I really don't know what to say about this book, but I will tell you this: It is not what I expected. This was not a cozy mystery. On one hand, it is a hate-filled book. It is a book about lies and misunderstandings. It is what happens when people don't talk to each other. On the other hand, things manage to work themselves out—how? Don't ask me. I'm still confused about all that happened in this novel.

I have to agree with another reviewer that said this book was absurd and that you are going to either love it or hate it. I recommend that you take it out from the library before you think about buying it.

The points of view are all over the place, nobody is really who they seem, and secondary and tertiary characters added nothing to the story.

Just remember this quote from the book - "Happy wife, happy life," and you will get through it.

I could see that there was supposed ot be a lot of humor in this, but it seemed to be weak humor to me.

Don't pass this book up just because a few of us were not enamored with it; after all, it is the author's first attempt, and my sense of humor may not be in tune with how this book was written.

*ARC supplied by the publisher William Morrow, the author, and NetGalley.

1/5 stars: This is Hincenbergs' Mystery Thriller stand-alone that follows three middle-aged best friends who turn to murder in order to collect on their husbands’ life insurance policies… but are unaware that their husbands have a devious plan of their own. Written in dual POV, Hincenbergs' writing and character work are well done. Unfortunately, this book just wasn't for me; leading me to DNF it at 15%.

I received this eARC thanks to William Morrow in exchange for an honest review. Publishing dates are subject to change.

The writing was solid in this fast-paced tale. I enjoyed the multiple POV's. There was a bit of a rom-com feel to it, and I found the ending a bit unsatisfying. However, there are enough twists and turns to keep readers engaged, Overall, this could make a good option for a quick beach read.

While being a married woman, this plot was a little hard for me to grasp at times. I can't imagine wanting my husband dead. But once I could set that aside, I started to really enjoy the story. It's full of unexpected twists. If you like dark humor this is sure to satisfy.

Thanks to NetGalley and William Morrow for a digital ARC in exchange for my honest review.

There are a lot of ways this book could have gone wrong and the author avoids the worst of them. It's a darkly funny and weirdly heartfelt book. In a lot of ways it reminded me of The Thursday Murder Club if they were to go out and plan a crime instead of solving one. The relationship between the women is really great and really has a lot to say about friendship, marriage, and security.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for giving me an advance copy before its release. This grabbed me from the first page and I found myself laughing out loud at the shenanigans these couples did. I wasn’t sure where this was headed but I couldn’t put it down. I read it in a day.

If you love madcap comedies of errors, this book is definitely going to hit the sweet spot. Reminiscent of a number of movies I've seen over the years where there are plots within (and without) of plots, everyone seems to be trying (and failing) to kill one another with enough twists and turns to fill multiple books. I think a lot of it depends on how much you like the characters...and with the exception of one...I really didn't like any of them. That said - I'm not sure you're supposed to. In some ways, these are all awful people doing awful things (and failing) and there's definitely comedy in that. I wanted to love this book and instead...merely liked it. But I applaud the effort and I'll definitely keep an eye out for the author's future work. 3.5 stars.

Thank you to NetGalley and William Morrow for a chance to read an advance copy in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own and uncompensated. The Retirement Plan is out May 6th and can be preordered now.

3.5
This read was fun amd these characters are silly with all the dark humor they had. The beginning was a bit slower and depressing for me but it did get more enjoyable towards the end

This book was fun and ridiculous in the best way. It reminded me a lot of Jackie Collins writing. The characters were silly and irresponsible with the events that were going on.

I very much enjoyed this book. It kept me very entertained with all the twists and turns the story takes. I loved the comical amount of miscommunication all the characters had throughout the story and how each time it made the issues at hand grow worse for some and better for others. I foresee this being turned into a movie or miniseries at this point.

This book reminded me of old "I Love Lucy" episodes. Best friends scheming and getting into ridiculous situations, but always having a great time. In this case, four middle-aged best friends scheme to kill their spouses after the husbands lose all their savings in an investment plan gone awry. Well, one of the spouses already died in a suspicious garage-door incident -- which prompts the surviving husbands to come up with their own save-the-day plan. It's ludicrous but entertaining -- you definitely have to be in the right frame of mind to enjoy the story. It's a perfect vacation read, for certain.

My biggest quibble is that there are so many characters and the story is told from multiple points of view, that I often had to go back and re-read sections to figure out who was who and who did what.

Thanks to NetGalley, William Morrow and the author for the E-ARC and the opportunity to read and review this novel.

This was a deeply entertaining and humorous read. The novel follows a group of women whose husbands have lost all their life savings in a bad investment several years before the start of the book. Resentment has been simmering in the intervening years, and the women are fed up. They devise a scheme to murder their husbands for the life insurance money--but the husbands have plans of their own.

This was such a fun, delightfully ridiculous read. The book switches POVs between Pam (one of the women), her husband Hank, Hank's boss at the casino where he works (Padma), and a barber (Hector) who might be more than he appears. The different perspectives add so much to the story, allowing the reader to see all the miscommunications happening between the characters and making things all the funnier. The writing was great and the characters are well written (although there are quite a lot of names to remember at the start, but once you get going, it's pretty easy to keep track). I feel like I can't say too much more about the plot or I'll give things away, but this was a delightfully absurd comedy of errors perfect for fans of Richard Osman.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Upon settling into the book, I c o u l d n ‘ t put it down!! This was very well done, and extremely captivating. This novel captures a bit of humor to a few dark and complicated situations craftily intertwining multiple plot lines. It gives a similar essence to tv shows like Good Girls and Workin’ Moms.

If this peaks your interest to any degree, I would absolutely recommend giving it the read!

Thank you to NetGalley and William Morrow for providing this ARC.

I received the ARC from NetGalley

This is an interesting book. Kind of sad in a way when you look at the women who really are not happy in their marriages.

Four couples have been friends for a long time, but when their husbands lose all the finances in poor investments they can't forgive them.

The wives don't know the husbands have other plans to get the lost money back, When one husband is killed in an freak accident the wives find out that they husbands had large life insurance policies, and decide that maybe they need to kill their husbands for the money.

There are some interesting twists and plots in the story, and it was entertaining, All in all I enjoyed it even though some of it was out there!

Unfortunately I didn’t not enjoy the writing style of this book. It was too ridiculous of a story and the characters were not likable on either side. I don’t know who the target audience of this book is.

The four couples have been friends for a long time. Even after all their savings had been lost in an investment scheme that had gone wrong and their marriages suffered. When one of the men died in a freak accident, his wife found out that her husband had a large insurance policy and other benefits, that she knew nothing about. The other women now think that their husbands have been keeping a similar secret from them. The women are so unhappy with their lives and husbands that they want revenge. The men now think that their friends's death wasn't an accident but he was murdered because of the get rich scheme that they were involved in. So separately, both groups go to a person who is reputed to fix things and they want things, fixed.
An entertaining story that includes new casino owners , possible murder, mafia hit men from Mumbai and how the friends try and get untangled from the mess that they are all in.
Thank you NetGalley and Harper Collins for the opportunity to read this e-galley of "The Retirement Plan".

For the first third or so of the book, I just felt depressed reading about three women whose marriages had reached the point that they all wanted to have their husbands killed. There wasn’t anything funny about it. Then, soon after, the plot started to take off. And what a plot. So many twists and turns, double- and triple-crosses galore.

But while I admire the plotting, most of the characterization left me flat, and I didn’t find much f the promised humor. I’m reading that this has been optioned to be made into a movie, and I feel optimistic that lively acting and good screenwriting can make this entertaining plot sing.

Worth reading despite its flaws.

The Retirement Plan by Sue Hincenbergs is a darkly comedic novel about three lifelong friends—Pam, Nancy, and Shalisa—who, facing financial ruin after their husbands squander their savings, concoct a scheme to cash in on their spouses' hefty life insurance policies. Unbeknownst to them, their husbands are devising their own plans, leading to a series of unexpected and humorous twists. This book was a bit unrealistic at times, but it was still a fun and entertaining read. The over-the-top twists and larger-than-life characters made it engaging, even if not entirely believable. Sometimes, a little escapism is exactly what makes a story enjoyable! Would absolutely read more from this author!

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for sending me an ARC of this novel. What a fun, twisty, quirky storyline this was! It’s so true that when people ask you when you are retiring, they imply that you are old, and they can tell from your response how successful (wealthy) you are. A key part of the story had characters questioning whether their lives “weren’t that bad” vs. “f’ing fantastic.” Long marriages were examined, and who doesn’t love a happy ending? This book had lots of issues to explore, so it would be an excellent selection for book clubs. It will be published May 2025.

3.5 stars

This is a madcap caper novel featuring four couples who have drifted apart. The husbands lost their family finances in an ill thought out scheme and the wives can't forgive them for ruining their dreams for the future.

And then miscommunication happens on a massive scale. What the wives don't know is that the husbands have done two things to make up for their lapse: they each have taken out huge insurance policies on their lives, and they are skimming money from the casino operation where some of the husbands work.

When one of the husbands dies in a freak accident, the other three decide their theft has been discovered and the foreign organized crime owners of the casino bumped him off. They hire their barber - a former Central American shadowy enforcer -- to eliminate the people coming after them. But then the wives see the insurance payoff for the widow, they also contact the barber and hire him to bump off their husbands so they can collect the insurance.

It gets pretty crazy with the emphasis on the fun. A sort of marital buddy movie with a lot of red herrings and unexpected events. I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.