I didn’t enjoy this one quite as much as the first but I absolutely love how this author tackles sexism and ageism and shows how women can continue to be bad asses even into old age! I love the message of these books and the female friendships. This had the same awesome humor from the first book and was truly a blast to read. This Golden Girls meets Charlie’s Angels series will definitely stand the test of time!

Thank you NetGalley and Berkley for this ARC!

I so enjoy your writing. I do hope you will continue this series and writing about middle aged women.

I very much enjoyed #1 of this series, and the enjoyment continued with #2. I love the premise of the books, and the relationship between the four women. Being a thriller, there is a certain amount of logic you need to be willing to suspend when reading it. But it’s worth it to enjoy this fun read. I want these books to be turned into a streaming series with a kickass cast of women. Thank you to NetGalley for allowing me to read this as an ARC.

There's just something I love about a bunch of old retired female assassins as action heroes. I love these characters and how they interact with each other. Raybourn does a great job of showing how these ladies have literally know each other for decades and how much they know and understand each other.

The flashbacks kept pulling me out of the story a little so it took a bit longer to get through than I would have liked. But in the end you can't help but feel love for these unlikely killers.

I really liked the first book, but this one wasn't the one for me. I felt a little underwhelmed and bored while reading it. I hope to read it again... maybe it was the mood I was in.

Our four female assassins are back! This time, they’ve been hired for a covert mission to uncover a mole within their organization and take down a gangster targeting Museum agents. Everything I loved about Killers of a Certain Age—the witty dialogue, the larger-than-life “mature” female characters, and the engaging writing—can also be found in Kills Well With Others. However, this time, the characters' mission and relationships are even more deeply developed.

Unfortunately I just couldn’t get into the second installment of this series. I loved the ladies in Killers of a Certain Age - and I enjoyed them here…but the plot lost me and I just found that this book couldn’t hold my attention. I read about 65% of the book before deciding to move on.

Raybourn created a fun sequel for her quartet of aging assassins. Billie narrates and I always imagine Jamie Lee Curtis in the cinematic action of my imagination. This is full of travels - there's a QEII transatlantic passage, a stay in Venice with boat chasing and piazzas, and a centerpiece scene on a train (a la Orient Express). It's a little bloody and there are, of course, the take down of Nazi offspring and art thieves.
A page turning mystery that lacks any plot holes to the naked eye.
Thanks so much for the ARC! I always enjoy Raybourn's style and humor.

Kills Well with Others by Deanna Raybourn is a fun and fast-paced second book in the Killers of a Certain Age mystery series.

We pick up a little over a year since the events of the first novel. The ladies have kept in touch but have been living pretty far apart from one another, until they all receive an invitation for another project. It seems that there's a mole in their organization and they may be the only ones to sniff them out. Off the books, of course, or the mole might figure out that they know.

I've had a lot of fun reading this series! I borrowed the audiobook from my local library and followed along in my physical review copy. Both narrators did a phenomenal job! Their execution, especially during humorous scenes, is fantastic. There are a couple scenes with a chicken in them where I really lost it.

The narrators have split duties in the book: one reads the present storyline and the other reads interstitial flashbacks to previous missions to provide depth for the case at hand. I said this before in my review of the first book, but I love it when authors use this kind of dual-timeline plot structure.

I'm still really enjoying Billie as our main POV character. Her sense of humor really works for me and I was overjoyed to see where she was (and who she was with) at the beginning of this book. We did get to dig a bit deeper into the lives of some of the other three ladies in this installment, which was lovely, but I would really enjoy a deeper dive into some of the other ladies. I'm especially interested in seeing what Helen does next. Natalie feels a tad bit underdeveloped, or maybe she's just not as memorable to me as the other three ladies.

This book would be great for fans of the Thursday Murder Club by Richard Osman or the Vera Wong series by Jesse Q. Sutanto. All of these including folks in their 60s or older sorting out mysteries, though Killers of a Certain Age has much faster pacing and leans more into thriller than cozy mystery.

I hope we get more books in this series!

Deanna Raybourn never fails to deliver highly entertaining, compellling, and engrossing stories. Happy to catch up with the fleshed up characters, a delightful treat I thoroughly enjoyed
Highly recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher for this ARC, all opinions are mine

I love a senior citizen assassin. These folk aren't as old as my preferred protagonists, but like Vera Wong, they are secretly badass and know how to get stuff done.

I do find myself not bothering to distinguish between women. It would be nice to have a clearer understand of who is who and their backgrounds. Even like a cheesy profile would do, especially as a reminder from the first in the series.

This is more international spy than my usual mystery reads, but I liked the characters. It's also more action scenes than I usually tolerate, but there is something satisfying about imagining these women kicking ass.

Thank you for the ARC. I purchased for my library and will share widely.

This title finally made it to the top of my reading pile and I am so happy it did! The quartet of Billy, Helen, Mary Alice, and Natalie are back for another round of adventures. About a year or so after the events that happened in Killers of a Certain Age, Naomi, the new head of the the Museum, contacted the quartet. It seems someone in the organization has leaked information to a specific outsider with gangster tendencies with an interest in the quartet since they had killed his father. So now they have a Bulgarian to kill before they are killed. But will that end the threat since there is still the mole to account for. The quartet are off on another globe-trotting trip with excursions into memory lanes to fill in needed details. Join Billie, Helen, Mary Alice, Natalie and company as they deal with killers, opera singers, and lost art! Enjoy the ride!

I really enjoyed the first book in this series and was concerned about Sophomore Slump. I had no need to be worried. I enjoyed this installment of the series just as well if not more than the first one. I love the author’s writing style and adore this group of women assassins. I can’t wait for more from them.

<b><i>Killers of a Certain Age</i> was darkly funny, action-packed, feminist, and friend-focused. I love the second installment's return to my favorite aging assassins and their quick-thinking, spry, deadly answers to those who have broken moral codes--and who have our protagonists in their sights.</b>

<b><blockquote>You could get a real job instead of this endless loop of make-believe, this merry-go-round of cover stories and covert assignments.
But you don't. Because the person you're supposed to kill has been chosen for a good reason. Whatever contract exists between human beings, a contract of decency and common humanity, they've broken it. </b></blockquote>
The first installment of Deanna Raybourn's Killers of a Certain Age series was a fun, darkly funny, feminist story about a retiring female team of elite assassins. It was the right book at the right time for me: entertainment in the perfect combination of action and suspense, loyal friendship, clever plotting, and the promise of love.

Book two picks up when our main characters, having laid low and lived their own lives for a year, are contacted by the Museum, the elite assassin organization they used to work for. An Eastern European gangster has obtained the names of agents who have stood in his way over the years, and our aging assassins seem likely to be next on his hit list. They must figure out who's turned traitor on the Museum and shared this information--and stay alive long enough to bring them to justice.

I remain fully invested in this premise of aging elite assassins who feel deep affection for and, at times, annoyance with each other. Their age plays into their potential disguises (and the ribbing they give each other about vanity or work they've had done), but generally they remain mentally and physically spry enough to think several steps ahead and to move lithely and with deadly precision (whew, that train ride!).

<b><blockquote>Somebody has to put the chessboard to rights, pick up the wrecked pieces and set it back at the start. So you pick up your bag and you close the door behind you, just like you've closed a hundred other doors. And you know that every time you do, you've left another piece of you behind.</b></blockquote>
<i>Kills Well with Others</i> sometimes feels a little bit as though Raybourn is gamely giving her readers what they want (more Billie, Helen, Mary Alice, Natalie--and Tanner!) rather than writing a book she felt compelled to put out into the world. But I'm one of those who are eager for more time with these clever, sometimes grumpy, often spontaneous, satisfyingly quick-thinking assassins who are loyal to each other above all. The mind-bending examinations of what other characters might be up to and the combat and narrow escapes keep the pacing lively and engaging. In between, Raybourn allows friendships and love to grow and change. If Raybourn keeps writing this series, I'll read every last installment.

I received a prepublication edition of this title courtesy of Berkley Publishing Group and NetGalley.

<b>More Deanna Raybourn Love</b>
Raybourn is also the author of the wonderful <i>Killers of a Certain Age,</i> which was the first in the Killers of a Certain Age series. (You can find my review of that title on the blog.)

And I loved <i>A Curious Beginning,</i> the first book in Deanna Raybourn's feisty Veronica Speedwell series of historical fiction mysteries, as well as the sequels <i>A Perilous Undertaking, A Treacherous Curse, A Dangerous Collaboration,</i> and <i>A Murderous Relation.</i> (There are currently nine books in the series.)

<b>To see my full review on The Bossy Bookworm, or to find out about Bossy reviews and Greedy Reading Lists as soon as they're posted, please see <a href="https://www.bossybookworm.com/post/review-of-kills-well-with-others-killers-of-a-certain-age-2-by-deanna-raybourn/"><i>Kills Well with Others.</a></i></b>

I enjoyed this one but not as much as the first one which I remember really loving. This one is closer to 3.5 stars rounded up for me.

This novel was, at times, laugh out loud funny, but was also a great mystery that takes the reader around the world. When assassins have aged out, what does retirement look like? You won't find knitting needle needles in this novel!

𝚁𝚊𝚝𝚒𝚗𝚐: 4.25⭐️
𝙶𝚎𝚗𝚛𝚎: fiction/ thriller📚

𝙼𝚢 𝚃𝚑𝚘𝚞𝚐𝚑𝚝𝚜:
Another fun book with the same characters from ‘Killers of a Certain Age’. I love a good comedic thriller!

𝚁𝚎𝚊𝚍 𝚒𝚏 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚕𝚒𝚔𝚎:
Strong FMCs
Espionage thrillers with older female killers
Comedic twists
Fast paced narratives
Fun adventures
Found family
Secrets from the past
Empowering female friendships
Creative kills

𝚃𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚐𝚜 𝙸 𝚕𝚒𝚔𝚎𝚍:
The camaraderie and banter among the FMCs
The blend of humor and suspense

𝚃𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚐𝚜 𝙸 𝚍𝚒𝚍𝚗’𝚝 𝚌𝚊𝚛𝚎 𝚏𝚘𝚛:
Some parts felt really similar to the first book
Convenient resolutions

𝙵𝚊𝚟𝚘𝚛𝚒𝚝𝚎 𝚀𝚞𝚘𝚝𝚎𝚜:
★ “People look beyond red flags waving right in front of their faces because they want something so desperately that they will explain away anything that might stand in their way.”
★ “We were never just killers. We were women who killed, and that made all the difference.”

Kills Well With Others
Deanna Raybourn
3.75⭐️

Pub Date: 3/11/2025

Golden girls spies/assassins are back!
This is the sequel to Killer's Of A Certain Age. Raybourn did it again. The whole plot was well thought out. There's more personal stuff going on and I really felt connected with the characters. I saw the personal growth into the life they chose and what sacrifices they had to make. The mission was still really good- there were 3 different assignments in different timelines. That part was a little difficult for me to keep up with at the beginning but it was fine. The mystery of who the mole was in the organization was really baffling. I got it wrong but I thought nobody could've really guessed it so I didn't feel quite as bad 😆 The places they traveled to were very well described. And I totally get this. I enjoyed it when it was done on the first book. But I thought it was a little overdone *maybe?* in this book. I made the book too slow for my liking. I craved the action more. This really just got too wordy for me and I found myself skimming a lot. Overall, it's not quite a thrilling as the first book. But it's still charming, still enjoyable.

Thank you @netgalley and Berkley for a gifted e-ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Retired assassins, especially the female ones, seem to find it hard to leave their careers behind. When a quartet of said illustrious women discover they are being stalked for actions in the past, they regroup to discover and take on their new foe.

I am a huge fan of Deanna Raybourn's Killers of a Certain Age series. The second installment did not disappoint, it was fast paced, intriguing and just as edgy as the first.

**A big thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an electronic ARC and the opportunity to review this book.