How to get away with murder with Ms. Maud

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What do you want to be when you grow up?

I would love to be a happy old lady who loves her home n her family. But that’s not what Maud is… she’s a single, financially secure, slightly grumpy but perfectly sane, 88 year old woman, who enjoys her solitude, her apartment, her travels … and a little bit of murder.

This collection of stories by Helene Tursten introduces us to an old single lady, Maud. She lives in an apartment by herself.  She’s been in that apartment since her father’s death when she was only 18. It’s a lovely spacious apartment in downtown Gothenburg, which is hers rent-free due to some hastily drafted contract after her father’s death.  She lives alone, travels the world and surfs the internet from the comforts of her father’s armchair. It’s a solitary existence, and she likes it.

Throughout this collection, we see Maud facing some interesting scenarios and dealing with them in a rather… questionable manner. We see Maud encountering a local celebrity who has designs on her apartment. We meet her long-ago lover whose engagement comes to an abrupt end.  We meet some new neighbours who are noisy and brash that meet an equally unpleasant crash in the building. So on and so forth…

Maud is brilliantly written. Novel’s tongue-in-cheek humor only works, if you don’t take it too seriously. You probably should stay away from this one…If you are one of those people who take offence at solving an inconvenience through a little murder. Whether you agree with her solutions or not, I urge you to give, Maud a try. You never know, you might just get inspired…

An elderly lady is up to no good is then followed by An elderly lady must not be crossed. That one follows our octogenarian protagonist to the continent of Africa. The book opens a few months after the first one… and obviously with a murder. Unfortunately, this time the murder happens in Maud’s own apartment. The detective in charge of the investigation suspects this frail and feeble-sounding old lady even when there isn’t any evidence against Maud. Of course, Maud isn’t interested in sticking around being the suspect. She galivants off to South Africa for her annual trip. Alas, trouble seems to find Maud as easily as bees to a flower. And then we bear witness to the wits and smarts of this almost 90-year-old firecracker. In this book, we see Maud through her current and her past. We see how she’s always navigated life’s curve balls with a pitch of her own. Even as a kid, she always was the one with the solution. Even when that solution was a little…murky…

 

Let’s get it straight….Maud isn’t for everyone. Her morals and her views aren’t clean. She sees the world with very different eyes. Her problems are not earth-shattering. however, her solutions are not what one might call morally correct. Maud doesn’t care about what the world sees as immoral. She marches to her own tune. For someone who has been on her own for most of her life, taking care of herself and her sister… she’s done great. She enjoys her own perfect peaceful existence. And she’s willing to take whatever action she deems necessary to preserve that peace. None of her actions are preplanned to be malicious, mind you. She is just trying to be left alone. Throughout this whole experience, we do end up liking her though. She manages to penetrate our initial incredulity and disbelief. Turns us into her corner…. From wondering why isn’t she caught to wishing she isn’t. We actually start liking this serial murderer… I guess in the end we even respect her a little. Helen Tursten manages to make us care and even like this firecracker of an old lady. The book doesn’t glorify or even encourage murder and as long as you are ok with that…. I think you’ll enjoy the experience.