This book is well plotted with strong characters. I enjoyed the pacing as it kept me fully engaged until the end. This is a great summer read.

The Retirement Plan is a rather tongue in cheek mystery that serves a mix of lighthearted and dark humor.

Pretty silly but entertaining enough. I wouldn’t recommend buying but if you stumble upon it, it would suit you well on a vacation.

Darkly funny, twisty, and full of scheming spouses. When their golden years start looking grim, these wives go full rogue to collect on their husbands' life insurance. But the husbands? They’ve got a backup plan… if they can survive long enough to use it.

This one was WILD—in the best way. Twists, humor, revenge… I ate it up! Definitely a favorite.

Sue Hincenberg’s The Retirement Plan is a cheeky, feel-good gem that combines witty dialogue, genuine heart, and just the right amount of sass. Its playful take on second-chance beginnings and reinvention makes for an undeniably charming and addictive read. I couldn’t help but cheer for these characters as they leap into new chapters of life with humor and boldness. A delightfully uplifting escape that’s perfect for readers craving warmth, fun, and a reminder: it’s never too late for a fresh start.

Have you ever been married long enough to imagine what life might look like if your husband suddenly passed away…. and what you’d do with the life insurance? Yeah, me neither 😅… but the characters in this book certainly have. What they didn’t expect, though, were the schemes their husbands were secretly cooking up on the side. Because in this story, everyone is hiding something.

I loved how the author balanced sharp wit with suspense, unexpected twists, and even a touch of romance. While the plot feels far from anything that would actually happen in real life, that’s exactly what made it so quirky and fun. And honestly, every character here is just morally gray enough that they seem to cancel each other out, in the best way.

*Thank you to Sue Hincenbergs, William Morrow and Netgalley for the digital copy. I am freely leaving my honest review.

The Retirement Plan is an absolute delight—a fun, lighthearted read packed with misadventures, misunderstandings, and laugh-out-loud moments.
The high jinks are nonstop, making it hard to put the book down. The misunderstandings between characters add a layer of charm and chaos that keeps the plot moving briskly. The characters were quirky and lovable, and their antics made for a super entertaining escape. Definitely a feel-good, fun time!

Fast, funny read. I actually thought this was very enjoyable and quite different than most other books. Highly recommend

This one surprised me. It's cozy, funny and full of twists.

Cozy mysteries often rarely surprise me with their twists. They're nice to read but not always full of suspense and the mystery factor can be low. But this book reminded me of "The Thursday Murder Club" series with its heart, mystery and banter,

I think the last quarter drags a tad bit too long but I enjoyed reading the book (I don't want to give anything away). I'll be checking out more from the author, who is also in her sixties like the characters.

Thanks to Netgalley & William Morrow for the e-copy!

This was such a funny cozy mystery! This story follows a group of four best friends who are now 60 years old. They love their husbands, but they also are sick of their lives and the dead end they've all approached. The four husbands are also best friends and had a failed investment that left all the couples without any retirement funds. The husbands have a plan, but so do the wives. This was a comedy of errors type of book and so fun. I also loved Elmer the dog! I highly recommend this book to anyone who loves The Golden Girls or Finlay Donovan books. Thanks to NetGalley and William Morrow for this eARC.

The Retirement Plan offers a clever premise with a mix of suspense, dark humor, and a touch of satire that makes for a mostly entertaining read. Centered around a group of retirees who band together in a surprising scheme. I enjoyed most of the characters - each one is a retiree and I felt there was enough backstory to make their motivations believable. Some witty, dry moments that were fun. The pacing starts strong and is intriguing. About halfway through, some twists felt a bit far-fetched and it started to fall flat. Overall, it is enjoyable and a little different than your normal crime/mystery.

This book just kept getting better! I honestly didn’t see some of the twists coming. This was such a great book and I loved the ending

So many characters! Four couples who’ve been lifelong friends, their kids and partners, the barber and his wife, Padma who runs the casino, her mother, the matchmaker, Padma’s many dates… and I’m probably still forgetting someone. Padma’s storyline didn’t really connect to the main plot—it felt like setup for a future book.

That said, if you enjoy a light and humorous mystery, this is a fun and entertaining read. I’m looking forward to reading more from this author..

Thank you to NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

It's giving Good Girls x Golden Girls. A fun read!

Thank you, NetGalley and William Morrow, for the ARC.

This was very enjoyable.

The characters were amazing and a great amount of detail. The backgrounds were all there. From their relationships to their marriages and all the in between.

The story itself was a little predictable but still very enjoyable. A few laugh out loud moments as well.

Definitely will recommend

Thank you NetGalley for the copy

This book was kindly provided by Netgalley for my honest review. I loved the women in this book. Even though they were flawed almost to the point of being unlikable (they did want to kill their husbands), they were all incredibly fun to spend time with. It was fun to watch how things played out and to see everyone's rationale for their behaviors, even the husbands, who were arguably not the best spouses in the world. Hector, the barber, was a wonderful and complex character. And the ending was fantastic. The way that everything was tied up at the end was amazing. I would love to read more by the author and hope that she comes out with something again soon. I would definitely recommend this to any of my woman friends (especially those who, like me, are middle-aged).

This book had me laughing out loud on several occasions. It felt a bit like an “I Love Lucy” episode in book form. I enjoyed the character development and the plot was equally good. I would 100% read another book by this author! Thanks to #NetGalley for the ARC of #TheRetirementPlan.

Four couples have been friends for decades. They had hoped to save enough money for a carefree retirement. However, a bad investment doomed their plans. And their marriages suffered as well. Pam, Nancy, and Shalisa are shocked when Marlene's husband, Dave, is killed in a freak home accident (or perhaps it was something more nefarious). They are even more surprised to discover that each of the four men had taken out million-dollar life insurance policies. Marlene immediately buys a place in Boca Raton, Florida, with her newfound wealth. The other three women consider hiring a hitman so they too can get the insurance money and realize their retirement dreams. They don't know that their husbands also have new retirement plans, and their scheme includes hiring the same hitman.

After a successful career as a television producer, Sue Hincenbergs has written her debut novel. The Retirement Plan is a clever crime thriller that doesn't take itself too seriously, given its murderous theme. The portrayal of all the friends was well done. Also enjoyable was Padma, the new head of the casino, where two of the husbands were employed. Her wealthy, overbearing mother with mob ties in India secured Padma her job and now wants her to find a husband. And Hector, the hitman, who also works as a barber, was the real star of the story. The book balances being a mystery thriller and a humorous story. I don't typically gravitate towards "cozy" mysteries, but this book sounded fun. It was. I found it very entertaining.

4.25 stars.

Retirement Plan

Three best friends turn to murder to collect on their husbands’ life insurance policies… But the husbands have a plan of their own in this darkly funny debut  .

This book was hilarious! The plot moves between the hims and the hers, the boss, and the hitman. It never stops giving laughs.

Four couples are friends and spend a lot of time together. The men lost a lot of money in an investment, and since then it's been a lot of work and no fun. When one of the husbands dies in a tragic accident and they see their friend, his wife, hit the jackpot with his extremely large life insurance payout, they check out their husband's life insurance plans and they come up with a plan of their own seeing a different retirement plan then the one they originally had with their husbands.

Meanwhile the men don't think their friend died in an accident; they believe someone is out for them, and make their own plan. I highly recommend reading this book.

This debut novel takes readers on a journey of deception, miscommunication, and drama as three best friends plot to collect on their husbands’ life insurance policies—only to discover the husbands have their own secret schemes in motion. The characters—flawed, relatable, and delightfully mischievous—are brought to life with sharp dialogue and clever twists. The novel’s pacing is brisk, keeping readers hooked as the chaos unfolds. For fans of witty crime capers and darkly thrillers tinged with comedy, The Retirement Plan is a must-read. This fast-paced novel will keep you guessing—and laughing—until the very last page.

Pam, her three friends, and their husbands have been friends for over 30 years having dinners and going out on the boat. After a bad investment suggested by Pam’s husband Hank, all four couples have been struggling making up for the financial loss. When one of the husbands dies in suspicious circumstances, two things happen. The first is that the husbands realize that the casino they work at and have been stealing from may be onto them and all of their lives could be in danger so they hire a hitman to kill whoever is after them. The second, is that after a windfall insurance payout for their friend the other three women decide that they want the same and decide to hire a hitman to murder their husbands. Problem is that both groups went to the same hitman - it’s like a murderous Gift of the Magi.

I thought this one had potential but I just couldn’t love it. I don’t love miscommunication as a general theme and this one was pure miscommunication. While I found some of the story amusing, there was a storyline that I didn’t like and not sure what it brought to the story as a whole. Mainly this book just didn’t work for me, some of it was fun but it also went a bit off the rails. A lot of people enjoyed this one so I think it’s a matter of taste.

3.5 stars

Thank you to William Morrow and NetGalley for the ARC to review