This had a lot of the qualities of An Elderly Lady Is Up to No Good that I loved, but a few others that gave me pause. For instance, one woman she murders is kind of terrible, but among her sins appears to be that she is heavy, unfashionable, and has visible upper lip hair, and that is what is first used to signal that she is an unlikable character. There is also a little white saviorism at the end that gets a little thick. But most of the time there remains something refreshing and charming about her, using other people's preconceptions agains them and cold-heartedly doing the things that need doing. ( )

Aptly titled, An Elderly Lady Must Not Be Crossed by Helene Tursten (translated by Marlaine Delargy) is the follow up to An Elderly Lady Is Up To No Good by the same author, featuring Maud, the smart, independent, no nonsense octogenarian who you would definitely never want to go up against.

We catch up with Maud a few months after the events in the previous book. She’s on a plane traveling to South Africa where she will be a part of a tour group .This is a trip she has been looking forward to for a long time. She's also glad to be going so as to avoid local law enforcement who are not quite convinced of her account of the events surrounding the death of the local antiques dealer whose body was discovered in her apartment. Though they do not have any concrete evidence implicating Maud, it seems they are no longer fooled by the helpless, frail and unassuming old lady act Maud puts on for their benefit. Through six interconnected stories some of which are based on her real time travels and some told as memories that are triggered by her adventures, we get to know more of Maud’s past , her life as a child, as a young woman embarking on a career in teaching , the people in her life and of course her unique methods of ‘solving’ problems , both her own as well as those she deems to be in need of her ‘help’. We see shades of Maud that project her in a newer light and though her antics will still have you gasping in disbelief, you can’t help admiring her spunk, wit and wisdom.It was so much fun spending time with Maud again!

I enjoyed this book just as much as the first in the series. With no frills storytelling and one of the most interesting (that’s an understatement!!!) protagonists I’ve come across in a long time , this funny , heartwarming (yes ,read it to believe it!) collection of stories is a perfect read for anyone in who is in need of a good laugh or a break in between more serious reading. This is a light read meant to be taken lightly. So, as long as you don’t overthink it, you should be able to enjoy it.

I sincerely hope this isn't the author’s final instalment in her series of stories about this sharp and crafty elderly (only in age, I might add!) lady. I’ll definitely be on the lookout for more stories featuring Maud in the future. ( )

I very seldom read a book twice, but Helene Tursten provides a humorous and amusing story with Maud. Maud, an eighty-eight year old self-appointed judge of despicable individuals swiftly carries out justice. Tursten employs short stories to display Maud’s punishment. Many of the stories seem cruel and show Maud in an unpleasant way, but the last story redeems Maud. Maud has worked hard throughout her life taking care of an elder, frail sister and her helpless mother. Now, Maud has enough money to take a return trip to Cape Town and to meet with friends. The adventure displays Maud’s many skills and strength. A lovely story that enhances laughter and concern. ( )

what's better than one collection of short stories about an elderly sociopath who gets revenge on those that wrong her? two collections of short stories about an elderly sociopath who gets revenge on those that wrong her! genuinely a fun read with a happy ending ( )

I read the first book, 'An Elderly Lady Is Up To No Good' back in 2019 and was delighted by the mischievous psychopathy of Maud, a solitary and financially secure woman in her eighties for whom other people are not entirely real, except in so far as they help or hinder her in taking care of herself. Over the course of five linked stories, Maud demonstrated that, when a person becomes a problem for her by posing a threat to her or those she cares for or by disturbing her peace or attempting to steal from her, she is happy to solve the problem permanently with a bit of well-managed violence that results in a death that either looks accidental or cannot be reasonably attributed to Maud herself.

I'd expected, 'An Elderly Lady Must Not Be Crossed' to be more of the same but it delivered more than I'd expected. It was also structured as six interlocking stories and in most of them Maud continues her habit of problem-solving through homicide. What lifted the book above a series of anecdotes about about ingenious murders committed by an unlikely killer is that these stories are about eighty-eight-year-old Maud remembering her past and coming to terms with shaping what remains of her future. We see her as a young girl, defending her older, mentally challenged sister from two local bullies. We see her at the start of her chosen profession as a language teacher and learn the extreme lengths she had to go to secure her position. We see how, as an adult, her older sister was a burden to Maud and what Maud did about it.

I liked that we saw all of these both as they happened and as memories that still have a great power over Maud. It made Maud both more human and more frightening. I enjoyed being led to reappraise the Maud I'd met in the first book and understand her as someone willing and able to kill but who has no hunger for it. Over the course of her often unhappy life, killing is just something that has sometimes proved necessary.

Maud's memories are triggered as she takes part in a Swedish-speaking guided tour of South Africa, a place that Maud has fond memories of. At first, it seems that the trip is mainly a way for Maud to escape the attentions of Inspectors Huss and Nyström, who still suspect her (rightly) of a murder committed in the first book, but it soon becomes clear that Maud has another agenda. She's planning for the end of her life and looking for somewhere and some way of spending it that will have meaning for her.

Of course, Maud can't make it through a whole trip through South Africa without needing to solve another problem with violence but this time it's not her main focus and besides, her victim absolutely deserved to die.

The ending is perhaps a little contrived, even bordering on the sentimental, but I found it satisfying. I felt that I now understood Maud and I wished her well. ( )