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

This was ridiculous, in all the right ways. Thank you for this ARC in exchange for an honest review! I am working through my backlog, and will be momentarily posting reviews for the stories I have yet to get posted but have finished reading.

Quick, fast-paced, funny, clever.
Three wives conspire to knock off their useless husbands when one of their friends comes into a lump of insurance money when her husband is killed in a freak accident. But, unbeknownst to them, the husbands have secrets of their own. They have been embezzling money from the casino where they work and socking it away for their own retirement.
This is like a Netflix movie in a good way. The wives are funny, the husbands are clueless, and the continuous circling of the plot line is sure to hold the attention.
Special thanks to NetGalley for allowing to read this in advance of publication.

3.75 ⭐ rounding up
Four couples nearing retirement took a bad hit about 5 years ago on an investment. And to offset that loss, they come up with a plan to skim $10 million from the casino where they work. When one of the men is found dead under a garage door, other other men think murder.And when the widow receives a financial windfall from insurance, the other women ponder their futures. Cat and mouse games ensue. Cleverly plotted light entertainment. Thanks to netgalley for the opportunity to read this book in exchange for an honest review.

The Retirement Plan is a wildly entertaining blend of dark comedy, crime caper, and middle-aged mayhem. It plays out like an old-school action-comedy movie — a little over-the-top, but packed with laughs and unexpected twists that keep things moving.

At its core, this is a story about people in their early 60s who are tired — of their marriages, their routines, and their lives. When their recently widowed friend Marlene cashes in on a life insurance policy and starts living her best life in Boca Raton, Pam, Nancy, and Shalise begin to wonder if there’s a better way to retire… one that might involve, say, a little murder. Throw in a $10 million casino heist, and you've got yourself a chaotic, twisty ride.

The multiple POVs really worked here — it was great to see how each character justified their actions (or just completely ignored the consequences). Everyone is self-absorbed, terrible at communication, and often hilariously extreme. Padma’s storyline in particular had me laughing the most — she steals every scene she's in.

Sure, a lot of the problems could’ve been solved with a conversation, but where’s the drama in that? This book thrives on miscommunication, escalating antics, and an undercurrent of revenge that never stops being funny.

If you’re looking for a fun, offbeat read with scheming women, failing marriages, and a “why not?” approach to crime, this one’s for you. Imagine if The Golden Girls decided to take control of their lives — with felonies. Count me in.

Thank you NetGalley and William Marrow Publishing for my DRC!

I thoroughly enjoyed this one. It was light, funny, and heartwarming. It’s about a group of friends, four husbands and wives, in their later years as they near retirement. One friend’s husband dies in a tragic accident, leaving her with a million-dollar life insurance payout.

As she starts her life anew in Florida, the remaining three friends discover their husbands also have significant insurance policies. Things have been bleak for their marriages since the husbands made a bad investment and lost all their retirement. Gone are the dreams of retiring together on the beach in Florida, as they try to get by with what they can manage in the present day. So when they learn about the potential winfall, you know, if their beloved husbands were to perish, they devise a shocking yet hysterical plan of murdering all three of them. 🤣 Meanwhile, the husbands have their devious plan to provide for retirement cooking as well—until it becomes potentially deadly.

This book literally made me laugh out loud at times. I loved the main character Pam. She really came off the page. She was honest, pragmatic, funny, and also generous. And you could tell she loved her husband. All three of the women were just so enjoyable as they planned their husbands’ murders (probably a sentence I never thought I’d write. 🤣)

Review posted 5.5.25
Traveling With T’s Thoughts:

This book would make a great movie. It really would. The cast of characters could work wonderfully in a movie or limited edition Netflix type show and the book has enough craziness that writers would not have to spice it up.
Have you ever played the game Gossip? Or been a part of a large group of many conversations all happening at once and people keep repeating misheard things and then everyone is confused?

This is kinda what the book feels like at times. But way funnier than how I described it.

It’s a dark comedy with an interesting look at several marriages- and how they devolve because lack of true communication.



What I liked:

Love the cover!

The wives. They were dealing with a lot and as the chapters went on, I really felt for them- and then a lot of times laughed with them.

The husbands. At first, you kinda want to dislike them. But then you get to know them and see glimpses of the men the wives fell in love with years ago.

Hector. A man wise beyond his years. Loved him.

Bottom line: This book had a lot going for it for a debut. It also satisfied the cry for older FMC and is kinda in the vein of Thursday Murder Club with the type of characters.



*This book was sent to Traveling With T for review consideration. All thoughts and opinions are mine alone.*

I’m not sure why, but I really couldn’t get into this one! I only made it about 20% before deciding to DNF it. I was really surprised to not like it, because it is EXACTLY the genre of *movies* I like (bumbling “regular” people getting involved in stuff above their pay grade), but I guess I don’t enjoy it the same way in books. I think I particularly struggled with the cast of characters (7/8 main characters), and feeling like I didn’t really *know* any of them.

This book is somehow both genuinely hilarious and reflective at the same time!

As Pam says “We are literally Lucy and Ethel plan a murder.”

I loved all of the characters, the girls were immediately endearing, the guys really grew on me, and I LOVED Brenda and Hector.

This is a fun, easy read with big heart and big laughs!

Thank you to William Morrow for my advance copy!

Pam and Hank, Nancy and Larry, Marlene and Dave and Shalisa and Andre have been neighbors and good friends for many years. When their husbands’ plan for a get rich quick scheme, fell through, so did lots of their retirement money. Now, life is looking quite bleak for them.

Dave dies in a freak accident and Marlene learns that he had a million dollar life insurance policy leaving her able to move to Boca Raton, Florida and buy a large condo. She is thrilled. The other women decide that they need to get insurance policies on their husbands - just in case. After discussion about their dissatisfaction with their marriages, they decide to call upon a hitman to get things moving along. The only thing is they don’t know that their husbands have also conjured up yet another scheme to get rich quick. What could go wrong?

I chuckled all the way through this book. It’s an outlandish but hilarious story that will keep readers laughing and turning pages. If you want a read that is a bit kooky but fun, don’t miss this one. Enjoy!

Copy provided by NetGalley in exchange for a fair and honest review.

This book is the perfect summer book. It was so entertaining and had me smiling from the humor. Well written and can’t believe this is a debut. Well done and hope the author writes more books.

I really should have DNFed this one, the ending was so anticlimactic that I’m just shook.

I was really hoping this one would be hysterical and movie like but it drug on and on and on, and truly the humorous pieces were far and few between. The wives were quite annoying and should have just divorced the men long ago, but then the ending 🙄. Okay I just didn’t like this one.

Twisty, fast-paced, and full of sharp humor. The characters are messy in the best way, and the plot kept me hooked.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC

The plot of this book is strong. Three women collaborating to cash in life insurance policies after seeing their friend receive a million dollars after her husband’s death. Thus begins the shenanigans.
There’s so much going on all at once in this book. There is the base story, which is interesting enough. Where the plot starts unraveling is when we told back stories of each of the characters. It’s too much. It takes away from the story.
I saw the author is a producer and has worked in the film industry. That makes sense. This book will make a great limited series. If each character is given an episode to contribute to the finale.
As a book, it’s too convoluted. There are too many tangents which are not relevant to the actual story. It makes the story drag on.
These golden girl type friends are strong enough to carry this story. Add the husbands to this motley crew, you get comedy. But everything else dilutes the plot.

This novel had such an interesting and unique plot line (at least to me). I'd never read anything like this before. I think it would make a really good movie!

This was Entertaining if not Outrageous and Unbelievable at times. I loved the characters and the mess they made of things, with one thing leading to the next. Although it did drag at times, overall it's a fun lighthearted listen.