be amused by how sharp-as-a-tack Maud plays the forgetful, fuzzy-brained old lady to achieve her ends. With any luck, she’ll be back for an encore.

Starred review from November 1, 2018
Tursten has entertained readers for 20 years with her series of crime novels featuring DI Irene Huss of the Violent Crimes Unit in G�teborg, Sweden. Her new character, identified only as Maud, is another brilliant creation. Maud is an irascible 88-year-old criminal in full possession of her faculties who hides behind the fake persona of an addled elderly woman. She made her debut last year in a short story (included in this volume) in the Soho Press collection The Usual Santas, wherein she decides to make her Christmas merry and bright by sending her wife-abusing neighbor off to his eternal damnation via a one-way trip (literally) down the apartment-house stairs. Yes, you read that right. He was too noisy, you see. Our antihero Maud believes that her family pedigree entitles her to a peaceful and genteel existence, and woe be to anyone who threatens it. She is presented here in five episodes, all dark, irreverent, and hilariously funny. Huss puts in a guest appearance in the final piece, where a stolen walker acts as the perfect prop to disguise the scaffold-climbing abilities that enable Maud to murder a greedy antiques dealer. Yes, this woman actually snatches people's canes and walkers. And she can climb scaffolding. Come back soon, Maud. But be careful. The police are getting suspicious.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2018, American Library Association.)