Such a fun mystery! This old lady is seriously funny and cool! I laughed out loud while reading this!

Presented with an elderly woman who was dishonest and deceitful, argumentative and entirely unlikeable started the entire experience on a bad note. It didn’t get better. The writing seemed childish – not childlike. To be fair, the book was not written in English so the issue may lay in the translation.

The narrator did a great job. Voice and cadence were pleasant and appropriate, facilitating what enjoyment could be obtained from the story.

I wanted this to be the story of a feisty old lady who is clever and overcomes in spite of her age and other peoples’ stereotyping, a more sophisticated, yet murderous, Mrs. Polifax. It wasn’t.

I'm not sure if it just doesn't translate the best or if it just jumps around too much but I found myself getting lost with the story and unable to follow it. It's an interesting idea from what I could grasp but needs more work.

Thanks NetGalley. This book is by an author, Helene Tursten, who I have thoroughly enjoyed. There is another book in this series that I have not read, but am planning to. Maud is a sweet old lady who has killed several people in her life. But, they sort of deserve it. When Maud travels to South Africa, she prevents a rape of a young girl. Maud uses this opportunity to make some amends. She really is a nice person at heart.

An Elderly Lady Must Not Be Crossed by Helene Tursten
Narrator Ann Richardson
I was glad to get this book because I had read the first book and found it hilarious. This one was enjoyable because of the satisfying ending but parts of it dragged a bit. I think Maud has her happy ever after if she can just make herself behave on a new continent with new friends.
Thanks to Netgalley.

✍️ One Sentence Synopsis: Beware that sweet elderly ladies aren’t always as innocent as you may assume.

💭 Overall Thoughts: I really enjoyed the premise of this book. However, I think the macabre humor in a book gets lost on me. I typically enjoy it in a movie but I think it just doesn’t hit the same with me in a book. For that reason, I believe, this was a bit boring to me.

Basically Maud, an elderly lady nonchalantly carries out several murders. She is a serial killer and does so devoid of emotion without a thought and tends to get away with it by capitalizing on looking like a sweet, innocent elderly lady. There are some “Robin Hood” or “Dexter” themes to those she decides to kill which was interesting— and led to a happy ending- which was unexpected.

Highlights:
🤨Interesting premise
🔪 Macabre Humor
☺️ Happy ending
🎧 Engaging audio narration

⚠️ Content Warnings: sexual assault, bullying

Thank you to NetGalley and HighBridge Audio for allowing me to listen with request for Review.

The title of this book had me super intrigued! Who can resist the underestimation of an elderly woman?

This is really a collection of short stories that comprise bits of 88-year-old Maud's life. There are shorter snippets that show her, well, sass I'll call it while the longer story tells of a current situation that presses the more immediate. A body is found and it seems as though little old Maud is eyed suspiciously, but that can't possibly be the case, right? Then she decides to skip the country and vacation in South Africa. On this trip is where the reminiscences of the previous stories pop up.

I had some rather high hopes for this story. I found the arrangement of shorter stories less smooth and wasn't sure where it was going with them. The murder mystery didn't feel quite as suspenseful as I hoped either. Since this is a 2nd installment of Maud's murderous adventures, and I have not read the 1st, perhaps what I was lacking is addressed in the former.

As far as the stories and overarching arc went, it was an enjoyable listen. Maud is definitely not a helpless old lady, and as per her reflections, has never been particularly helpless in any stage of life. The ending did lean a bit toward the "white savior" theme, but after what happened it did seem a fine end.

This was definitely more on the quirky side of murder mysteries, and if that is what suits you, then this is right up your alley! Thank you to NetGalley for the opportunity to listen to the audio of this book, and this honest review is all mine. The narrator, Ann Richardson did a fine job.

This series is fun, if looking at life through the lens of an octogenarian serial killer can be conceived of as fun. But this volume (much more than the first in the series) goes to great pains to show that her murders are (somewhat)(usually) justified on moral grounds (maybe) or at least gets you rooting for her success. The ending is a little too pat and tied up with a bow, but it was a fun popcorn read.

This was a delightful collection of short stories spanning the life of our favorite octogenarian Maud. Maud is the type of woman you do not know if you should fear or admire. I hope the author continues the series with Mary's adventures in Cape Town.
This is a well written mystery series with an excellent narrator who brings the characters to life.
Thank you to Highbridge Audio and NetGalley for a copy of this book for review.

So, Maud is so adorable. I mean she's a murdering lady, but she's also adorable! I love her personality, and I thought she was a great main character. Overall, this was a fun read that created a cozy feel!

Reading this makes me realize I want to read more translated works and stories centered on older main characters.

A Swedish woman, Maud, who is almost 90 years old sets off on a trip to South Africa to get away from a murder investigation at home. On the way she recalls past times in life she had to take matters into her own hands. For who would ever suspect such a little old lady?

I would not say the story was thrilling, but still entertaining and make you root for Maud. After reading I found this is part of a series and intend to reading those soon.

Thank you to NetGalley and HighBridge Books for an advanced audiobook for review.

Funny with several gasping oh my are you kidding me moments.

I am not repeating the synopsis or spoiling. High praise for Helene Tursten and her amazing use of language. There is no profanity. The narrator was really good.

I did thoroughly enjoy the main character. She is educated, works, retires, takes care of a sister, and travels. We only see her extracurricular activities when she is crossed. And, am thrilled, albeit not to death, to find there is another Elderly Lady book. Cheers for the gifted mind of the author. The story was more than funny, I went through an array of emotions. Overall the other characters were well-described. My hope is there will be a third book.

Thank you NetGalley, Helene Tursten, and High Bridge Books for accepting my request to read and review this book.

#NetGalley
#HeleneTursten
#HighBridgeBooks
#NarratorAnnRichardson
#SoHoPress
#RecordedBooks
#Audiobook
#AnElderlyLadyMustNotBeCrossed
#AnElderlyLadyIsUpToNoGood

It’s impossible to not love Maud despite the trail of bodies she leaves in her wake. At 88, she is one old lady you do not want to mess with. Smart as a whip and stronger than most 35 yr olds and she has a heart of gold. I thoroughly enjoyed this second installation of stories following some of Maud’s unfortunate encounters.

Maud is nothing if not an unconventional main character. She is smart, interesting, sharp -- and 90 years old! There is muder, travel, and more in this novel. I loved getting to know some back story from Maud's childhood and seeing both the struggles she faces to move through the world, but also seeing how she chooses to "handle" those struggles. Quite unexpected.

Even though, ultimately, this wasn't the type of book I normally gravitate towards, this premise was too unique to pass up. The writing was solid, the pacing was good and it delivered more depth than I anticipated.

A cozy read!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with an ALC in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts expressed in this review are my own.

An Elderly Lady appears again in her sequel to An Elderly Lady is Up to No Good. Maud is an elderly woman who simply likes things to be a very specific and particular way. She likes her life to be the way that she likes it. If someone comes along and disrupts that though, she takes care of the problem and just kills them. An Elderly Lady Must Not Be Crossed is delightful, entertaining, funny at times, and very great overall! I even liked this one better than the first. This collection of short stories are interconnected and I simple adore Maud and all of the people that she comes across in her travels and every day life. A great and quick read that is light, but still not for the faint of heart.

An Elderly Lady Must Not Be Crossed is the second collection of short fiction from Helene Tursten featuring Maud, an octogenarian killer who is not to be underestimated. Originally released in Swedish in 2020, this English translation released 5th Oct 2021 from Soho Press on their Crime imprint. It's 272 pages and is available in hardcover, audio, and ebook formats. It's worth noting that the ebook format has a handy interactive table of contents as well as interactive links. I've really become enamored of ebooks with interactive formats lately.

This is such a deliciously dark and enchanting collection of stories about a deceptively innocuous little old lady and her encounters throughout her life with the unsavory people who (in Maud's opinion) richly deserved their fates. The stories are tied together with the original tale segueing into the following stories which are told through flashbacks.

The writing is unvarnished and direct, disarmingly simple, and always there's Maud, thinking (and doing) what most people have probably at least thought about at some point in the deepest darkest recesses of their minds.

The translation work by Marlaine Delargy is seamless and although the scansion and rhythm of the text is a bit choppier than usual for English original prose, the simple way the stories are told suits the directness and short sentence structure very well.

The unabridged audiobook has a run time of 4 hours and 52 minutes and is expertly narrated by Ann Richardson. She does a good job with the individual character voices. Sound quality and production values are high throughout.One thing of note for English speaking readers, most character and place names are pronounced as they are in the original Swedish, so Charlotte is read as "where-lot" and Johanneberg sounds like "yohanneberg". It doesn't take long to get used to the pronunciation - it's just with places and people, mostly.

Four stars for both the print and audiobook versions.

Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes.

3.5 rounded to to 4 stars because I listened to the audio version of this book and found the narrator to be excellent. She does a great job of capturing the internal thoughts and dialogue of this dangerous octogenarian.

Based on the ending of the previous book in this series, and the beginning of this one, I’d expected the plot of An Elderly Lady Must Not Be Crossed to be a cat and mouse game between Maude and the two inspectors who seem to suspect her of the murder that took place in her apartment. Instead, Our Octogenarian protagonist hops a plane to South Africa and reminisces about the assaults and murders she committed in her younger years.

The tone of this sequel is even darker than the first, and she becomes harder to root for her, even though she has moments of protective instincts and generosity, as the nature of her decades of manipulative and psychopathic behavior becomes more fully known.

I’m curious if a subsequent book will bring back more elaborate interactions with the inspectors who are investigating her or if she will continue to evade them as she travels the world.

Thank you to NetGalley, the author, and the publisher for an advanced copy of the book for review.

Love this series by Helene Tursten. However, I did not love the narration of this volume. These novels have a wonderful, funny tone that was not really conveyed by the narrator/direction here. Will pick this up in print.

n Elderly Lady Must Not Be Crossed, is a deliciously delightful series of connected mysteries featuring Maud, a feisty, cunning, 88 year old (almost 89) retired language teacher. She is a woman who has a unique way of doing away or at least getting even with those who get in her way and/or irritate her or the people she cares about. When the police question her she has a way of pretending she is a bit senile or has a hearing problem and can't find her hearing aids. Of course this all works to her advantage because, seriously, who would expect an 88 year old woman of murder and mayhem?

This series begins with an overview of the last story from her earlier collection about an antique dealer who meets an unfortunate demise at the hands of Maud when she perceived he was trying to take advantage of her in a deal gone bad. So it's time to get away from Sweden and take a luxury vacation joining (7) strangers on a safari to South Africa. Don't worry about Maud she's sharp, she's spry and can take care of herself just fine.

In most of these very brief stories Maud recalls an incident from an earlier time in her life and proceeds to tell the reader all about it. For example, there was a time when Maud was a teacher and was then demoted to a sub when another teacher returned from her leave. Also, when her young developmentally disabled sister was bullied and Maud found a way to get even with the two bullies or, the time she found her neighbor in tears over things the woman's son had done and there is more to delight in as well.

Table of Contents

An Elderly Lady Begins to Remember Her Past
Little Maud Sets a Trap
Lancing a Boil
The Truth About Charlotte
The Peter Pan Problem
An Elderly Lady Takes a Trip to Africa
Cookie Recipes (probably best not to attempt these)

While I enjoyed the latest adventures with Maud series, I think I liked her first in this series: An Elderly Lady is Up To No Good (2018) just a tad better (review here). Although this could certainly be enjoyed as a standalone of short crime mysteries, I highly recommend reading and enjoying the books in order - I doubt you will be disappointed, Maud is an unforgettable character. The writing is often witty, the stories work beautifully as the reader is privy to Mauds every depraved and misdirected thought which makes the reading and listening experience quite fun.

This book was expertly translated. I was lucky enough to have access to both the Highbridge audio (NetGalley), read by Ann Richardson who was excellent as well as the eGalley provided by Soho Press and Edelweiss.

What an entertaining story, especially when the main character could be your grandmother - if your grandmother is a fearless octogenarian. It is entertaining how the six interlocking stories are introduced, proceed and transition from one story to the next. It might be more entertaining read/listen to this story again to see what you missed the first time.