You know how sometimes you see a title and you just have to know more? Look at that title. Look at the embroidered skulls. I couldn’t not check it out.
The story follows Maud, a little old lady who reminisces on her life and the many times she has encountered death, both as the one to cause it and as the one to… well, almost cause it. She is very deliberately sweet and uses her old age as a way to deter people from suspicion, but with the story told from her eyes, you can see just how cool and calculating she is in throwing people off of her trail and getting her kind of justice. Or, at least, to make her life a little easier.
I really enjoyed Maud! She was delightfully calculating and careful not to let her façade drop, and she was lovely to watch while she rationalized and put her plans into action. The framing device of a present day Maud avoiding an investigation by leaving the country was a little awkward, since it doesn’t feel like the arc ever finished so much as it stopped. The flashbacks to her history had more complete narratives, but the framing device was less so.
This is also the not as good second book in the series, which means I now have to check out the first one at some point.
Overall, it was a lot of fun! I’d definitely say check it out for some light, murderous reading.