This book first intrigued me because it was listed as a cozy mystery and I love them. I'm not sure how to classify this, but it is not a mystery. You find out the culprit early on in the story, so it is more about the MC Mrs. Plansky figuring out who pretended to be her grandson and conned her out of $10K.

I listened to this in audio format and liked the narrator. However the story itself was slow to pickup. It had a lot of lead-in to the crime, most of which made Mrs. Plansky seem like a doddering old fool, rather than the plucky, intuitive heroine of a typical cozy mystery. While it generally has an interesting premise, I would not recommend it.

This book was so entertaining! It's about a widow who falls for the scam where someone pretends to be a grandchild needing fast money to get out of jail. But, Mrs. Plansky does not take this lying down. She goes on a journey to get back her money. The characters she meets along the way are unique and add life to the story. And I loved the main character's spunk! I'd highly recommend this fun and uplifting story! Thanks to NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for providing an advance review copy of this audiobook. My opinions are my own.

Mrs. Loretta Plansky is figuring out what retirement means for her now that her husband is gone, and she’s got a new hip for the tennis courts. During a lonely night Loretta gets a call from her grandson Will, who needs some money to get out of some legal trouble. Loretta sends the money, and realizes by morning that her Will was not the person on the phone last night. She has lost it all, her savings, her retirement, but not her pride. Loretta refuses to be another elderly woman to fall victim to a scam, and when law enforcement is less than helpful, she takes matters into her own hands. She travels across the world, meets some unlikely friends, and deals with some dangerous men to take what is hers back.

Spencer Quinn gives us such a loveable character in Loretta Plansky, that you can’t help cheering her on as she makes some out-of-mind decisions! She feels so relatable, like she is our own grandmother. Given the issue of elderly money scams are so prevalent with today’s society, I was worried it wouldn’t make the book enjoyable and just be a downer, but Quinn effortlessly weaves in humor, lightheartedness and hope throughout the story.

I have really started to appreciate older characters and Mrs Plansky was no exception. I thought her growth as a character was major and I was rooting for her the entire time. I felt bad that her family were using her in the beginning, but I'm happy that she went on this adventure to set things right and found herself along the way. It's sad that things like this happen all the time, but it was interesting to get POV from both sides.

The premise of this book is very intriguing. Unfortunately, it didn't end up working for me. I prefer a fast paced, action packed story and this one was quite the slow burn. I ended up DNF'ing this book.

I so think that this could be a good read for someone who enjoys a slower paced story.

Mrs. Plansky's Revenge represented a blend of some of my favorite tropes: mystery, elderly protagonist, and intergenerational relationships. Unfortunately, the execution raised two major issues for me:

1. This story was a unique opportunity to address the prevalence and devastating effects of elder financial abuse. Instead, Mrs. Plansky, a multimillionaire, seemed remarkably unfazed about recovering her wealth or finding a way to survive if it could not be recovered. I didn't find her relatable or compelling.
2. The plot resolved too quickly and easily, with very little tension or struggle. Side characters initially pitched as important players each got a single sentence wrapping up what happened to them in the end.

Overall, I think this story had the opportunity to do more and be more than it was. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the eARC.

Thank you NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for accepting my request to audibly read and review Mrs. Plansky's Revenge. Narrated by Petrea Burchard

The author, Spencer Quinn, draws Mrs. Plansky from current scams. A noisy call in the middle of the night makes absolutely identifying the caller impossible. Next calculate the loneliness of a check writing grandparent to a can't be bothered to see you grandchild. Thirdly, realizing after you gave your passwords it was the wrong thing to do and you tell no one. Now you have the three necessary ingredients to pull this scam. I was pretty good with the story at this point.

Vigilante Plansky wasn't what I was hoping for. Nothing about the storyline worked for me. I even contemplated not finishing at 70% or so. I felt insulted. However, I do accept that as people we do react differently. This didn't work for me, but someone else will love it.

2.5 stars rounding up for the narration that kept me chugging along.

This was a fun book! Someone scams 70 year old Loretta and she is NOT having it. I loved reading this quick and witty story. I really enjoyed the audiobook narrator.

What a wonderful adventure! Mrs. Plansky is a lovable character and is written really well. The story was well-paced, and while not every element was believable, it was an easy and very enjoyable read. The online and phone scamming of older Americans is a very real issue and the book has shown well how it can affect a person.
I appreciated that the author wasn't making the heroine a superhero but mentioned different ways in which it was difficult for her to do certain things due to her age. The book is very funny and smart, and has a lot of heart. It was also fun to read about South Florida, where I live, and about Eastern Europe, where I have roots.
I hope Spencer Quinn continues Mrs. Plansky's story!

3.5 stars rounding up.

Loretta Plansky was recently widowed when she received a call from her grandson needing bail money. We've all heard of this exact scam in the news. My own father got this call once supposedly from my son who was safe at home with me. Fortunately, my father told the scammer that it would do him good to spend some time in jail. Mrs. Plansky, however, was not so savvy and gave the scammers her account number and password so they could "help her send the money digitally." When she found her accounts drained and learned how little the FBI could do about it, she was ashamed of her mistake and decided to use her last remaining funds to take a trip to a small village in Romania to take down the scammers and hopefully get her life savings back.

I loved the premise of this novel. Who doesn't want to see criminals who prey on the elderly get their just desserts by the hands of a sweet, senior protagonist. That said, the plot does not hold up to even a little bit of scrutiny. Mrs. Plansky is gullible enough to fall for this scam, yet capable enough to take down an organized crime ring in a dangerous, third-world country. It's still a fun read, but you must suspend heaps of disbelief.

The author did try to make Loretta's huge loss sound like an honest mistake. The call awakened her in the middle of the night, so she was not at her most coherent. Still, even though she noticed at the time that the voice didn't even sound like her grandson, she didn't hesitate to give him her password over the phone so he could send the funds through an online platform she had never heard of. I've lost count of the red flags she ignored. Even when she got to Romania, her bumbling detective skills were more likely to get her killed than success in getting her money back.

Potentially offensive content includes mildish violence and pretty tame sex scenes.

The story starts with such a gripping premise, I would love to see it fleshed out better. Its still an enjoyable, light read.

Stopped listening at 11% because the story was unfolding too slowly and I didn't care enough about the characters to stick with it. I love good stories about older characters, but this was miss for me.

I was very happy to receive this audiobook for review. The synopsis really appealed to me. Unfortunately, this story moved along so slowly that I had to give up on it. It wasn’t the narrator’s fault, though, because I also read the book. I know other readers enjoyed this book, but it just wasn’t for me.

I think my favorite part about this book was the writing style. It really captured Loretta's scattered mind in the face of uncertainty. I think the characters were well-crafted and the premise was interesting as well. The ending did seem kind of abrupt and thrown together. Like one minute, everything is very far from okay, and then the next, everything is better, no questions raised or long-term consequences.

The narrator was good. She didn't knock it out of the park or anything. But, she was certainly better than average, too.

Who wouldn’t be intrigued by a 72-year-old grandma that has been fleeced by a telemarketing scam and sets off to get her money back??? I definitely was intrigued…however, as the story progressed It wasn’t everything I expected.

The story takes quite a while to get good. I am use to some slow starts that really pick up, but this was a near DNF before it got going. The audiobook was also read in a manner that I was not overly a fan of. With the multiple POVs it may have been better to have multiple narrators. Instead, a few sounded overly nasally and quite annoying.

If those are distractors for you, give the book a try! Ultimately, I was very team Mrs. Plansky.

I love Spencer Quinn's Chet & Bernie series. I loved his standalone book, The Right Side. So I went into listening to his new book with high hopes and happily, I wasn't disappointed. Mrs. Plansky is a delight - she's a smart, active widow who still misses her husband, has had a hip replacement but is still doing quite well on the tennis court, and is nicely situated financially. Her adult children aren't quite as settled as she'd like them to be, her adult grandchildren love her but she doesn't have the contact with them that she once did. Her father is 96, living in an assisted-living facility and in need of an upgrade in his care. Her worry plate seems full enough, thank you. And then, a phone call in the dead of night completely turns her world upside down - and drains her finances. Authorities sympathize but say there's little they can do. So using the life skills she's acquired during her 71 years, she decides to take matters into her own hands. As a woman the same age as Mrs. Plansky, I thoroughly enjoyed her journey, and empathized with all too many of her feelings and frustrations. Was it over the top at times? Absolutely - and that's what made it so fun. I'm quite sure that I couldn't have pulled off some of the things she did (different life experiences and all that) but I loved that she didn't just sit back and take it - she took over. I'm hoping this isn't a one-and-done, I'd love to see what's next for Mrs. Plansky. As I said, I listened to the audiobook and the narration by Petrea Burchard was excellent.
Thanks to Netgalley and Macmillan Audio for providing a copy for an unbiased review.

A fun and light-hearted book about an elderly Florida woman who is swindled by someone pretending to be her grandson. You hear these stories in the news, only here is where the story leads Mrs. Plansky to leave Florida and travel to Romania in search of her swindler. It’s a sweet story of plucky woman who will not rest until she finds the person that stole her life savings.

Have you ever wanted to get back at the scammers for taking advantage of people? Then this is the book for you. Mrs. Plansky gets a phone call in the middle of the night from her "nephew" and that leads to her getting out of her comfort zone and solving her own problems when everyone else thinks she is past her prime. Yes, things are a bit more convenient than real life but then again this is a novel. It was such a great fun read and you will be smiling at the end.
Thank you to #NetGalley and #macmillanpublishers for the digital ARC in return for an honest review.

I really enjoyed this feisty older lady. She might have gotten taken advantage of but she wouldn’t let them win. I enjoyed her journey and the details the author added to flesh her out. I didn’t care for the continually repeating of her name - Mrs Plansky, he could have mixed in using her first name. I will read the next in the series. Cozy mystery, some romance, not your average granny! Thanks NetGalley for the free audiobook edition.

I love the Chet and Bernie books, so I had somewhat high expectations for this one. It started very slowly. I actually considered DNFing about 1/3 into it, but I stuck with it, and I'm glad I did. It did get better. I do think it could have been shorter. The audio narration was well done, and I do think the reader suited the material. Overall, it was enjoyable, once I got past the initial introductory bits.

Mrs. Plansky's Revenge is bestselling author Spencer Quinn's first novel in a new series since the meteoric launch of Chet and Bernie--introducing the irresistible and unforgettable Mrs. Plansk
Not for me, I don't much care for Poliyanna characters, they drain me.