Book Review| An Elderly Lady Must Not Be Crossed

Just letting you know, I didn’t know An Elderly Lady Must Not Be Crossed was a sequel book. It didn’t seem like it was a sequel based on the summary. At first, I thought the book was about an old lady who kept witnessing murders.

This book threw me for a loop.

The book starts with Maud, an 88-year-old. She’s heading to South Africa for vacation after some tough times at her apartment. Most people don’t know about her murderous past. She gives us a flashback to how she became a murderer.

I had issues with this book. It didn’t meet my expectations, but that wasn’t all I disliked. While the author wrote the story well, I was appalled by the cruel and entitled main character. Reading it became unappealing because of that.

CW: Murder, physical assault, ableism, bullying, sexual assault of minors.

There were some awkward transitions between Maud’s flashbacks and the present. Trying to implement irrelevant memory triggers would have smoothed out the process.

I detest Maud; she is entitled, cruel, and believes she is superior to everyone else. I guess she’s supposed to be a sociopath? My main issue is that she kills people for petty, unjust reasons. The story praises her cleverness in doing this. Gross. It is intriguing to see characters with amoral traits. However, Maud’s callousness isn’t explored. She seems shallow and annoyingly smug instead of a complex character.

During the story, Maud attempted to murder a coworker to get a promotion she hadn’t earned. How does that work? It’s justifiable because the victim is not fashionable, and “poor” Maud “needs” a higher salary. She sells family heirlooms to pay for her lavish lifestyle, even though she has a fortune. Maud takes pride in her crimes and has a disgusting sense of entitlement.

She’s a hypocrite to boot! She values self-worth but dislikes entitled and selfish people. Their entitlement and selfishness really bother her.

The only positive thing I can say about this book is that it has a pretty good idea. Maud’s safari in South Africa caught my attention. I also enjoyed her interactions with others on the tour.

In the end, this book is not worth reading.

2 out 5