I went into An Elderly Lady Is Up to No Good with few expectations of really enjoying it. It was my work's book club pick for October, and our patrons' reading tastes tend to be on the more conservative side, with plenty of requests for books with no sex, language, or violence. Amish fiction is probably our most popular genre. Not my sort of thing.

So it was a surprise when I started listening to Helene Tursten's stories and found them to be darkly funny, with a genuinely sinister octogenarian protagonist meting out justice via a well-timed shove or swing of her cane. It was interesting to read an inversion of the common trope of the little old lady sleuth, who uses her seeming senility and innocence to gather clues. Tursten's Maud similarly weaponizes stereotypes of the elderly to her advantage, although she's the one making the mysteries... and cleverly covering them up.

I would heartily recommend this to any mystery and crime fan in the mood for something a little different. At only just over 3 hours (or just under 200 pages, depending on your format of choice), it's a small investment of time that pays off well.