I’ve just finished “Too Old For This” by Samantha Downing, and I loved it! I have to say it’s different than most thrillers I’ve read. It’s about a 75 year old retired serial killer named Lottie Jones who has to come out of retirement in order to protect her murderous secrets.

The book is classified as a thriller, but I have to say it had quite a darkly humorous tone to it as well. I definitely chuckled as woefully arthritic Lottie navigated her way out of one mess after another.

Imagine if there was a fifth Golden Girl with quite a lot of spunk and snark with a side of crazy, and that’s this book! You know a book is fantastic when you find yourself rooting for a serial killer! Haha I just loved the character of Lottie!

I rarely rate thrillers this high, but this one earned a solid 5 stars from me! Just so well written—suspenseful, clever, and sardonically evil! A hit! A must read! Thank you so much NetGalley and Berkley Publishing Group for this complimentary advanced reader copy!

This book publishes on August 12th! Put it on you TBR (To Be Read) pile immediately! Now go read it!

#TooOldForThis
#NetGalley
#BerkleyPublishing

Thank you Berkley Pub for the free book! #BerkleyBookstagram #BerkleyIG #berkley #berkleypub #TooOldForThis #SamanthaDowning

𝐓𝐢𝐭𝐥𝐞: 𝐓𝐨𝐨 𝐎𝐥𝐝 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐓𝐡𝐢𝐬
𝐀𝐮𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐫: 𝐒𝐚𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐭𝐡𝐚 𝐃𝐨𝐰𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠
𝐏𝐮𝐛 𝐃𝐚𝐭𝐞: 𝐀𝐮𝐠𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝟏𝟐, 𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟓

5★

This book will be one of my top thrillers of the year! I automatically fell in love with Lottie, the main character and her personality. Is that wrong to say, because she is a serial killer? I challenge you to read this book and not love Lottie too! You can’t help but root for her from start to finish. This book was truly brilliant. As an older woman, Lottie was definitely underestimated, and at the same time, this book highlighted some of the limitations she had while trying to commit various crimes and living by herself. On top of that, this woman was so clever! I cannot recommend this one enough!

🔨A Retired Serial Killer
🔨An Annoying Journalist
🔨Lots of Tea
🔨Unexpected Visitors
🔨Short Chapters
🔨Lovable & Quirky Main Character
🔨Dark & Clever

Posted on Goodreads on July 24, 2025: https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/144922955?ref=nav_profile_l
Posted on Instagram - Full Review- on or around July 24, 2025: http://www.instagram.com/nobookmark_noproblem
**Posted on Amazon on August 12, 2025
**-will post on designated date

From the killer’s mind, an elderly lady, we get the inner monologue of her thought process. It starts when someone asks a question about a killing spree from four decades ago. Lottie’s actually amazing, thinks through the steps and analyzes her mistakes. Even though she’s going through old age issues like hip pain, arthritis and forgetfulness she can still disappear a body. Her friends are quite intriguing as they judge each other over Bingo pot luck. Her son has his own life issues that are slowly irritating her. Typical family stuff that gets in the way of her own life. A thriller comedy is just what I needed, it’s unique enough to keep me reading and interesting enough I won’t forget. I read an advanced copy from the publisher and I’ve written this review voluntarily.

Geriatric serial killer, Lottie Jones, is peacefully living out her life until her past comes back to haunt her. Then, she's forced to resurrect her killings ways and destroy anyone who comes snooping into her past. From the first chapters to the last, Lottie's murder spree unfolds.

If you can let go of your disbelief for a bit, this book is entertaining.

Thank you Berkley Publishing Group | Berkley

Well, this book was a wild one.

It’s not every day you come across an elderly female serial killer who drinks tea and daydreams about bashing someone’s head in. Enter Lottie.

Lottie has a great sense of a humor and came up with some seriously creatives twisted scenarios. I don’t want to be rooting for a killer, but yet here we are. She was just such an interesting character that it was sometimes hard to picture her errrr…darker tendencies.

I think the plot here is definitely unique- you don’t often get to see a serial killer all grown up and trying to retire. But isn’t that ultimately what happens to the ones who are just smart enough (or maybe lucky enough) to not get caught?? You just never know who someone is….

I loved following the story of Lottie and her friends. Thank you #NetGalley and #BerkleyPublushingGroup for the arc of #TooOldForThis. When IS old too old for all the chores a dead body brings? Ask Lottie.

I’ll admit it—I totally judged "Too Old For This" by its cover. And guess what? I was SO right to do so. This book was a dark, deliciously fun, and delightfully unhinged ride from start to finish.

Our fearless main character, Lottie, is an absolute hoot. She’s a sharp-tongued, Earl Grey tea–sipping force of nature with more bite than most twenty-somethings. I was cheering her on the entire time (which probably says more about me than I’d like to admit). Told entirely from her POV—with some well-placed flashbacks that give juicy context—Lottie’s story unfolds with the perfect mix of suspense, sass, and sinister surprises.

If you're a thriller fan who loves morally questionable characters and a wickedly dark sense of humor, "Too Old For This" is 100% your cup of tea. Obviously.

And let this book serve as a reminder: NEVER underestimate your elders! Lottie is a baddie, and I would not want to cross her. 😎

Thank you to Net Galley, Berkley Publishing Group and Samantha Downing for an advanced reader copy. My thoughts and opinions are my own.

"Earl grey or peppermint?"

This was only my second Samantha Downing, and I really need to read more of her work! I did love this, I just wish it wasn't so long. It took me over a week to get through, and I kept forgetting to pick it back up. But when I did, it was really fun!!

Lottie is batshit in the best way lol. Going on this unhinged ride with her was so fun, and her realizing she is getting old was so touching, even if she was only upset about it because she wasn't good at murdering people anymore lmao. Loved her sm.

"Too many people are showing up at my house. And they all think I'm a murderer."

This was SUCH a fun, unique thriller that kept me guessing through every twist! Lottie is in her 70's now. Her day is filled with fielding calls from her son and his new girlfriend (soon to be wife!), her church friends and events, and her afternoon naps. It's nice and quiet, just like she likes.

Until Plum shows up at her door, asking about her previous life, her previous name - and that she wants to feature Lottie in a docuseries about how she was wrongfully accused of being a serial killer. Problem is, Lottie has left that name and that life behind - and she was never wrongfully accused. And, dang-it, Plum is now making herself into a problem!

OMG, Lottie was so much fun! I loved her humor, her sighs at how she's not able to move bodies around like she could when she was young, and her dedication to afternoon naps! Her church friends, their drama about store-bought versus homemade treats, and their bingo nights were such a nice, funny moment in the otherwise heart-pounding suspense! Lottie kept me guessing, I never knew what her next move would be and who she would kill and wouldn't. I loved that there were honest-to-goodness jaw-dropping moments and moments that sped my heart up! This was such a great ride! I loved it!

A huge thank you to the author and publisher for providing an e-ARC via Netgalley. This does not affect my opinion regarding the book

Years ago, a few people treated Lorena Lansdown badly and it made her mad—really mad. When opportunity presented itself, Lorena took care of them. Unfortunately for her, a cop named Burke suspected her and hounded her. Eventually, she was cleared, given a settlement, and left for Salem, Oregon and a quiet life, changing her name to Lottie Jones to wipe the slate clean.

Now, here she is, with her church friends and bingo once a week. The house she bought with her settlement money needs some work, but it’s not as if she has spare money for that, and at age 75, no prospects for any windfall except maybe some bingo money. She’s pleased that her son Archie has a law firm partnership in California, and he stays in touch. She’d like to see him and her grandchildren more often, and she’s not thrilled that he’s planning to remarry someone considerably younger, but she doesn’t dwell on it.

Lottie’s routine is disturbed when young and perky Plum Dixon shows up uninvited and, after several prior attempts at phone contact, tells Lottie all about the docuseries she is planning about the wrongly accused, starting with the charges against Lottie from long ago. This is not at all what Lottie wants, but Plum is unquashably insistent that it will be a good thing. Lottie knows better, and she has to act fast even though she’s not as spry as she was back in the day. And that’s that for pushy Plum. But things start to unravel, first gradually, then at a faster and faster pace, like a big ball of catastrophe headed downhill.

Despite having to give the side-eye to Lottie’s anger management issues, I had to admire her dogged determination and her way of assessing exactly how to mess with others’ minds so that she comes out on top, no matter how sticky the situation may appear at first. If you are the sort of person who fantasizes about whacking people who cut you off in traffic, or look forward to reading the obituaries of your enemies and frenemies, then this darkly comic novel is for you.

Lottie Jones is a retired serial killer—at least she was until Plum Dixon shows up at her door wanting to interview her for a documentary she’s creating. Lottie was never convicted of her crimes years ago. She moved to a small town with her son and started a new life with a new name. After killing Plum, Lottie realizes that killing is a lot harder the older you get. And covering up a murder is harder than it used to be. Now the bodies are pilling up and Lottie is having a hard time keeping it all together.

This book was so good!! I couldn’t put it down! It was engaging, fun and dark. I loved reading from the killers perspective! This was such a unique perspective and concept and it was written so well!! I wish we got a little more context on Lottie’s past and the killer she used to be but overall it was a really fun read!

Thank you NetGalley for an advanced copy!

A retired female serial killer finds herself back in business after she is approached to do a documentary about her life. Completely binge worthy, this is a story that is so completely normal and at the same time unbelievably abnormal that you can’t stop yourself from turning the page to find out what she is going to do next and how it can possibly end.

I love a good mystery-thriller—the kind that keeps me flipping pages, sacrificing sleep, and ignoring basic responsibilities. So when I saw Too Old for This listed as an upcoming “Psychological Thriller,” I was intrigued.

Lottie Jones is retired. From murder, that is. She’s older now—her knees ache, her back isn’t what it used to be, and honestly, covering her tracks is just exhausting. Years ago, she was “wrongfully accused” (read: totally guilty) of murder in her old town. But with no evidence, she changed her name and started a new life: church socials, bingo nights, and blending in.

And then Plum Dixon shows up at her door.

Plum’s an ambitious investigative reporter determined to tell Lottie’s story—the poor woman wrongfully accused all those years ago. Small problem: Lottie wasn’t wrongfully accused. She just wasn’t caught. And now Plum’s digging into the past…exactly where Lottie needs her not to look.

Which means Lottie’s back in the murder game. Reluctantly.

What should’ve been a simple “clean-up” spirals fast. Turns out, murder’s a young woman’s game—and Lottie’s slower reflexes and occasional mental lapses aren’t exactly helping her stay ahead of the mess. Or the cops.

I don’t usually love cozy mysteries, but Too Old for This felt like a hybrid of cozy mystery and suspense. There’s too much actual murder for it to feel cozy, but it’s not dark enough to call a true psychological thriller. Let’s call it cozy mystery’s slightly feral cousin.

Lottie won me over fast. Did I root for her to get away with… well, more murder? Yes. Am I concerned about what that says about me? No, and we’re not unpacking that.

The pacing was solid, the plot kept moving, and nothing dragged unnecessarily. I flew through this book and genuinely enjoyed the ride.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Berkley Publishing Group for the digital ARC in exchange for my honest thoughts.

𝗤𝗨𝗜𝗖𝗞 𝗣𝗟𝗢𝗧 𝗣𝗘𝗘𝗞
Lottie Jones, a 75‑year‑old retired serial killer living quietly under a new name in a small town, is blindsided when investigative journalist Plum Dixon arrives seeking her story. To silence the threat and protect her past, Lottie must decide—commit another murder or let her entire life unravel.

𝗛𝗢𝗡𝗘𝗦𝗧 𝗢𝗣𝗜𝗡𝗜𝗢𝗡
This is a character-led thriller through and through, and it’s all about Lottie. She’s a sharp, sardonic, no-nonsense senior, and what a fantastic lead.

The pacing was so steady, it didn’t allow any thrills which I needed. I loved that there were no lulls and the action consistently flowed, but I craved some highs.

It delves into aging and mortality, which added depth but sometimes it felt like it wasn’t quite sure of the vibe - quirky satire, emotional reflection, dark comedy. As much as I enjoyed the story and Lottie, there was something that kept me at arm’s length.

There are a couple of twists, but this isn’t a twisty read. It’s satisfying, not sparkly. I wanted to love this - I’m always a fan of seniors in books - but instead I just liked it.

𝗪𝗢𝗥𝗧𝗛 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗥𝗘𝗔𝗗?
If you’ve got a soft spot for older protagonists and enjoy stories with a darker edge and a touch of dry humor, this is it! It’s not my favorite from Downing, but I was definitely entertained - and I really hope it gets optioned for a movie, cause this would be so good!

Thanks to Berkley Publishing Group and Netgalley for access to this for this #gifted ARC.

🎧 Narrated by Elizabeth Wiley
📖 Publishes 08•12•25 | 400 pages | 11h

Do serial killers ever retire? Well, according to Lottie they don't! This was a fun take on this genre. We learn that Lottie was a bad girl and despite her church going, bingo playing self....she still takes care of business.

I enjoyed this book from the minute I started it until I finished it. It was quirky and smart with a little bit of sass. Thank you for the opportunity.

I’m always looking forward to a new Samantha Downing novel and this one didn’t disappoint! And while I wasn’t sure how I would feel about an elderly serial killer (retired or not), I truly think the author slayed this role. It’s dark, quirky, clever, and an all-around FUN read. Samantha Downing has the best kind of humor, and it consistently shows through the characters she writes. I love it! Too Old for This is a must read for anyone who wants to read a different kind of serial killer thriller. Trust me, you won’t be disappointed! Lottie is the type of character you won’t want to miss!

𝗠𝗬 𝗥𝗔𝗧𝗜𝗡𝗚: ⭐⭐⭐⭐

This is a fresh and whip smart thriller that stands out in a crowded genre. The concept alone, a retired serial killer pulled back into the game, feels like it shouldn’t work, but Downing pulls it off brilliantly. At the center of the story is Lottie, a sharp, cynical woman who’s equal parts terrifying and oddly relatable. Her internal monologue is razor edged and biting, but also full of the kind of real world frustrations that will have you nodding along (and maybe laughing inappropriately). Despite her dark past, she’s the kind of anti hero you can’t help but root for.

Lottie’s character is the real engine of this story, her observations on aging, invisibility, and how society treats older women are quietly powerful, layered beneath a slick and tightly plotted thriller. Downing doesn’t ask you to forgive Lottie, just to listen to her. And in doing so, the novel becomes more than just a clever cat and mouse game; it becomes a reflection on identity, reinvention, and the cost of disappearing from the world without ever actually dying.

With its addictive pacing, sly twists, and an unforgettable lead, this is a must read for thriller fans craving something truly original. It’s gripping, thought provoking, and unapologetically smart. Downing once again proves she knows exactly how to play with reader expectations—and win.

Somehow I thought this book might be slightly cozy, but it was DARK, creepy, even slightly ... comic? Lottie is 78 years old and has a very sordid past. When a woman comes knocking at her door, wanting to interview her, Lottie has no choice but to act. What follows is an ever escalating series of events. A one-woman crime wave. Kind of like Georgia in Ginny and Georgia, Lottie means well, but things just seem to happen when she's around.

This was a darker book than I usually read, and Lottie is obviously not going to be for those readers who want their characters to be relatable and inspiring. But Lottie does okay for her age, and has a certain élan about her.

Thanks to the publisher for providing an advance copy for review!

When an investigative journalist comes poking around with questions of the past, retired serial killer Lottie Jones is, well, forced out of retirement. But Lottie is in her 70s now, and the world is so different. Getting away with murder was hard enough as a younger woman, but now Lottie must contend not only with her aging body, but also with modern technology and the level of surveillance that comes with. Maybe this time Lottie has bitten off a little more than she can chew...

***

This was okay! I didn't have nearly as much fun with it as I thought I would, though, if I'm being honest. But let's back up a bit!

Lottie was a really...interesting character to follow. It's intriguing to see someone doing unforgivable things and finding ways to justify their actions throughout the narrative. I, too, felt frustrated by several of the actions of the other characters, but Lottie, of course, takes her anger to new heights. I actually hoped she would be more of an unreliable narrator, and there were hints every now again as to how this could have played out but we never quiiiiite went there. It felt like a missed opportunity!

Otherwise, I found the pacing to be pretty good overall. It isn't a long book and has little popcorn chapters which I always appreciate in a thriller. There are some sections that felt a tad meandering, though I feel this is probably intentional and so it didn't bother me much. Downing occasionally lulls the reader into a sense of security and mundanity alongside Lottie, only for something else to go sideways by the end of the next chapter. So...it worked!

Things get wild as the conclusion draws near, but I found myself unsatisfied by the end. There were one of two things I expected would happen (or some combo of them) and when neither occurred it left me a little disappointed if I'm being honest.

So, it was enjoyable overall but it's not a huuuuge hit for me. I definitely think a lot of folks who regularly dive into the genre will have great fun with this, though, and I'm looking forward to seeing whatever Downing does next!

Thanks to NetGalley and Berkley Publishing Group for providing an e-galley in exchange for an honest review.

Too Old for This comes out August 12, 2025 for those interested in a fast-paced thriller following an unorthodox baddie.

This was such a clever, darkly funny read! Lottie Jones has been living a quiet life for years; bingo nights, small-town gossip, nothing too wild. But when a nosy journalist starts digging into her past and unsolved crimes, Lottie has to protect the life (and secrets) she’s built. Watching her navigate murder in her golden years is both hilarious and suspenseful. A quirky, twisty mystery that had me hooked from start to finish!

Okay so…I didn’t expect to be cheering on a retired serial killer in her 70’s but here we are. 😂 Lottie is sarcastic, smart, unbothered, and somehow managed to be a little too relatable for someone with a very bloody past.

This story had slow burn suspense that felt like the kind of mystery that isn’t trying too hard to be twisty, it just lets the characters shine (even when they’re morally questionable at best). Lottie’s POV had me hooked the whole time, and even when I knew I shouldn’t be rooting for her, I couldn’t help it.

I will say it ran a tad long for me, but overall this was a super entertaining read that I personally have never read anything like it and so I’d recommend adding to your list!

Big thanks to NetGalley, Berkley Publishing Group and Samantha Downing for the e-ARC!!