Mrs. Plansky’s Revenge

by Spencer Quinn

We’ve probably all heard stories of being woken up in the middle of the night by a static filled phone call from a loved one who needs money right away to get out of a bad situation. Then imagine being elderly with no way of producing new income and finding you have been taken in by such a scam that has drained every penny from your bank account? And worse, if you have the same password on multiple accounts, your life savings can disappear in a matter of minutes.

Mrs. Plansky, a comfortably well off 71 year old widow, who is generous to her both her children and her father, gets taken in by some schemers. She finds herself broke, embarrassed, and very angry. She not only wants to get her money back, but she goes to Romania determined to make it happen because it is clear that there is no government that is going to help her.

It’s easy at any age to identify with Mrs. Plansky’s predicament. She is likable and determined. Although totally unprepared for undercover ops in Romania in the winter, she gathers her now meagre resources and plows ahead. I enjoyed her ingenuity and her flexibility as circumstances arise. Some of the people she encounters are caught up in a crime ring and are suffering because of it; others are mean and cruel. Mrs. Plansky knows how to deal with both kinds. At the end of the tale, there is a surprise as Mrs. Plansky is able to use a skill learned 50 years earlier in a race for her life.

I received a complimentary copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

Rating: 4/5

Category: Mystery

Notes: 1. There is a fair amount of mild swearing, but I honestly got so caught up in the plot, that the words disappeared into the background.
2. There is subtle humor in the difficulties of Romanians trying to understand English idioms.

Publication: July 25, 2023—Tor Publishing Group (Forge)

Memorable Lines:

Mrs. Plansky also caught the look but couldn’t interpret it. All she knew was that she felt like she was watching a tennis match featuring no players she wanted to root for. Not a very nice thought and she sent it packing at once.

From our point of view the scammers are bad guys, end of story. But to the elite running the show over there the scammers are bad guys who also have a nice little industry going, bringing in the Yankee dollar and lots of ‘em. And to the everyday Joe they’re punching up, the kind of outlaw people have a soft spot for.” “Like Robin Hood.” “You got it.”

I love Spencer Quinn and have read all of his Chet & Bernie books but I couldn't get through this one. I found the characters (especially the Russian ones) uninteresting and am not a fan of the every-other-chapter format; I couldn't make the connections and follow the plot easily with this method.

Mrs Plansky’s Revenge is about a 71 year old woman who gets scammed out of all her money and then sets out to solve the mystery and get her money back. Hilarious and fun with interesting characters and travel abroad.

**Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for an electronic ARC and the opportunity to review this book.

The main character's actions deviate from the supposedly intelligent way she was described. It was a struggle to finish this book. The overall story was quite boring and didn't hold my attention all throughout.

Mrs. Plansky's Revenge is the first book of a new cozy series by Spencer Quinn. Released 25th July 2023 by Macmillan on their Tor Forge imprint, it's 304 pages and is available in hardcover, audio, and ebook formats. Paperback format due out from the same publisher in July 2024. It's worth noting that the ebook format has a handy interactive table of contents as well as interactive links and references throughout.

This is a quirky, humorous, and well written mystery romp with a 71 year old widowed protagonist who is fed up and not taking any more of anyone's crap. After being scammed and learning that her chances of getting her money back are vanishingly slim, she decides to follow the clues herself and see if she can turn the tables on the scammers and get her dignity (and maybe her money) back.

Mrs. Plansky is just about equal parts Pargeter and Pollifax with a little bit of Helen Mirren in "Red" thrown in for good measure. It's a chaotic caper from start to finish and thoroughly tongue in cheek throughout.

Recommended for fans of the author's oeuvre, although this one is not written in first person stream of consciousness from the dog's viewpoint... it does have that same sort of oddball slapstick humor.

Four stars.

Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes.

Book Review: Mrs. Plansky’s Revenge by Spencer Quinn

Mrs. Plansky’s Revenge is a contemporary cozy suspense novel about a seventy-one year old widow who is robbed of her life’s savings by a group of Romanian cyber criminals.

Loretta Plansky is enjoying her retirement in her little condominium in Florida when she receives a call from her grandson asking for bail money. Half asleep and concerned for his safety she immediately sends her bank information but is shocked the next morning when all of her accounts have been cleaned out. When the FBI looks into her case she discovers that she’s the victim of an elaborate “grandparent scheme” originating out of Romania. With not a lot of hope of recovering her funds and only a few leads Mrs. Plansky jumps on a plane to hunt down the missing money. Upon arriving in Romania she meets with the U.S. embassy, a writer covering organized crime and unknowingly checks into the hotel owned by the perpetrator. Mrs. Plansky will use her tenacity, unending optimism and the ability to connect with people to find the criminals and get justice.

This was a fun crime caper starring a heroine we don’t get to see very often (a retired senior citizen without a law enforcement background) and we also got the point of view of a young man stuck in a criminal organization with no idea how to get out. I appreciated Mrs. Plansky’s lack of bitterness and cynicism but sometimes her naïveté was frustrating. Even my 80+ year old mother knew how to handle the attempted “grandparent scheme” when they called her. She also was way too generous with her adult children and the pressure of living up to the monetary promises she made was a big motivator for risking her life going after a crime syndicate in another country. But overall I really enjoyed this book and I look forward to more Mrs. Plansky in future books.

When the phone rings in the middle of the night and the connection is bad, it’s never a good sign. When it sounds like your grandson and he is in trouble, of course, you’ll do all you can to help. And when you check your bank balance the next day and find it’s zero, ditto for all your investments, you’ve been scammed.

Loretta Plansky is just getting used to retirement. She’s trying to take care of her 98-year-old dad, and he’s not the best of nursing home residents. Her daughter has taken up with yet another guy, and the pair have an idea to make loads of money, if only they had the initial investment. It’s not a small amount. Her son is going into business with partners and needs to buy in, so she can help him with that, right?
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Image Source Forge Books
She could have—until that phone call.

The FBI says the call originated in Romania, but the odds of finding the scammers is slim and finding her money, non-existent. She’s not in the mood, or the right age category, to go back to work. She refuses to let her kids know what happened. Is there anything she can do? She can scrape together enough money to go to Romania and find the scammers and her money herself.

I like Loretta. She’s sometimes forgetful, worries about her adult children, plays a vigorous game of tennis, and is one determined lady. Her father is a mess—demanding of her and the nursing home staff, always cranky, and obviously unhappy. To resolve his unhappiness, get her kids to realize she’s not a human ATM, and to track down experienced scammers, Loretta is facing huge challenges—will she be up for it? I say yes!

Spencer Quinn is the pen name of Peter Abrahams. As Quinn, he writes the popular Chet and Bernie series (13 so far with Up on the Woof Top out in October. Available for pre-order in Kindle, audio, and hardcover now). As Abrahams, he’s written 17 books, plus a handful of young adult titles.

"Mrs. Plansky’s Revenge," pits a spunky seventy-one year old widow against a team of confidence men from Romania who unleash a scheme to get money from her bank account. Funded by his uncle Dragomir, Dinu a student of English becomes entangled in his fraudulent schemes. Unraveling the deception, Mrs . Plansky embarks on a journey for justice from her home in Florida to the tiny village of Alba Gemini. The story portrays a spirited senior citizen's refusal to be a faceless victim, delivering a fast-paced and compelling narrative with both humor and heart. Kudos to the male author for creating a believable older woman character. The audio recording was delightfully performed

Seventy-one year old Loretta Plansky lost $3M+ after falling for a telephone scheme about her grandson being in jail and needing money. Plansky, a widow who spends her time in Florida playing tennis, decides to travel to eastern Europe to find the criminals who stole her money. Through a series of lucky coincidences, Plansky not only finds the bad guides, but befriends them. This novel is recommended for fans of senior sleuth novels who are willing to accept coincidences to advance the plot.

"Maybe sex made more sense than marriage—or even dating—in old age. Wasn’t courtship for the young?"
--------------------------------------
"Meet me at Café des Artistes, eighteen hundred.”
“Is that the address?”
He blew out an irritated-sounding breath. “Six,” he said. “Six o’clock this evening. Your hotel—the Royale, I assume—can give you directions.”
“How will I know you?”
“I’ll wear a billboard with a question mark.”
Click.

Loretta Plansky, widowed, retired, pretty fair tennis player, (particularly considering her new hip, only nine-months in) 71, Florida resident, financially comfortable, wakes one morning to discover that she has been pretty much cleaned out. Bank account, retirement fund, investments, the whole kit and caboodle, well, mostly. It seems that the ten grand she had given to her grandson, Will, overnight went instead to cybercriminals. The real Will had not asked her for anything. (Of course, I am totally in favor of folks sending cash to people named Will, but that’s just me. Any amount gratefully accepted.). The FBI special agent in charge holds out virtually no hope of her ever seeing her lost funds restored, but her number two, about to leave the bureau for a private gig, gives Mrs P one intriguing bit of intel. Unwilling to let this crime stand, she heads out to darkest Romania hoping to do…what? who knows? something.

Mrs P is an intrepid investigator, with an unusual skill set. She manages to talk to a relevant person at the US embassy in Bucharest, and persists in following up the few clues that float down her way.

The story is told in parallel lanes. Mrs P is the primary of course, but we are also let in on the doings on the other side. Dinu is a teenager with a gift for and enthusiastic interest in American English. He collects colloquialisms and contemporary American slang the way a video-game player collects tokens to gain power. Of course, the power Dinu is amassing causes real harm. His scary uncle has paid to train him, and is now employing Dinu in making calls to American grandparents, pretending to be their stressed-out grandson, in need of emergency cash in order to get out of jail, or whatever. He has a computer whiz bff, Romeo, another teen, who is also employed by the scary uncle. Generally, they do not seem all that morally concerned about what they are doing, and the pay is good.

So, Mrs P makes her way to the relevant town, and stumbles her way through to the sort of cozy resolution one might expect. Along the way there are mysterious passageways, dark deeds, life-threatening adventures, a car chase, a valuable jewel, and some very unpleasant characters. So, I guess this is less of a cozy mystery and more of a cozy adventure tale.

It is a very good-natured story, and Mrs P is a fun lead, a very engaging sort, a good egg, who has been done dirt, but who would prefer to take matters into her own hands rather than leave her fate to the dubious efforts of others. She displays considerable courage, the creativity of an experienced field agent, and a wily serenity in stressful circumstances. One lovely element was her continued connection to her late husband, Norm. No magical realism here, just a pining for the person to whom she had been the closest for most of her life, as she shares thoughts and concerns with his memory, wondering at his theoretical advice. She is also a very kind person, amenable to applying the resources she has…well, had…to helping out her kids, despite that not necessarily being the wisest choice.

You will get a taste of Romania, a very small taste. Most entertaining among these is a hotel festooned with portraits of Bela Lugosi.

There is enough humor in here to generate several actual LOLs, which is always welcome

BUT, as things were winding up to the big finish, there were multiple eye-roller events that took me out of the book. Like running a marathon then tripping over a stick in the road, then another, then another. I did finish the book, and it was a fun read, for the most part. But I found myself saying “Really?” more than once or twice. And that damaged my overall feeling. Bottom line is that you have to be willing to overlook some egregious reliance on coincidence and deus-ex-machina trickery to make the story work out. I expect I am a bit towards the higher end in my sensitivity to such things. But if you are more forgiving, netter at leaping past roadway impediments, then do it, jump in. You will be rewarded with a fun, light read, featuring a very engaging lead. Mrs P will be glad of the company, and so will you.

Review posted - 09/29/23

Publication date – 7/25/23

I received an ARE of Mrs. Plansky's Revenge from Tor Publishing in return for a fair review and the password to my bank account. Hey, now wait a goldarned minute! Thanks, folks, and thanks to NetGalley for facilitating.

Well-known mystery author Spencer Quinn has released a new mystery series featuring a wealthy grandmother in her seventies who is adjusting to life after the death of her husband and her own retirement. She spends her time playing tennis and lunching at the local club. She is settling into to her new life, when he receives a startling phone call from her grandson, Will, in the middle of the night. He is in jail and needs money for his bail and won’t his dear grandmother help him out? Loretta groggily gives Will her bank login and password information and goes back to bed. In the morning, she is startled awake by a phone call from her bank wanting to know why she withdrew all her funds from her accounts.

Loretta is even more shocked when she finds out that Will wasn’t arrested, didn’t ask her for money, and has no idea what happened to Loretta’s life savings. Her bank puts her in connection with the local police and the FBI. After several meetings, and her case going nowhere, Loretta decides to take matters into her own hands. She books a flight to Romania to a small village, where the phone call has been traced to see if she can track down the thieves and get her money back. Little does she know how far the scope of the scam reaches and what danger lurks around every corner.

I really wanted to love this book. It wasn’t terrible, I just feel like I expected more. Loretta is a loveable main character, she’s got some issues, but overall, I felt a good connection with her as a reader. She’s a little rash, but she is also fun to read about. I could see this series really developing into a beloved series one day, but for me I felt that this debut was a little too “perfect” at times with things just occurring at the right time. I definitely will be keeping my eye on this series. I am curious to see how Quinn’s series featuring Chet & Bernie is as I have long heard about the series, but have not read any of the books yet. I would love to hear your thoughts on this book and the Chet & Bernie series and see what you think.

Overall Rating: 3 stars
Author: Spencer Quinn

Series: Mrs. Plansky #1

Publisher: Forge Books

Publication Date: July 25, 2023

Pages: 294

Genre: Mystery/Thriller

Get It: Amazon

Disclaimer: This book was given to me by the publisher, through NetGalley, in exchange for my honest review. I reviewed this book without compensation of any kind. All thoughts and opinions are solely mine.

A fun read. I requested as background reading for a promotion we were running, but have personally recommended Mrs Plansky, and would consider reading future books.

As a senior who doesn't feel "senior", I really enjoyed reading Mrs. Plansky's Revenge. The main character, Loretta Plansky lives in a retirement village in Florida full of active seniors. She is a widow, and her late husband Norm helped her bring an inventive idea to fruiition, which made them modest millionaires. Her grown children, while not horrible, seem to not have their parent's quest for success, and ask Loretta for money to help them with their harebrained schemes. So, it is just more of the same when Mrs. Plansky receives a late-night call from her grandson Will, asking her for money to get him out of jail from a DWI. Mrs. Plansky obliges, but her password is used to strip her accounts. She decides not to take this theft without fighting back.

Mrs. Plansky goes to Romania to try to find the people who robbed her. At this point the story began to remind me of a 1960's caper movie. The criminals are kind of buffoons, and the lines between good guys and bad guys is clear. I could see this being made into a movie, or maybe a tv movie, with its funny story line and overall uplifting story.

I like that this was a quick read with an interesting story that brings attention to a real-life problem, scammers who steal from seniors via the phone, thanks to the senior's trust and gullibility as well as love for their family. Some reviewers are gripping about the protagonist being called Mrs. Plansky throughout the book, and I don't get it. Obviously, they are young and/or did not grow up in the south. I called my mother's friend's Mrs. Whatever in my 60's. It's just what's done among some people, so I found that authentic.

Thanks to NetGalley, Tor Publishing, and the author for allowing me to read the book in exchange for an honest reviw.

Mrs Plansky’s Revenge is an enjoyable read about an older widow who gets scammed out of her life savings by an organized crime group working out of Romania. Mrs. Plansky sets out to recover her money. It is an unlikely plot, but it was entertaining. It also did d good job showing the human aspect on the other end of the scam. If you’re looking for a quick read set mainly in Romania, give this a try!

Published by Forge Books on July 25, 2023

When Peter Abrahams writes as Spencer Quinn, he’s usually writing in the voice of Chet, the large dog who stars in his Chet and Bernie detective novels. Readers who are familiar with that voice will recognize it in Quinn’s new novel about Loretta Plansky, a woman of 71 who doesn’t let age get in the way of accomplishing her goals. Unlike Chet, Loretta is not distracted by squirrels, but she often expresses her thoughts in the kind of language that Chet might use.

Loretta lives in Florida. She has enough money to overcome the downside of living in Florida, having retired after selling a successful company she operated with her husband. She is now a widow. While missing the man to whom she was entirely devoted, Loretta maintains a positive outlook by playing tennis at her club and staying in touch with her children.

Dinu Tiriac lives in Romania. At the direction of his Uncle Dragomir, Dinu is learning English so that he can scam Americans. Dinu calls American seniors, pretending to be a grandson. He spoofs the grandson’s phone number so the call seems legitimate on caller ID. He claims he was arrested for DUI and needs $9,000 to make bail and get his car back. He promises to repay the money when his bail is refunded at his court appearance, but the reality is that he gets the victim’s bank information and empties their account using a cash transfer app that can’t be traced. This is, by the way, an actual scam that (according to the FTC) all too often succeeds in defrauding seniors.

It works on Loretta, who is a soft touch when it comes to her children and grandkids. She gives her bank account number and password to Dinu (posing as her grandson Will). Since she uses the same password for everything, she soon finds that her bank account and investment account have both been drained of funds. Altogether, she loses more than $8 million.

Loretta might be in the early stages of dementia; she’s easily confused, her memory comes and goes. Perhaps these are just the usual outcomes of aging, given that Loretta is often quite sharp. She is sufficiently lucid to explain what happened to her banker and investment manager, and then to the FBI, none of whom offer much hope that she will get her money back. Mild dementia or not, once Loretta learns that her money was transferred to Romania, Loretta decides to travel there and get it back. Perhaps that decision is itself a symptom of irrationality, but Loretta is plucky.

Loretta’s fortitude makes her a wonderful character. She is old fashioned in the sense that she places a high value on good manners and kind behavior. She doesn’t want to bother her kids with her problems. Realizing she has lost everything, she quickly resolves to sell her jewelry and condo. To save money, she takes her father out of the expensive care facility he hates and has him live with her. She thinks she might take a job driving for Uber, since the CEO of the company she founded with her husband won’t employ anyone older than 65.

Dinu is less admirable but still likeable. At 16, he’s controlled by his bullying uncle and by his hormones. He hopes to impress a girl with his success but she is decidedly unimpressed that he is making money by scamming elderly victims. Unlike his uncle, Dinu has a conscience.

Events that drive the novel’s second half might be a bit too coincidental, but that contributes to the fun. Implausible plots don’t detract from novels that aren’t meant to be taken seriously. When the US Embassy’s cybercrime specialist offers little hope, Loretta conducts her own investigation with the help of a journalist. She isn’t quite an action hero, but she is remarkably spry and fearless as she wanders through hidden hallways, makes a dangerous descent from a window, and shows off the ability to operate a motorcycle — a skill that she learned when she was 19. It’s tough not to root for a kindly aging lady, especially when she is revitalized by romance.

I always enjoy the Chet and Bernie series. If Quinn writes more novels about Loretta, I suspect I will enjoy them almost as much.

RECOMMENDED

Everybody seems to want something from Mrs. Plansky, a wealthy retired widow. Her crummy kids want her to fund their business ventures. Her father wants her to foot his expenses too. And a group of Romanian cybercriminals want to take her for everything she's worth. After finding out she can't count on the FBI to help, Mrs. Plansky takes matters into her own hands and flies to Romania to track down the criminals and get her money back.

The most interesting part of the book was from when Mrs. Plansky started preparing for her trip to her arrival in Alba Gemina, Romania. The remainder of the story was largely lackluster, and I found the ending abrupt.

Thank you to NetGalley for an advanced digital copy of this book.

While an implausible story Mrs Plansky herself is a hoot. The crime solving took quite awhile to happen, her children weren’t at all likeable, some of the Romanian characters over the top, and the things Loretta does aren’t believable. This is a quick read for those that like destination mysteries. 3.5 stars

A light and lovely mystery/adventure. Mrs. Planskys is a wealthy, retired woman living in Florida. One night she receives a phone call supposedly from her grandson, stating that he is in trouble and needs close to $10,000 immediately. She agrees to send the money, discovering the following day that her accounts have been cleaned out. Receiving very little help from the FBI, she decides to travel to Romania in search of her money.

What a quirky gem of a book. Mrs, Plansky is a widow, with spoiled, grown children who count on her to support their crazy schemes. When Mrs, Plansky is the victim of a scam, in which someone pretends to be her grandson, calling for money to be wired, she loses all of her money. Angered and feeling that nobody is doing anything, Mrs, Plansky takes it on herself to fly to Europe and get to the bottom of the scheme. Mobsters, bad guys, computer whiz, and handsome journalist all take a part in the mayhem that follows. Recommended for a really different quick read. Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC.

Loretta Plansky is a widow, still grieving for her husband, and living in a condo in Florida. Financially, she is quite comfortable and is adjusting to the single life. However, everything changes when she becomes the victim of a cyber scam that strips her bank accounts.

Mrs Plansky is a formidable woman and a character I really like. While dealing with adult children and grandchildren she is also beginning to forge a new path for herself. When unexpected problems arise, she allows herself to panic for only a bit before she begins to formulate a plan. She refers to her “silo” where she keeps her “heavy artillery” – that ability to dig deep within herself and handle the situation – and I do love that image.

Mrs Plansky’s Revenge deals with a serious issue that especially plagues the elderly. Cyber theft is no laughing matter and Mr Quinn deals with it quite well. This is the first book I’ve read that addresses this problem. Mrs Plansky is also portrayed very sympathetically. At the age of seventy, she sometimes has memory blips, sore joints, and trouble immediately grasping a concept. This is all very realistic and gives the reader a true sense of her.

This book is a fun read, although it can be a little implausible at times. Nevertheless, I enjoyed it and would give it 3.5 stars. NetGalley provided an advance copy.