The Executioner's Tale is a vigilante plot with a twist: justice is in the shape of a female pensioner, a reluctant one at that, who is accidentally drawn into the role of executioner.This is the fictionalised autobiography of a serial killer, or, as she would see herself, an instrument of justice. The first death is accidental, when she confronts the husband of her neighbour, a notorious wife-beater. But at this point she realises that her age, rather than being a negative, is actually a positive. No one would look at an older woman with suspicion: in fact, most people barely notice the elderly at all. So begins her new 'career'.