Staff Pick – The Little Old Lady Who Broke All the Rules by Catharina Ingelman-Sundberg

The crime?

Theft of precious Impressionist paintings from the Swedish National Gallery right under the noses of visitors and guards alike.

The culprits?

A group of octogenarian residents from a retirement home, The League of Pensioners,  led by crime boss Martha Andersson – a woman with a plan.

The motive?

A retirement home run by greedy management. A good retirement costs money, and even jail has better conditions than Diamond House.

The League of Pensioners are fed up with their poor living conditions – the quality and quantity of their food is steadily declining, they are medicated to keep them quiet, they are locked in their rooms and only allowed exercise once a week. Appalling! And they will tolerate this no longer. Their crimes begin quietly enough with a midnight excursion to the retirement home’s kitchen to make themselves a good meal. As they become braver and fitter, they move onto a small heist at a fancy hotel and then on to their ultimate crime – theft of precious works of art.

Any life is better than life in the retirement home – even life in jail!

The Little Old Lady Who Broke all the Rules by Catharina Ingelman-Sundberg is funny and absurd and serves as a warning to all to never dismiss little old ladies as harmless. The League of Pensioners have proven that their walkers will not slow them down.

For other seniors citizens behaving badly try: The 100 Year-old Man Who Climbed Out the Window and Disappeared by Jonas Jonasson, Don’t Ever Get Old by Daniel Friedman and The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel by Deborah Moggach.