True confession-I’ve never gotten into the Swedish mystery/crime trend. Considering the first book I Ever Read All By Myself was a Nancy Drew title, you would think I adore the genre. I’m An Old so I cut my adult mystery teeth on Mary Higgins Clark and cozy mysteries with quirky amateurs providing delicious recipes along with a body count. I followed the adventures of a certain big haired New Jersey bounty hunter until I was ready to grab her by the shoulders and force her to just form a triad with the two yummy men. Agatha Christie and her contemporaries never really caught my attention except for Georgette Heyer and Josephine Tey.

So how did I scoop up a wee hardcover short story collection from Swedish author Helene Tursten? Short story, I was at the Lucy Robbins Welles Library in Newington, CT and An Elderly Lady is Up to No Good was in the on going book sale nook tucked in the gift books for a mere 50 cents USD. It’s seriously a cute little hardcover with cross stitch cover design and just under 175 pages. Plus I’ve been trying to expand my reading comfort zone with The Bookstore podcast’s 2021 reading challenge and August is “a work in in translation by written by a woman”. A bit of a no-brainer there.

First off? On the surface Maud appears harmless. She’s lived in the same apartment her whole life. She’s an 88-year-old retired teacher who devoted herself to caring for both her mother and then sister after her father died leaving his survivors without a penny. She spends her golden years traveling and keeping her mind sharp but to keeps to herself. No harm in that?

But that’s just the surface. Maud’s precious apartment is only hers (rent free as long as she decides to live there) thanks to a real estate contract clause in the aftermath of her father’s death. A less clever person would have been out on their ear long ago but Maud isn’t that person. She uses her wits and is willing to play the long game to ensure her existence is a much nicer one than fate intended for her. People who cross her and threaten that existence? Heck I would have snapped just taking care of her mother and sister.

I could delve deeper, but you need to read An Elderly Lady is Up to No Good for more.I’m not saying Maud’s way of handling various situations are correct/proper, but I can certainly understand her motives. There is a certain gleeful joy that comes in wondering can she get away without getting caught as you read each story. I thought for sure she was going to be caught at least twice.

After finishing An Elderly Lady is Up to No Good, a normal person who would be very scared of having our title Elderly Lady aka Maud as a neighbor. People tend to die around Maud. All accidents of course Dearest Reader but people die.

<cue knowing look while the spouse thinks I’m just having a nasty cramp or seventeen>

However, I’m not a normal person and I really like Maud. An Elderly Lady is Up to No Good was such a quick read (just about an hour for me including interruptions from the spouse) and I was a bit sad when the final story ended. I’m not sure I will track down Helene Tursten’s flagship The Irene Huss Investigations series (Detective Inspector Huss does make a brief appearance in one particular story arc) but if Helene Tursten were to revisit Maud and perhaps let us know how her top-notch trip to South Africa went I would certainly read more.