Desperate Housewives meets The Golden Girls… with a hitman.
Three sixty-something women, who’ve been friends for years, resent the dull retirement years ahead of them. Naturally, their husbands are to blame. It’s not that their men are bad, just annoying in everything they say and don’t say, and in everything they do and don’t do. How different their futures could be as wealthy widows…
The men, blind to their wives’ deadly frustrations, have got themselves into a different pickle that may have attracted the attention of the Indian Mafia.
The blurb made me worry I’d taken on something slapstick or cosy, but by the end of the first page the humour had gained bite and it continued to land mostly in that way throughout. (It was strong enough without the set-piece gags and quotes from films.)
Told mainly from the viewpoint of reluctant murderess Pam and her hapless fraudster husband Hank, the story rattles along at a good pace. My favourite chapters were from the viewpoints of two brilliantly bemused secondary characters: Hector – Hank’s barber and part-time hitman; and Padma – Hank’s out-of-her-depth boss.
This was a glorious caper of eavesdropping, misunderstandings and sheer panic.
I thoroughly enjoyed it.
With thanks to the author, publisher and NetGalley for the opportunity to read an early copy in exchange for an independent review.

On publication, I will post my review on my blog, Amazon and GoodReads.

This was just so much. Initially it took me a while to get into the characters as there was a lot of them but they all came together. I just loved the chapters with Padma - she was just so much fun and added 'extra' to the book. The whole book was full of misunderstandings and miscommunications and unbelievable scenarios but it just made for such a fun read. As a rescue dog lover I found those sections worked well and spoiler no dogs were hurt just threatened - I know that is a big trigger for some people.

Fantastic book. I loved the storyline line, & the characters . Kept me up all night as I couldn't put it down

Four couples who have boob close friends for over thirty years suddenly become caught up in a fraud. Having lost their retirement investments they fund themselves struggling in their 60's.
However two of them work in a local casino and find a a way steal some of the takings through the slot machines. That when it starts to get interesting. They plan to stage their deaths. However the poor wives know nothing about it.
It then get quite complicated and the twists and turns start.
I really enjoyed this book. A thoroughly good read.

This was a slow burner for me. By the end, I was really invested but several times I thought about not continuing… just a bit too much there and back. Overall, it was a decent way to spend a Sunday but it didn’t grab me.

I really liked the idea of the book and synopsis but unfortunately I found it quite far fetched and unbelievable

What would you do if your husband had lost all your money, your marriage had gone stale and you found out he had a life insurance policy of $1 million? Hire a hitman obviously.

This book is a funny, slightly outrageous romp following our group of (not exactly) masterminds attempting to kill their husbands for the insurance payout.  You won't want to put this book down waiting to see what the next page will unveil

Four old-time friends, Nancy, Pam, Shalisa and Marlene give us one of the most outrageous, craziest and silliest mysteries of all time.
The concept and some of the writing is absolutely bonkers and funny.
It is a fast-paced book with some interesting twists, and miscommunication.
I can totally see this as a min TV series or a feature film.
In some ways, the strengths of this book were also what diminished my reading experience to 3-3.5 stars. With more tone-tuning, overall fine-tuning, this could easily be more well-liked, but it is already doing well. Had it been shorter and more focused, the execution could have interested me more. This is not to say this book is bad. On the contrary, I can see that many more will like it.
I love that this book is about older people.

Absolutely outstanding! I had so much fun reading this book. It was filled with mystery, plot twists and funny coincidences.

The book follows four couples who are struggling to keep happy marriages after the husbands lose all their money in a bad investment. The wives just want to retire and sit around the pool sipping cocktails. What lengths will the wives go to when they realise their husbands have taken out life insurance? The husbands have a scheme of their own, will they get in each others way?

I could not put this book down once I started it, the characters and their stories pulled me in and I found myself chuckling at the sometimes silly things the husbands and wives would do, not to mention all the chaos that ensues.

There are multiple storylines running at the same time which kept the plot interesting. They overlapped as the book went on, creating a vibrant and compelling read.

I can definitely see this becoming a TV show or movie in the future.

If you have the chance to read this book, you won't be disappointed!

I really enjoyed this book, the characters were both likeable and believable. The idea of the story is both simple and complicated at the same time. I think anyone who has been married a very long time can understand the feelings running through this book although unlikely to take it so far. Intriguing.

The Retirement Plan is a great example of a comedy thriller. The plot revolves around 4 older couples who are nearing retirement age and find themselves in dire straits. The story moves along at pace and is delightfully silly but very entertaining.

Absolutely loved this novel it was by far the best one I have read in awhile!
It had me laughing,crying and hooked from the first chapter, I can’t tell you why I enjoyed this book so much was it the husbands or the savvy wives who possibly outmanoeuvred them at every single opportunity well almost!,
It all started with 4 couples planning their retirement and realising they wanted it to be luxurious and so they needed to accrue some money to enable this plan
unfortunately the plan didn’t work out and money was lost everyone moved to smaKlerk homes and couldn’t think what to do until Hank and Dave who both worked at the casino hatched a very audacious plan that could work and a pay some big money out repaying the money the money lost and no one would ever know
And know 3 years later they had found themselves almost at 10 million but Hank was scared Dave was dead and he was convinced the casino were after them all But did the casino know? We’re the casino in know? Or did someone else want them dead?
Fabulous book, real page turner

5**

This was a decent wee read. It was hard to like any of the characters to be honest but they were fairly well developed and the storyline was quite credible. The book certainly captured how life, habits and events shape our relationships, within marriage and with friends. Overall a good 3 star read

Loved this story. Relateable characters in crazy situations.
Very filmic, but that didn't put me off.

Highly Recommend

This was funny and the characters immensely engaging. And, that includes the dog. A key part of the storyline.

It is very American in tone and its references. Initially I found that a little jarring but was soon engrossed.

It is very clever the way things are left in the air and then resolved.. Huge numbers of twists and turns and a fair degree of moral ambivalence which was nicely fine tuned by the dark humour.

It is a highly enjoyable crime romp. Perfect for a holiday or for curling up by a fire.

Loved it! Wonderful characters which you could really relate to and lots of twists turns along the way. A really good read.

What a great story! I loved the way it was structured and the plot twisted and turned, finishing with a brilliant post script. By the end, everything was explained and the loose ends were tied up, but there were about six or seven sub plots going on to keep readers interested, including the husbands and wives, their children, Hector and Brenda and Padma (as a sub character, she was brilliantly written). I’m a fast reader but this isn’t one to finish in one night. Take your time and enjoy this one! Thank you to the publisher and to #netgalley for allowing me to read an advance copy.

⭐️⭐️⭐️/5
Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC. The Retirement Plan by Sue Hincenbergs was an entertaining read with a lot of unexpected twists. The plot kept me engaged, but I found the large cast of characters a bit overwhelming—there wasn’t enough depth to really connect with them. While the story had potential, the ending didn’t quite land for me. Overall, I enjoyed it, but I’m unsure if I’d pick up another book along these same lines.

4 married couples, friends for years, reaching retirement age, a bad investment 4 years ago means their retirement money was lost . None of the marriages is particularly happy, and when 1 husband dies leaving life insurance of $1m. , the other3 wives think about getting rid of their husbands as well. . Brilliantly written with so many twists and turns, it's an enthralling plot . Loved it.

Good book, would make an even better Netlfix show.

I really enjoyed it, it was a catalogue of miscommunication and errors that upset the lives of the 4 couples and set them on a wild ride. I did feel like it lost its way after the halfway mark a little and was trying to be almost too clever. It would work so well on tv, I was picturing what actors I would have in the roles while reading.