Leonie Swann, remember that name! Picking up 'The Sunset Years of Agnes Sharp' was such a fun time! I dove into this blindly and could not stop until I finished the story. From a beautiful cover to diverse fun characters, I was firmly seated. Will forever be looking for more Leonie Swann books in the future. You'd be crazy not to pick this up!

Thank you so much to NetGalley and RB Media for my copy of The Sunset Years of Agnes Sharp by Leonie Swann Narrated by Moira Quirk in exchange for an honest review. It published August 29, 2023.
First off, Moira Quirk is a very skilled narrator, and I highly recommend her!
This was an interesting book with a really fascinating premise. I appreciated that it was translated to English from German, and found it to translate seamlessly. Very well-written, fun, heartfelt, and sweet. Not to mention, all the food chapter titles were great. Last but not least, I did not see any of that coming!

The Sunset Years of Agnes Sharp by Leonie Swann was delightful. A cozy mystery filled with a cast of eclectic personas. It will keep you guessing whodunnit until the very last.

What a wonderful book for a book club. It was certainly a different kind of mystery book that I’ve read before and I relished it to the end.

I did not finish this one, it was not for me, I couldn't relate to the characters, and just did not care for the story.

I wanted to like this book so much. Old people behaving questionably, a tortoise as a main character, and a murder mystery? I was intrigued, but it just didn't deliver. I It felt incredibly drawn outing could've benefited from some tightening up. I also struggled with Agnes and some of the other characters feeling more like caricatures than real people. I will say some of this could've been a translation issue. But, at the end of the day I'd much rather pick up The Thursday Murder Club for a reread.

*Thank you NetGalley for the ARC of this novel.

This was a thoroughly fun ride. I absolutely love books like these and Agnes Sharp is a fun and relatable book that not only touches on the experience of aging, but also the humor of humanity itself. Thrilling and immersive, I couldn't bring myself to put it down.

🫖 A R C / A L C • R E V I E W 🫖
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Title: The Sunset Years Of Agnes Sharp
Author: Leonie Swann
Rating: 3/5 Stars ⭐️⭐️⭐️
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The Sunset Years Of Agnes Sharp is about a group of people who live in a house looking after one another to avoid going into a nursing home… that is until one of them turns up dead. It’s only then that murders start happening within the area and Agnes and her group of friends take matters into their own hands.
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This was a super quirky, albeit cozy (maybe?) read that was leaning more toward the darker side. I really enjoyed the characters - they were their own sort of misfits and you could see how much hey cared for one another. Agnes is the owner of the house and a former detective, Lillith (RIP), Marshall is starting to notice he’s becoming more and more confused, Winston is wheelchair bound, Bernadette is blind, Edwina is in her own world and loves yoga, Charlie they newest member and possible alcoholic, Hettie is the tortoise that doesn’t like to be picked up. Together their eccentricities and their banters will have you laughing while simultaneously have you rolling your eyes at some of the ridiculousness.
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The Sunset Years Of Agnes Sharp is a long one, 360 pages and 12+ hours via audio, and it’s a slow burn, so if you plan on checking this one out just be aware there are points that draggggg. But towards the end when things start coming together the pace picks up and I enjoyed the twists that were thrown in there. I also liked Agnes’s flashbacks, giving us a glimpse into her past, which leads us to the final twist which I found to wrap up the story well.
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This was narrated by Moira Quirk, she did a phenomenal job at bringing each of the characters to life. Each character was given a distinct voice that I had no trouble following along when I was just listening. She was fantastic.
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Overall this one was enjoyable, but not my favorite. Maybe a little too much quirk and not enough of a fast pace in the beginning… I think that fans of The Thursday Murder Club will enjoy this one!
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This one releases today! Huge thank you to NetGalley, Recorded Books Media and Soho Press and Leonie Swann for the ALC and eARC in exchange for my honest review.

Thank you to NetGalley and RB Media for gifting me with an ALC of The Sunset Years of Agnes Sharp by
Leonie Swann. In exchange I offer my unbiased opinion.

The comparisons to The Thursday Murder Club are obvious and true and ultimately for me distracted from this book. I just kept mentally comparing the books, writing, pacing and plotting and the Sunset Years just didn’t give me the same sense of enjoyment.

I thought the audio narration was fantastic and I appreciated the quirky cast of characters. But I felt the story was way too long and the pacing was off. I just couldn’t stay focused or engaged. The original book was written in German so I wonder if the translation was part of the issues I had.

I’d say this book was good not great. I do think if you like cozy mysteries, delightful shenanigans with oddball characters this book will win you over. Audio is wonderful!

3.5 stars raised to 4

This fun, quirky, story worked perfectly as an audiobook since I loved the various senior voices. Would it have worked as well as a book? I can’t say, but I doubt it. The voices complimented this story.

This cozy, laugh-out-loud story about eccentric senior citizens living in a dilapidated house labeled Sunset Hall will no doubt have you smiling too. The characters are exaggerated, which might not work for some, but I loved Barney Fife on The Andy Griffith Show.

Meet the characters:

Agnus, the owner of Sunset Hall and a former police officer.

Lillith Wright the first resident

Bernadette. blind, former spy

Marshall, who is confused half the time

Winston uses a wheelchair, which doesn't define him but adds to the aged aspect

Edwina, who does yoga and bakes biscuits that are quite memorable, and not in a good way.

And then we have Hettie the tortoise, who manages to work her way into the story. Plus Brexit, the dog.

The one thing that seems to hold this little group together is their desire to remain independent, even if it means looking to each other for help occasionally.

When the police show up the little band of senior citizens is all a dither when they learn that their neighbor was fatally shot.

But here’s the kicker. The group’s initial concern isn't the news regarding their dead neighbor, but rather fear that the dead body they’ve stashed in their garden shed will be discovered.

Now that caught my attention. Why was there a body in the shed? As the unlikely group of seniors worked to solve both mysteries surrounding them, it had me listening and smiling.

Concerns
The pacing sometimes felt slow, but I’ve learned that audiobooks don't make it as noticeable.

Also, though I like quirky characters, I'm used to one or two of these characters in a book, not the entire cast consisting of exaggerated personalities. At times it felt overdone.

Final Thoughts
If you’re a fan of cozy mysteries or quirky characters, you'll want to give this a try. In this case, I especially enjoyed the audiobook and Moira Quirk's narration. She was excellent.

It’s a yes for this book.
Fun.
Relaxing story.

My thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for the ability to listen to this early-release audiobook.

The Sunset Years of Agnes Sharp AUDIO by Leonie Swann was a moving murder mystery, but more important than the mystery was the inner workings of the minds of some of these elderly, as well as a commentary on the way they were treated, especially by a care home that was supposed to take care of them. Agnes owned her own home. She never wanted to to to a care home so she opened her home to other elderly where they all lived together, in kind of a commune situation. It had its ups and downs. They did still all have their separate personalities, after all. Agnes had always been very sharp. She had been a police detective, which was one reason she felt the need to look into the deaths, both in her own home and nearby. She was doing pretty well until she accidentally got incarcerated in a care home and drugged. I got the impression they were drugging many of the elderly in order to control them. They certainly weren’t paying them enough attention. When she became lucid enough to get herself out of there, the remnants of the drugs remained and confused her. It brought back memories that lay long buried and made it all so much worse.

This was a moving story as we delved more deeply into the personas of those involved. The elderly think differently than younger people do and that bears remembering. That is not to say they don’t think well or coherently, most of the time. The mind, when it is approaching dementia, opens itself up to things long buried and those memories may cause some of the confusion they exhibit. This was an excellent study in elderly behavior and reasoning. The murders did get solved. Very odd, all of it. Any serious incoherence may be due to the fact that it was translated from German.

The story was told by Moira Quirk who lent it the empathy it deserved. She was the perfect reader for this book, with her gentle, yet firm demeanor. She was excellent.

I was invited to listen to a free audio version of The Sunset Years of Agnes Sharp by RB Media, through Netgalley. All thoughts and opinions are mine. #Netgalley #RBMedia #MoiraQuirk #LeonieSwann #TheSunsetYearsOfAgnesSharp

This "gang" of oldsters is hilarious and were clearly bad-ass in their younger years! And I can't get over the tortoise! I love that they all stick together and help one another, that's what I want for my golden years and beyond! I can't wait for the next adventure for these peeps!

#TheSunsetYearsofAgnesSharp
#NetGalley

Absolutely loved this one, i was able to get through its so quick and stayed intrigued throughout. The plot, characters and the whole vibe was so good.

A cleaver, slightly darker, cozy mystery that gives you a quirky cast of elderly housemates trying to solve a series of murders alongside the house dog and tortoise. I feel like I'm going to be talking about this book for a while. This is a unique book that uses the restraints and societal views of aging as both a unique ability to being an amateur sleuth and a way to provide multiple unreliable narrators. This book, translated from it's original German version, doesn't take itself too seriously but gives me everything I want from a cozy mystery. I found this book to be utterly charming. I am now and forever #teamhattie the tortoise.

This book unfortunately just did not do it for me. There were too many characters that I had trouble keeping straight. It was definitely different, and I just didn’t love it.

Thank you NetGalley and RB Media for the audiobook experience. I really enjoyed this one! Audiobooks are hard for me - it took me a while to get through it but it was easy to follow because of Moira Quirks voice acting. The story was really cute and I loved its quirkiness. The twist was satisfying as well.

#TheSunsetYearsofAgnesSharp #NetGalley

This was absolutely fantastic. Loved every mintue of it. Will be recommending to my library's book club.

I think i would have enjoyed this more as an physical book as opposed to an audiobook. thanks netgalley & the publisher for the arc, in exchange for an honest review

This was such a cute book! “The Sunset Years of Agnes Sharp" wouldn't typically be my first choice, but the cover and intriguing concept piqued my interest, and I'm so glad I gave it a chance. This charming tale revolves around a murder mystery, set in a shared home where a group of eccentric seniors reside. At the heart of the narrative is Agnes Sharp, the endearing and quirky protagonist who injects the story with a vibrant personality.

The element of mystery in the book kept me enthralled, and the unexpected plot twist took me completely by surprise. The novel delves into psychological themes, touching on dementia, memory loss due to old age, and the challenges of remembering to take medication. Through Agnes, an unreliable narrator, the story gains an alluring air of mystery as the audience doesn’t know if they can trust her perspective or not.

The ensemble of characters is remarkably unique and quirky, adding depth and charm to the overall narrative. Each character offers a distinct perspective, but it is the beloved tortoise, Hattie, who stole my heart.

To all enthusiasts of cozy mysteries and endearing characters, I wholeheartedly recommend "The Sunset Years of Agnes Sharp." It's a story that I wouldn't hesitate to recommend repeatedly! Thank you so much to NetGalley and RB Media for proving an advanced copy of this audiobook in exchange for an honest review. 4.25 Stars.

The Sunset Years of Agnes Sharp follows a group of quirky senior citizens that have decided to create a home together. Their living situation is put at risk when two bodies are found. Agnes and her friends decide to solve the murders themselves.

This is slightly darker than the average cozy mystery. I really loved the group of characters, especially the tortoise Hettie. I can’t wait to read what comes next in this series!

Highly recommend getting the audiobook version. Moira Quirk is an absolute treasure of a narrator. She brings so much depth, complexity, and humor.