The Little Old Lady Who Broke All The Rules, By Catharina Ingelman-Sundberg (Translated by Rod Bradbury) - Paperback review

These days, one expects any novel out of Sweden to be a crime novel, and so this one is – but with a difference.

Martha Andersson, 79, is fed up with the petty restrictions and penny-pinching of the care home she lives in; so she forms a gang with four other residents and they embark on a crime spree. Armed with Zimmer frames and cunning, they plot to rob the safe of a luxury hotel, followed by the daring theft of a Monet and a Renoir. The story’s told in a careful style with attention to detail, and from multiple viewpoints. Though slow at times, it’s a good-natured, humorous crime caper in the Ealing comedy mould.