The timing of the publication of AN ELDERLY LADY IS UP TO NO GOOD --- the beginning of the Christmas shopping season --- is perfect. Let’s start with the title, which attracts one’s attention from the jump, and the book’s presentation, which consists of cross-stitch cover art with a murder theme embracing a digest-sized hardcover, just small enough to slip into a Christmas stocking and just thick enough to occupy the reader for an extended but not overly long time. Like holiday treats, the substance is of equal import with the presentation, and the substance here --- five stories about an 88-year-old woman who settles her disputes with homicides --- is top of the line.

Readers of Nordic noir will know author Helene Tursten and translator Marlaine Delargy from the popular Detective Inspector Irene Huss series. Huss, who is with the Göteborg, Sweden violent crimes unit, makes a cameo appearance in this collection. But the star is Maud, the elderly lady of the piece who has a take-no-prisoners penchant for survival and can go from zero to 90 whether practicing self-defense or administering rough justice. She does both and more in this collection of finely written and memorable stories.

"You will want to get AN ELDERLY LADY IS UP TO NO GOOD for anyone you know who enjoys reading great stories, whether they be mysteries or otherwise, but you will want to read it yourself first."

Maud is a short story type of lady. Tursten has presented a few stories about her over the past several years, the most prominent of which is “An Elderly Lady Seeks Peace at Christmastime,” which can be found in 2017’s THE USUAL SANTAS: A Collection of Soho Crime Christmas Capers (a terrific set of stories in its own right). This is included in AN ELDERLY LADY IS UP TO NO GOOD, and it reads just as well the second time around, as Maud administers a bit of homicidal justice to one of her neighbors who happens to be a spousal abuser.

For the record, Maud occupies a large rent-free apartment in a very nice building (there is a story behind that, of course), even though it has been the site of more than its fair share of deaths, both “accidental” (including a celebrity who is famous for being famous, the drunken and abusive gentleman noted above, and Maud’s long-deceased sister) and deliberate (a sticky-fingered antique expert who winds up sticking to the floor). Maud is quick to play up the dotage one would expect in a person of her age and station; as a result, no one ever suspects her of anything, other than for being in the wrong place at the wrong time.

Actually, almost no one suspects her, but nobody lays a glove on her. And if you think I’ve given anything away, I assure you I haven’t. You’ll love every word of every story in this book as you watch how Maud reacts to those who attempt to take advantage of the elderly and the weak.

You will want to get AN ELDERLY LADY IS UP TO NO GOOD for anyone you know who enjoys reading great stories, whether they be mysteries or otherwise, but you will want to read it yourself first. Oh, and as a nice bit of lagniappe, the volume contains an excerpt from Tursten’s next book, which does not feature Maud but looks to be a good one nonetheless. Will we see more of Maud? I hope so. She doesn’t seem like the type of character who would be best utilized in a novel-length work, but if Tursten sees fit to feature her in more short stories, I’ll buy and read every collection of them going forward.