An Elderly Lady is Up to No Good

Everyone has had that annoying neighbor they fantasize about doing away with. In An Elderly Lady is Up to No Good by Helene Tursten, eighty-eight-year-old Maud brings the fantasy to reality.

In five short stories set in Gothenburg, Sweden, Maud has lived in her spacious apartment for her entire life - rent-free thanks to a minor clause in a hastily negotiated contract after he father died. She lived quietly with her sister Charlotte, but now Charlotte has been dead for 40 years. 

One day a new neighbor rings Maud's doorbell and Maud, making her first mistake, answers the door, then invites artist Jasmin Schimmerhof in. Jasmin lives on the ground floor in a small flat and she covets Maud's spacious apartment. Her art installations are too large for her flat and she believes she can con Maud into trading places. She brings Maud gifts every couple of days and some very fancy champagne, but Maud, playing the role of the dotty elderly spinster, plays along.  You get where this is going.

In the other stories, Maud saves her former fiance from marrying a gold digger younger

woman, seeks justice for a battered wife and undermines the treacherous actions of a disreputable antiques dealer. Are you seeing a pattern? Our Maud is a diabolical woman with a streak of murder mixed in with the charming little old lady.  

A most unexpected set of short stories, but very enjoyable for their unpredictability.