The Little Old Lady Who Struck Lucky Again!

Five senior residence escapees from Sweden set off on a zany criminal adventure involving stolen gems.

The League of Pensioners, led by Martha Andersson and four feisty, resourceful retirees in their late 70s and 80s--escapees from a Stockholm senior residence--are back. The stolen millions from their previous Robin Hood-style art robbery, the caper featured in The Little Old Lady Who Broke All the Rules, benefited the conniving quintet and funded retirement homes, cultural institutions and supported other "less-fortunate members of society."

This second installment of their adventures is set six months later. The group has been keeping a low profile in Las Vegas while coordinating a casino heist. During their planning, they accidently cross paths with dangerous jewelry store thieves and, through a series of laugh-out-loud mix-ups and mishaps, the pensioners come into possession of a cache of stolen diamonds and other gemstones worth millions. When the "Outlaw Oldies" ultimately decide to return to Stockholm, a significant portion of their windfall--stuffed inside walking sticks that are crammed into a golf bag--goes missing at the airport. This launches Sweden's geriatric most-wanted on a suspenseful, bumbling mission to steal back what was already stolen, while trying to sidestep customs officials, the Swedish police and a host of quirky characters--including a biker gang and a fortune teller.

The well-drawn strengths and weaknesses of Ingelman-Sundberg's devious yet charming criminal masterminds work together to benefit mankind. They also deliver a hilarious story.

The Little Old Lady Who Struck Lucky Again! by Catharina Ingelman-Sundberg, trans. by Rod Bradbury

Harper Paperbacks, $15.99,  9780062663702, 368  pages

Publication Date: February 7, 2017

To order this book on INDIEBOUND, link HERE

NOTE: This review is a reprint and is being posted with the permission of Shelf Awareness. To read this review on Shelf Awareness: Reader's Edition (August 11, 2017), link HERE

The Little Old Lady Who Broke All the Rules

A comic crime caper about five Swedish pensioners who break out of their retirement home and become criminals.

When Lily of the Valley retirement home in Stockholm is sold to ghastly new owners and renamed Diamond House, the cloistered pensioners who reside there get fed up. Their food is "delivered and served under cellophane wrapping," and budget cuts curb their daily coffee consumption. Believing they would be better treated and have more freedom in prison, one clique at the facility--a close-knit group of five friends who, in their late 50s, decided to live together in old age--start a rebellion to test their theory. The group, banded together by 79-year-old, childless, crime fiction fan Martha Andersson, call themselves "The League of Pensioners" and go on the lam. The League consists of handsome, dapper Rake; Oscar "Brains," an optimistic solution-finder and inventor; Christina, who's in search of simple pleasures; and hard of hearing Anna-Greta, a former banker and financier. The quintet set out to rob from the rich and contribute the funds to improve living conditions for seniors throughout Sweden. After a successful robbery at a luxury hotel, they attempt the heist of a Renoir and a Monet from the National Museum that ultimately lands them behind bars. The missing paintings, however, continue to elude the police and ultimately, even the Yugoslavian mafia.

A comedy of errors, oversights and obstacles infuse Catharina Ingelman-Sundberg's clever American debut, where a spirited cast of walker-dependent characters in their 70s and 80s cause hilarious, escalating antics that will have readers of all ages rooting for their cause.

The Little Old Lady Who Broke All the Rules: A Novel by Catharina Ingelman-Sundberg 

Harper Paperbacks, $15.99 Paperback, 9780062447975, 400 pp

Publication Date:  July 12, 2016

To order this book via INDIEBOUND link HERE

Note: This review is a reprint and is being posted (in a slightly different form) with the permission of Shelf Awareness. To read this review on Shelf Awareness: Reader's Edition (7/19/16), link HERE