An Elderly Lady Is Up to No Good (Elderly Lady, #1) in Around the Year in 52 Books

Oct 05, 2019 Marta rated it really liked it

Shelves: female-author, audio, library, mystery-thriller, old-adult

Helen Tursten observed that no one notice the elderly - they are invisible, people assume they are deaf, feeble minded, weak; many try to take advantage of them. They are considered so harmless they can get away with murder. Which is what Maud does. Repeatedly.

In this collection of darkly funny short stories, 88 year old Maud looks exactly like a harmless old lady - and she finds it advantageos to pretend that she cannot hear, that she is confused, that she needs a walker. But she is sharp as a ...more

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Dec 16, 2020 Jen K rated it really liked it

A fun collection of short stories about Maud, an elderly Swedish lady who may be up to no good. Maude is 88 and living the life. She is living rent free as part of the fine print when her father's apartment building was sold when he passed. With her savings, she travels the world and does as she wants. Although elderly, Maud is quite strong and sound of body and mind yet she knows how to play the elderly card to take advantage. She is a feisty lady and not to be slighted. Each story perfectly ca ...more

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Mar 21, 2025 Baroness Ekat rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: own-print, 2025-reading-challenge, 2025-52-book-club, aty-2025, 2025-shelf-reflections

After her father passed away, Maud became the sole income for her small family of her mother and mentally-ill sister. When her mother died a few years after her father, she then became the sole caretaker of her sister. They were lucky enough to have had a small clause in the selling agreement for the apartment building her father had owned that allowed her family to live rent-free until all the immediate members of her family passed - which enabled Maud to live comfortably after her sister passe ...more

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Mar 11, 2022 Wendy rated it liked it

Shelves: in-translation, audiobooks, story-collections, nordic-lit, 2022

This was a fun, quick read featuring sweet-yet-lethal 88 year old Maude and plenty of schadenfreude if you enjoy insufferable villains getting their comeuppance, and who doesn't once in a while? I laughed especially loudly at (view spoiler) ...more

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Jun 04, 2022 Bea rated it really liked it · review of another edition

I am going to start this review by stating that I do not often pick up short story collections. Despite that, this book was short and a group read selection for one of my GR groups. And, when I got it from the library, I found that it is a small book also, thus a quick read.

Imagine my surprise when I met Maud! What a delightfully, creative, problem-solver of an elderly woman. I wouldn't choose her method of solving my own issues in life, but I did admire her gumption and determination to protect ...more

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Apr 05, 2021 Genie rated it really liked it

Shelves: mystery-women-detectives

Interesting set of short stories featuring Maud, an elderly lady set in her ways who likes to travel and enjoys an enviable apartment, much to the dismay of others around her. Irene Huss, Helene Tursten’s detective, makes a brief appearance.

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