In my quest to find anything as great as An Elderly Woman is Up to No Good, I stumbled upon Killers of a Certain Age by Deanna Raybourn which has the premise that four women have been assassins for an organization called The Museum for forty years, but they are targeted for assassination themselves and they have to figure out how to save their lives and their reputations.
This book had a super slow start, to be honest. I feel like Raybourn could have spent more time developing the characters because I found all four of them to be sort interchangeable, but once I realized that it didn't really matter the difference between each woman, I just went with the flow and it became a fun thriller.
Don't get me wrong. This is no An Elderly Woman is Up to No Good, but they can't all be that amazing. 4/5 stars
"She's too old to be a cougar. She's a saber-toothed tiger." (page 54)
That's the thing about being a sixty-year-old woman - no one notices you unless you want them to. That fact doesn't do your ego any favors, but in cases like this, it was damned handy. (page 55)
"I'm a woman. Guilt is our birthright. Guilt if we want to be mothers, guilt if we take the Pill instead or choose to abort. Guilt if we stay home with our kids or guilt if we work. Guilt if we sleep with a man, guilt if we say no. Guilt if we're luck enough to survive for no good reason." (page 186)
It was all beginning to feel a bit too easy, and I was a little relieved when we hit a snag. I'm not a pessimist, but all jobs have complications and it's better to get them out of the way early. (page 254)
Things I looked up:
...she realizes she will be watched to see if she makes a habit of going off piste. (page 176)
...old glass carboy...(page 213) - a rigid container anywhere from 4 to 60 liters, used for transporting liquids and in-home fermentation of beverages
...blond hair swept back and held in place with a diamond clip in the shape of a parteiadler. (page 233) - eagle used to symbolize the Nazi party
flokati rug (page 266) - woven wool rug, shaggy in appearance, thick and soft
ikebana (page 346) - the art of beautifully arranging cut stems, leaves, and flowers in vases and other containers that evolved in Japan
Hat mentions (why hats?):
She set an upturned silk top hat at her feet, displaying the shredded scarlet silk lining and dropping in a few coins to give passersbys a hint. (page 142)
...closing the screen on her calico and its tiny top hat. (page 193)
I liked An Elderly Woman, so maybe I'll give this a try!
ReplyDeleteYes! It's fun in a different way. But sort of the same. Women killers, you know?
DeleteI'm going to read _An Elderly Woman_! Somehow, II'd never heard about it before, and it sounds amazing.
ReplyDeleteIt's the BEST, Maya. Maud is so problematic and yet so wonderful.
DeleteThis sounds good! I also have never read An Elderly Woman, and that sounds good too. I've been thinking a lot about age lately (because I'm GETTING UP THERE) and how society views older people, especially women. I should read these.
ReplyDeleteJenny, you have to read An Elderly Woman is Up to No Good. You'll love it! Maud is so funny. I mean, she's terrible, but funny.
DeleteI will have to look at both of these books. I’ve been listening to Raybourn’s Veronica Speedwell series, and it’s ridiculous - and yet, I enjoy them and keep on getting every new installment!
ReplyDeleteIf you love a series, you have to keep going. That's the joy of it!
DeleteI thought this book was a lot of fun. I can't tell if it's a good thing or a bad thing that the women were all such badasses that I periodically forgot that they were supposed to be older.
ReplyDeleteInteresting. I thought they did nothing but complain about their knees and grey hair! Hard to forget they were older.
DeleteI listened to this one and it was a big flop for me. Sometimes it's hard to tell whether it's the medium I chose... or maybe the book just isn't a good fit for me. I have not read An Elderly Woman, though, so maybe I should check it out.
ReplyDeleteI think the slow beginning would have been a dealbreaker for me on audio. But I just powered through it when I was reading. An Elderly Woman is Up to No Good is definitely a superior book, I promise!
DeleteI've seen this at the library and passed on it for no discernable reason. Maybe I'll give it a shot next time I'm there.
ReplyDeleteHa. The cover is sort of blank. I get passing it by.
DeleteI loved an Elderly Woman, but this I was really disappointed by. It was glib and fast-paced, which is fine, but I was expecting something a little deeper and sharper, and I couldn't adapt. I was annoyed by the fact that the characters seemed interchangeable.
ReplyDeleteYES! The characters were interchangeable. Once I realized it didn't matter who did what, they were all working as a group, it because a lot more enjoyable. I guess I just don't know why she didn't bother to develop the four characters more.
DeleteBoth of these books are new to me. But then I usally dont read many thrillers. But every once in a while I like to pick on up.
ReplyDeleteI think of An Elderly Lady is Up to No Good as a comedy. It was so funny.
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