2.5 stars

Part of my issue with this book is that it wasn’t the story I was expecting, but that doesn’t account for all my problems with it. While well written, I was disgusted with the cruel & entitled MC. That made it an unpalatable reading experience.

[What I liked:]

•The writing/prose is pretty good. I especially enjoyed the descriptions of Maud’s safari in South Africa & Zimbabwe, & her interactions with the others in her tour group.

•That’s pretty much all this book has going for it, imo. The content (actually, it’s the way the content was justified & practically celebrated by the writer) upset me too much to like this book.


[What I didn’t like as much:]

•The transitions from the present day to Maud’s flashbacks were kind of stilted. It would have been smoother without trying to machinate irrelevant memory triggers.

•I absolutely am disgusted by Maud, who is entitled, cruel, thinks she’s superior to everyone else, & is a master manipulator. I guess she’s supposed to be a sociopath? My main problem is that she murders people for morally unjustifiable (& petty!) reasons, & the narrative celebrates how clever she is for doing that. It’s gross. Amoral characters can be compelling & interesting, but Maud’s callousness is never explored. Instead of being a complex character, she just comes across as shallow & infuriatingly smug.

•The story I hated the most was when Maud attempts to murder a coworker to secure a promotion for herself that she hadn’t earned. How is that okay?? The writer justifies this action because the victim isn’t very fashionable (what the heck??), & because “poor” Maud “needs” a higher salary, despite sitting on a fortune of family heirlooms that she later on sells to fund a lavish lifestyle. She has a disgusting sense of entitlement, & Maud takes pride in her crimes.

•Oh, & Maud is a hypocrite to boot! She despises others for being entitled & selfish, which are traits she highly values in herself. I mean, she even thinks *babies* are selfish for crying, ffs!

CW: murder, physical assault, ableism, bullying, sexual assault of a minor

[I received an ARC ebook copy from NetGalley in exchange for my honest review. Thank you for the book!]

Helene Tursten's 'An Elderly Must Not Be Crossed' is a refreshing, amusing, and poignant novel taking the listener through the life of Maud, a feisty, opinionated, and oh so clever (88-year-old) proud octogenarian.

Ms. Tursten has written a seamless narrative in her telling of the life story of Maud, a spry, very active spitfire of an octogenarian. The book spans from her youth all the way to present day and told in six connected stories which flow together flawlessly. This perfect pacing allowed me the much appreciated opportunity of truly getting to know Maud - from soup to nuts. I relished in hearing some of her most memorable life stories as a young girl and her family dynamics, her tremendous teaching career, then learning to cope with caregiving and loss, and finally her present life changing trip to South Africa as an octogenarian and where she provided a family in desperate need with the most selfless and impactful act of her 88 years on this Earth.

Maud also had me grinning from ear to ear as she turned modern day agism to her advantage by playing to the stereotypes many "young" people expect to find from someone in her age group. For example, "I was lost officer. After all I am an 88-year-old lady who is forgetful." Meanwhile she's multilingual, sharp as a whistle, and all the while getting the last laugh.

Narrator Ann Richardson shines as the solo voice for all the characters as she gives each (male and female) character their own unique and individual voice. Her ability to uniformly switch back and forth into numerous character voices without missing a beat made this a frustratingly pause-resistant listen.

Thank you NetGalley and HighBridge Audio for the advance listeners download.
All opinions are my own. #NetGalley #AnOldLadyMustNotBeCrossed

Whew I will never turn my back on an elderly lady again! Maude has gumption and is a little psychotic. She knows what she wants and age be danged.

The audiobook’s narrator really brings all these characters to life. A very quick, entertaining read/listen.

I received an ARC of the audiobook through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Earlier this year I read the first book in this series, An Elderly Lady is Up to No Good. The premise is simple: an 88 year old Swedish woman enjoys a comfortable life, and has no qualms about murdering those who get on her nerves. Each story in that collection is about a different murder Maud has committed.

The sequel, An Elderly Lady Must Not Be Crossed, begins by following up the final case in the previous book, with a pair of detectives suspecting her but not having the necessary proof to do anything about it. I had expected the entirety of this book would follow that plot line, but it does not. The first chapter addresses it, and then moves onto other stories.

One thing I really liked about the first half of this book was the framing device. The book opens with Maud en route to South Africa, and thinking about/dreaming about various events in her life. The first is about that previous case, but then the others describe other times in Maud’s life, from her childhood, her time as a language teacher, to even some more recent experiences. Unlike the previous book, not every chapter sees Maud committing murder. It was nice just getting to know more about Maud, more than just her history of murders. My favorite of these stories from the first half were when she confronted her sister’s bullies and the incident with the gingerbread.

The second half of the book is all about Maud’s time in South Africa. She’s part of a tour group, and we get to learn all about these new characters through their excursions. Going into this listening experience I never would have expected the ending we got. The way Tursten concludes this book is excellent. Over the course of these two books, I’ve grown fond of Maud, and the ending was a perfect conclusion to her story. I do not know whether the series is meant to continue, but if it doesn’t I am totally satisfied with this ending to the series.

As I listened to the audiobook, I must of course discuss the narrator, Ann Richardson. I initially had mixed feelings about her narration. Especially in the beginning of the audiobook, Richardson’s narration reminded me of Siri or Alexa, expressing the words of the sentence with almost-but-not-quite-human intonation. I went to her website and saw she speaks Swedish, so I wonder if the way she was speaking was meant to be English with a Swedish accent. I got used to her voice after a few chapters and didn’t hear anymore strange intonation after that. Additionally, I have to give Richardson praise for her Maud voice. Her portrayal of Maud truly brought the character to life in a believable and delightful way. I can confidently say I will look forward to listening to more of her work.

Overall I was thrilled with this book. I enjoyed An Elderly Lady Must Not Be Crossed even more than its predecessor! If the series continues I eagerly await the next installment, but if not, I’m satisfied with how the series ended. This is one I would definitely recommend. Thank you NetGalley for the audiobook ARC!

I'd like to thank Netgalley for a copy of this audiobook in return for a review.

I loved this book! Playing up the "sweet old lady" card was such a fun front for what this woman really is. I fell in love with this character pretty quickly and it just kept getting better.

Maud, going on 90 years old, is a malevolent old lady, who started as a child to figure out in unique ways how to solve problems that would result in a finality ending the problem for good.

This pattern of “problem solving” continued through her adult years and remains with her even now into her late years of 80’s. Looking sweet, she was well educated, and her mind is still sharp as a tack… although she plays that differently upon occasion pretending to need hearing aids, a walking stick, or being a bit senile.

Yeah, let’s just say you would not want to cross this elderly lady, and don’t even think about annoying her because she has a way of fixing problems permanently. The “fixing permanently plan” applies to whether the problem is hers, or another’s, most especially if it’s someone she deems she needs to protect.

I guess I was expecting a dialogue that was humorous in story, and maybe more detailed when it came to her unique problem-solving abilities. I guessed wrong. Instead, I found that the short stories were just ok, and nothing out of the ordinary, given the reader knew what to expect. Secondly, I would not classify this book under the mystery and thriller genres, it felt more like general fiction.

The narrator in the audio edition, Ann Richardson, did a wonderful job and was easy to listen to… quite believable for an octogenarian voice.

3 Stars

My thanks to NetGalley and HighBridge Audio for an advanced Digital Audio Recording in exchange for my honest opinion. All opinions are my own.
#AnElderlyLadyMustNotBeCrossed #NetGalley

If I say how much I loved Maud, will it make me sound like a sociopath? She’s 88 but hasn’t lost her powers of observation or her sense of justice. That’s what surprised me so much, how what she’s doing is wrong, but she has sound reasons for doing it and I couldn’t help but cheering. Detective Inspector Irene Huss has a small cameo, but this story is about Maud and her very long life. This reads more like a collection of short stories, since they are her memories from childhood, and situations where she had to do what she needed to protect herself or someone else. The psychology is great. She doesn’t understand emotions but reads people well and to see her manipulate others is a lot of fun. I loved Ann Richardson’s performance. She plays the little old lady voice so well! Maud, you see, is putting up an act, and somehow Ms. Richardson nails that. There is a long part devoted to a trip to Africa. Normally, I’d say it slowed down the action, but I enjoyed it so much I had to add that to my bucket list. I can only hope I’m as strong and resilient as Maud if I get to be her age. This is a very enjoyable book.
I chose to listen to this audiobook and all opinions in this review are my own and completely unbiased. Thank you, NetGalley/ HighBridge Audio!

I wish to thank NetGalley and Highbridge Audio for this audiobook, engagingly narrated by Ann Richardson. I was happy to receive 'An Elderly Lady Must Not Be Crossed', having enjoyed the cozy and witty previous book that featured the feisty, sweet but sinister Maud, a lady in her late 80s. The previous book, 'An Elderly Lady Is Up to No Good', by Swedish crime writer, Helen Thurston introduced Maud who lived alone and had no hesitation scheming and carrying out murders. Told with wit and humour, Maud lived a comfortable lifestyle, with worldwide travels and visits to luxury spas. She is feisty and quick-witted and is presented as a lovable older woman, except for all her murders. Her victims are people she feels stand in her way or who simply annoy her, and killings carried out to protect others.

This story begins just a couple of months after an art dealer had been found dead in her apartment. He was murdered, and the police were suspicious of Maud. Now they are back, continuing to question her, but doubt that the elderly, intriguing, and delightful Maud had the physical or mental capacity to have carried out the killing. She is irritated by their questions but continues to have them fooled. Her mind is sharp, but she deceives them by pretending deafness and mental confusion. She appears feeble to the investigators and uses an unneeded walker in their presence. She now decides it would be an advantageous time to continue her many travels. She has chosen a tour of South Africa and on to Victoria Falls, mainly because it includes Cape Town, the favourite place she visited on her past journeys.

On the plane, she recalls and dreams about her past life; childhood schemes of revenge lead her to commit murders of those standing in her way at home and in the workplace. People who merely annoyed her also became her victims.

Once arriving in Johannesburg, she pretended to be too tired and weak in order to avoid tours of places she had visited in the past or sites that held no interest for her. When she pleaded with the tour leader that she needed to rest in the groups' luxury hotel, he was sympathetic and understanding. Once the group left for the daily sightseeing, Maud set out on her own to visit places that interested her. She later acquires a heavy walking stick, not that she needs it for a cane. Her physical stamina is strong for her advanced age. She carries it to bash anyone who might need it.

After touring the wildlife parks and a trip to Victoria Falls, there seems to be a rapist of young girls amongst those in the tour group. At last, they arrive in Cape Town, her beloved city. Again Maud excuses herself from the group excursions, starting off on her own. She remembers a hotel fondly where she previously stayed and how much she liked the couple who owned it. She is distressed to find the female owner is now widowed, and their house is being sold. The hotel has been turned into a residence for female Univesity students. While wandering around, she rescues a young girl who is being attacked. Taking her safely to her home, she finds her family living in reduced circumstances following a streak of tragedy and bad luck.

The story ends with Maud moving to an act of generosity that improves her life and those of others. This could be a move towards her redemption, at least, until she feels compelled to commit further murders!

Pros: After loving the previous collection—An Elderly Lady is Up to No Good—I was thrilled to see a follow up collection featuring Maud, the octogenarian serial killer. I love the premise of an elderly woman being able to get away with murder because people disregard her and the commentary it offers on agism. I found myself cheering for the murderer in these stories, which makes me appreciate the author’s craft.

Cons: This isn’t a con, but I do suggest that readers read the first collection in the series before this collection.

Thank you to NetGalley and HighBridge Audio for the opportunity to listen to this book

I’ve shared this review on Goodreads and StoryGraph.