Helene Tursten

Maud Looks Back and Forward
Review of the Highbridge audiobook (October 5, 2021) released simultaneously with the Soho Crime hardcover, translated by Marlaine Delargy from the Swedish language original "Äldre dam med mörka hemligheter" (An Elderly Lady With Dark Secrets) (October 8, 2020).

The sequel to An Elderly Lady Is Up to No Good finds Maud setting out on her planned South African safari vacation which had been in the planning stages in the earlier book. She is getting away from her home in Gothenburg, Sweden where the number of suspicious deaths in her apartment building had attracted the attention of Inspector Irene Huss.

During her airplane flight Maud reminisces about her earlier life. There is a story of her childhood, a story about her relationship with her sister, a story about how she helped a friend who was burdened with a wastrel son. All of these paled in comparison to the edgier stories in the first book where she was defending her home and belongings. Then when she lands in South Africa, for the longest time it seems as if we are just going along on a tame safari vacation with seniors. Finally there is a dramatic event which sets the stage for what seems to be Maud's retirement.

So if you are curious about the Elderly Lady series, I'd say to stick with the first book. This sequel was a letdown after the shock of the introduction.

Trivia
The audiobook edition does not provide the recipes for Maud's cookies ("nice" and "naughty" versions) but you can find them in the appendix of the hardcover book.
See photo at https://scontent-ord5-2.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t39.30808-6/442372229_26373181522280617_5...
The ingredients for the "nice version" of Maud's Gingerbread Cookies. The "naughty version" includes nuts.… (plus d'informations)

The Elder of the Species is Deadlier than...
Review of the Highbridge audiobook (June 11, 2019) based on the Soho Crime hardcover (November 6, 2018), translated by Marlaine Delargy from 3 short stories originally published in "Mina mindre mord och andra mysterier" (My Minor Murders and Other Mysteries)(2013) and 2 others, all later collected in the Swedish language original "Äldre dam med onda avsikter" (An Elderly Lady with Evil Intentions) (October 21, 2019).

Somehow I had totally missed the Elderly Lady series by Swedish writer Helene Tursten, until I read GR Friend inciminci's recent April 2024 review. Fictional dangerous elders have been a favourite of mine for several years, especially since I've joined that generation.

See cover at https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/...
The somewhat more diabolical front cover of the German language edition "Morden mit Maud: Sie geht auf die Neunzig zu, und niemand ist vor ihr sicher ..." (Murders with Maud). Image sourced from Goodreads.

Tursten's elderly lady is Maud, an 88 year-old who lives in a rent-free apartment in Gothenburg, Sweden, due to a fortuitous clause in her family's contract with the owners. Those owners and many of the other building tenants would like to get her out and raise the rent and/or claim the luxury size apartment for themselves. Maud won't have it though and defends her realm against all comers, with fatal results for the interlopers. She will also (like Hannibal Lector) sometimes take out the "rude" or an otherwise unsavoury character.

All the stories here were a diabolical delight and I can't give them separate ratings. The titles alone are enough to give an idea of their plots.
1. An elderly lady has accommodation problems
2. An elderly lady on her travels
3. An elderly lady seeks peace at Christmas time
4. The antique dealer's death
5. An elderly lady is faced with a difficult dilemma
Stories 4 & 5 are tied together and also allow Tursten to bring in her regular police procedural series character Inspector Irene Huss in a crossover. Huss senses there is something shifty about Maud, but just can't seem to prove it...

Other Books
Other books that I've enjoyed in the "dangerous elders" category have been:
The Old Woman with the Knife (2013) by Gu Byeong-mo.
The Old Man (2017) by Thomas Perry.
Before She Was Helen (Clemmie #1) (2020) by Caroline B. Cooney.
Killers of a Certain Age (2022) by Deanna Raybourn [still have to read this one].
The Spy Coast (The Martini Club #1) (2023) by Tess Gerritsen.

I didn't really enjoy them (too convoluted), but I know the series is popular, so I should also mention:
The Thursday Murder Club (2020) & its sequels by Richard Osman.… (plus d'informations)

#ReadAroundTheWorld #Sweden

This a short and humorous story translated from Swedish, featuring an 88 year old serial killer. Maud has been living rent-free in her family’s apartment in Gothenburg since her father’s death many years ago. She contents herself with regular travels abroad and when she is at home she surfs the web from her cosy antique home. When troublesome neighbours get in her way or try to take advantage of her age and frailty, Maud simply dispenses with them in the most pragmatic way possible. When at last the law catches up to Maud and is investigating one of the murders, will she finally be caught or will this prodigious elderly lady disappear with her walking frame into the sunset?

This was an entertaining read, not the usual elderly detective story, but in this case the villain of the piece. I am intrigued to read one of the author's other books, possibly one featuring Detective Inspector Irene Huss who featured in this novella.… (plus d'informations)

When a dancer/choreographer disappears and her body is later found in the charred ruins of a fire, Goteborg detective Irene Huss is taken back fifteen years to one of her earlier cases. The current fire victim was eleven years old then, and she was the last person to leave the house where her stepfather died in a fire. Irene and her colleagues were never able to get the neuro diverse Sophie Malmborg to speak about the fire or what she witnessed. Is her death in a fire related to her stepfather’s death fifteen years ago?

Irene investigates largely on her own in this case because most of her colleagues are tied up with a gang-related murder. In some ways this made the plot tighter. Irene’s daughter, Jenny, has been featured in a couple of the earlier novels. This time around it’s Jenny’s twin, Katarina, who spends more time with Irene. Many readers will figure out the answer to the fifteen-year-old fire from the description of the dance that Sophie choreographed. The symbolism is obvious to the reader, and it should have been immediately obvious to Irene.… (plus d'informations)