Helene Tursten’s An Elderly Lady Is Up To No Good

© Soho Press

Helene Tursten, the celebrated Swedish author of the Irene Huss novels, treats her readers to a macabre delight with her five short stories about Maud, an 88-year-old woman living in Gothenburg who has learned that crime can pay and keep her on her toes. This first collection of Maud stories, “An Elderly Lady Is Up to No Good.”

Normally, we focus on women who are good guys and not criminals; however, this collection of stories, breaks some of our rules. From the very first story, “An Elderly Lady Has Accommodation Problems”, we discover that Maud doesn’t let anyone or anything get in her way. Especially if it is about a threat to her living situation which seems reasonable enough for an 88-year-old woman. In “An Elderly Lady on Her Travels,” we discover how Maud deals with an old flame who seems to have found happiness at 90, with one of her former students.

Maud doesn’t let a little thing like Christmas stand in the way of her formulating a plan for some peace and quiet over the holiday when one particular neighbor crosses Maud’s radar in “An Elderly Lady Seeks Peace at Christmastime.” And while Maud distances herself from any little incidents she might create, she’s right in the thick of it with “The Antique Dealer’s Death,” where Detective Irene Huss makes an appearance. She’s in further jeopardy in “An Elderly Lady Is Faced with a Difficult Dilemma.” This last story sees Irene Huss make an appearance along with a second female investigator. Will Maud pull off her most audacious caper to date?

These stories are so well connected that they seem to be more like chapters in a novella than separate short stories. They are well worth your time and show us that potential criminals can be anyone, even little old ladies.