Short Fiction Friday: An Elderly Lady is Up To No Good by Helene Tursten

In spite of having more books in my TBR than I can possibly even think about finishing at the moment, I'm thanking my lucky stars that I went out and got both city and county library cards before all this mess started. It's meant that I have access to both library systems' online collections for when a wild hair strikes!

I've been reading a lot of Scandi Crime of late and Helene Tursten has been on my list to try for some time now. But while I do actually have books in both of her series on my shelves, it was her collection of short stories that I was craving!

Maud is 88 and still living on her own, thank you very much. Because she's saved carefully, and because there's a clause that allows her to live in her apartment rent free (a clause the powers that be at the building would love to find a way around), she's also able to travel at her leisure.

Maud is also a problem solver. Like when a celebrity moves into the building with an eye to taking Maud's larger apartment for her own. Or when the neighbors upstairs become a nuisance. Maud knows how to fix these things. And the best part about it all is that no one suspects a thing.

Maud is funny and clever. She plays the old lady when necessary, but she's definitely got all of her wits about her! She's also quite devious :) In each of the tales, she's faced with a bit of a problem to varying degrees. And in each tale she comes up with a solution that I think most people would never even consider. And yet, dark as this collection is, it's quite amusing—perfect for me at this moment! And it's quick. I read this in one sitting in my hammock.

Tursten is a Swedish author who apparently worked as a dentist and a nurse before she took up writing. And while her two series focus on detectives, this little collection deviates from that a bit. (I should note that both detectives make a very brief appearance in this collection.)

If crime fiction is your jam but the current predicament is proving to be a bit hard on your reading habits (in other words, you can't read like you normally would—either because of lack of focus or being pulled in a million directions), this is a great one to dive into. And it's a nice way to dip your toe into Tursten's work and/or Scandi Crime as a whole!

Order it from BookBar!