The Retirement Plan by Sue Hincenbergs is an outrageously entertaining debut that expertly combines dark humor, suspense, and the chaotic unpredictability of life after retirement. A group of lifelong friends—Pam, Nancy, Shalisa, and Marlene—find themselves grappling with financial ruin after their husbands’ disastrous investment scheme. What follows is a deliciously tangled web of misunderstandings, murder plots, and misplaced trust as both the wives and their husbands hatch competing schemes to secure their futures.

This novel is a masterclass in character development and razor-sharp wit. The alternating points of view give readers a hilarious yet poignant glimpse into the minds of every character, from the beleaguered wives plotting their husbands’ demise to the paranoid husbands believing they’re next in line for an untimely death. Adding to the delightful chaos are Hector, a barber with a shady side hustle, and Padma, a casino boss dealing with everything from embezzlement to her meddling mother's matchmaking antics.

The book shines as a dark comedy, balancing its outrageous premise with heartfelt moments that explore themes of love, loyalty, and frustration within long-term relationships. The humor is biting yet relatable, with laugh-out-loud moments emerging from years of shared marital grievances. Twists and turns abound, but the story never loses its core humanity.

Perfectly paced and brimming with tension, The Retirement Plan is a must-read for fans of clever plots and sharp dialogue. Whether you’re in it for the intrigue, the humor, or the catharsis of seeing midlife frustrations hilariously amplified, this book delivers. It’s the kind of story that begs for a Netflix adaptation, complete with a stellar cast to bring these vivid characters to life. Highly recommended for anyone who enjoys a darkly comedic escape into the absurdities of marriage, friendship, and the retirement years.

Thank you to NetGalley and Little, Brown Book Group UK for providing an ARC of this uproariously funny debut.

5 Star review

A great entertaining dark humour story.

The story starts off with the loss of a dear friend following a tragic accident. The widow gets a nice payout and hits the "high life". Envious, her friends are not happy in their relationships and think the deserve the same. Not suspecting their wives, the husbands fear that someone is out to get them. So, they all end us hiring the same hitman to get the job done. After quite a lot of twists and turns, and lots of dirty deeds, this story was very intriguing. I could see where the plot was going which had me chuckling at times.

I really enjoyed this book and recommend it for anyone that likes an exciting slow burn read.

The Retirement Plan by Sue Hincenbergs is a brilliantly crafted dark comedy that delves into the absurdities of life, marriage, and the pursuit of happiness in the later years. The book takes a wildly entertaining turn as three women—Pam, Nancy, and Shalisa—grapple with the disillusionment of their retirement dreams. When their husbands make a disastrous investment, their golden years look increasingly bleak. But when tragedy strikes and one of the husbands unexpectedly dies, the women’s lives take a sharp and unexpected turn, sparking a darkly humorous series of events.

At the heart of the book is the growing sense of desperation and betrayal felt by the wives, who, after discovering that their husbands have substantial life insurance policies, begin to formulate a plan of their own. The plot quickly becomes a fast-paced, tension-filled, and laugh-out-loud rollercoaster ride as the women consider the unthinkable: hiring a hitman to secure their futures. The humor of the situation is dark, and the stakes are high, making the story both thrilling and entertaining.

The structure of the book, which frequently switches points of view, gives readers an insightful look into the minds of various characters, from the wives plotting their next move to the husbands trying to navigate their own secret retirement plans. This technique keeps the narrative dynamic and engaging, offering multiple perspectives on the unfolding chaos. While all the characters contribute to the intrigue, the chapters from Padma, the frazzled casino boss, and Hector, the shady barber, add an extra layer of complexity and charm. Padma's overbearing mother adds a comedic but relatable subplot, while Hector’s seemingly inconspicuous role hints at deeper layers to his character.

One of the book’s greatest strengths lies in its ability to balance the ridiculous with the heartfelt. The story manages to be both suspenseful and comical, but it also offers a deeper look at marriage, friendship, and the challenges of middle age. As the women’s plan spirals out of control and the husbands scramble to save themselves, the book takes on a thrilling, cat-and-mouse quality, full of twists, turns, and unexpected moments of vulnerability.

Read more at The Secret Book Review.

When one of the husbands dies, the other husbands decide to run off with their stolen money before anyone realises the money is gone, but the wives see the insurance policy payment and decide to hire someone to murder their husbands to provide the money to set them up for a nice move to Florida. The trouble is that everyone hires the same person to get rid of everyone else. This is a fun read and just when you think you know what’s happening, the story takes a twist that you probably didn’t expect. There’s lots of misunderstandings and the husbands and wives all try to guess what is going on, but often it isn’t , whatever it is. This isn’t confusing as you read this book and you’ll worry about the casino boss Padma, who is not all she likes to reflect, but has her own problems as she tries to find the stolen money. While the story is both serious and funny at the same time, the characters are all well rounded and you’ll know them all as the story progresses. I found this story quite ‘different’ and will look for more by this author in the future.

A delightfully humorous crime comedy of errors and miscommunication.
Following the death of their friend Dave the three other men in the friendship group are suspicious that their planned retirement pot funded from rigging machines in the casino where Dave and another of the men work has been compromised. Perhaps it's time to disappear and lay low in order to save themselves. Meanwhile their wives see the life insurance payout received by Dave's wife and realise that they would be better off without their husbands (and all the things that annoy them about them). Can they all get what they want?

The characters are fun and (almost) believable, with lots of humour. it makes a great light read and could make a great film.

Oh my. This book was so absurd that you're probably going to either love or hate it. Really. I didn't know what to expect so I started reading it with open mind and the more I read, the more confused I was - it felt like western, like a comedy of errors, like a satire, where everyone just runs around putting themselves into more troubles and the coincidences just pop up like mushrooms. It was entertainingly ridiculous, though there were always more moments when it was too much for me, when it felt repetitive, when it was too much of "the wives" and "the husbands" and too many coincidences and hitmen.

The novels switches its points of view very often between rather many characters, but you will soon get used to them all. I actually enjoyed all of them - the most annoying was Padma for me, but maybe it's because I had a feeling she can spoil everything for the couples. Having said that, I also enjoyed her chapters - they were ridiculous, really.

There is a lot of humour in this book, even if sometimes it really feels too much, tons of twists and turns and you really have no idea where the author is going to take you, as everything was possible in this story. I might give it to my husband - he should remember that "happy wife, happy life" and what can happen if the wife is not happy.

I am not sure what I was expecting, but at first I was thinking "this is not it". Marlene's husband gets killed by a faulty garage door. Handy that he had a life insurance policy for 1 million dollars. The group of friends are in their 60s and the marriages aren't what they were. After the men sunk their savings into a scheme which went wrong, they have money troubles. The wives look at doing away with their men for the insurance money and the barber may be able to help them. The men also have their own scheme .
I found the first 30% of the book hard-going. The book did not engage me, lots of misunderstandings and it was all too B comedy movie like. Later, as the plot started to make more sense I came to like the characters more and was more engaged in the book. The explantions were a little overdone and there was a need to sew up all loose ends unnecessarily . An OK read.
Thanks to Net galley for the ARC

This is a wonderful inventive book, with lots of plot twists that I didn't see coming. However, I did feel the book could do with a final edit to make it a bit shorter, it did drag on a bit. All those lines where 'X gets in the car, turns left and drives to Y', can be removed and there a lot of those kind of lines. It's almost cinematic, but not in the right way. It iwll be wonderful when all edits are done though.

The Retired Wives' Club, follows Marlene, Pam, Nancy, and Shalisa—who are fed up with their husbands and lost retirement dreams. What begins as venting about their marriages quickly evolves into a tangled web of hitmen, insurance scams, and explosive secrets.

This one is ideal for lovers of lighthearted reads, if that’s you, this will be a great pick for your next read.

I was pleasantly surprised by how relatable I found this group of angry wives whose husbands had ruined their retirement plans. The litany was of grievances was, if anything, a bit too compelling. Once the cat and mouse game began in earnest between the competing actions of the husbands versus the wives and the author began to reveal the men’s redeeming qualities I struggled to turn away from my initial impressions. The twists and turns of the plot kept it moving along at a brisk pace though the happy wife happy life mantra did start to wear thin. I could see this as a film, maybe the right cast would make the men more forgivable.

Absolutely brilliant book!
I am a big fan of this author and love the writing style!
I cant wait to read more!

"Happy wife, happy life" to quote Hector, the barber.
But is it all it seems?
Marlene, Pam, Nancy and Shalisa are not happy. In their 60s, they expected more from their lives and their husbands.
Soon enough their lives become more interesting and they're enmeshed with hit men, missing millions, dead husbands and explosions.
Can all of this chaos help everyone reclaim their happiness?

I really enjoyed the vibe of this read and loved the twists and turns throughout the read. Always a great sign when I find myself laughing out loud as I read. The stops location I found very interesting and I could find myself picturing the characters. I will definitely look out for more reads from this author.

Thank you to NetGalley for allowing me to review this book.

I loved this book
When I started to read this book I did not want to put this book down
I would 100% recommend it to family a d friends

I really enjoyed reading this. It's a quirky story and it works very well. I really wondered if they would carry out their plans but I won't say more because I don't want to spoil it for anyone. I would definitely buy it and recommend it to others.

Love love loved this book! It’s funny and witty with twists and turns on every page! One of the best I’ve read for a while 😍

A fun, lighthearted novel that serves as a reminder to never eat your partner's leftovers and to always be nice to dogs.

It was a perfectly good thriller and it hit the spot. I loved the characters, the plot had enough twists and turns to keep me engaged and the whole story was well thought out. I'm excited to see what else the author comes up with.

This was a thought-provoking and energising book that was hilarious, full of unexpected turns, and incredibly heartfelt.

The story’s location is intriguing, its pacing is excellent and its characters are compelling.

Thank you to NetGalley and Little Brown Book Group UK for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

This novel is, I understand from the debut author’s own website, a project she carried out in the six weeks off she took some years ago in her fast-paced career as a Canadian television producer. I am sure other readers are equally glad, as I am, that she gave herself this challenge as the result, a hugely novel about what it means to ‘retire’ is now in front of us! The plot centres on a group of longstanding female friends who plan to retire together – but to do so, they need to divest themselves of the husbands they have slowly grown tired of. A big financial investment gone wrong and the unforeseen death of one of the husbands momentarily throw this female band of schemers off course, but they soon rebound. But perhaps the remaining husbands are pursuing a different, equally secret gameplan that does not involve their wives?
Despite the murderous game plans that are being hatched, elaborated and adapted here, the novel is actually a thought-provoking, often humorous novel about getting older, outgrowing relationships, and forging new plans. I particularly enjoyed the characterisation of Pam and the male characters and hope that Sue Hincenbergs will give them an even larger outing in a subsequent novel! I wish to thank NetGalley and the publishers for the free ARC that allowed me to read this debut novel and write this honest, unbiased review.