 Popsugar Reading Challenge category: A collection of linked short stories.
An Elderly Lady Is Up to No Good, by Helen Tursten, translated from Swedish by Marlaine Delargy. This is a dark comedy about an 88-year-old Swedish woman who murders people who annoy her or make her feel threatened. The victims include a neighbor trying to take over her apartment, an antique dealer she suspects of trying to swindle her, and a wife-beating neighbor (Maud finds the noise irritating). The fourth story is told in first person from a neighbor's point of view. The final story is the same murder, in third person from Maud's POV. Either works as a standalone, as do all the stories in the book. There are sequels, but honestly all the stories are pretty similar. To say that Maud is unsympathetic may seem like stating the obvious. But I find this sort of story works best if the main character has a sort of "I shouldn't like this character, but I do" charisma. Maud is sort of a one-note grouch.
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