A group of best friends decides it's in their best interests to kill their husbands so that they can enjoy their retirement. The husbands have been getting on their nerves, and the ladies think life will be easier without them. As they begin to plot their husband's demises, little do they know, their husbands have retirement plans of their own. What ensues is highly entertaining, suspenseful, heart-warming and funny. I loved this!!!! I felt like a was reading an episode of I Love Lucy at some points. This book hit all the boxes, and will be my staff recommendation for May!

Couldn’t get into it

This had too many characters and I just didn’t care about any of them. I tried reading it several times but could. Not get into it.

4+⭐️
(ARC review) — Thank you to author Susan Hincenbergs and her publisher William Morrow. I received an Advanced Reader Copy for the May 2025 release of THE RETIREMENT PLAN in exchange for my honest review.

This book wasn’t at all what I expected but it was fun, quirky and exactly what I needed. You couldn’t help but laugh along the way.

It was a hoot, the shenanigans these women get into. Holy Moly! Think desperate housewives reboot. Oh the drama! Think total miscommunications & mischief! It’s got humor, twists and lots of devious behavior. Of course those husbands can’t be bested so it’s a who will outwit who! Suspenseful, yet light humor. Don’t want to wreck this one for spoilers cause it’s fun to experience it yourself.

It was super entertaining and a great palate cleanser and exactly what I was in the mood for. Hit the spot!

This would be a perfect book for a vacation read or just a relaxing afternoon decompressing!

This book is full of the most unlikeable selfish characters. I understand that it is supposed to have some kind of dark humor, but the only character I wanted to actually survive is the dog.

Mixed emotions on this one. On one hand, it was fairly fast paced and the plotting of the novel was interesting. However, there were a few too many POVs for my liking which led to me skimming some chapters (looking at you casino manager whose name I can't remember literally 5 days after finishing the book). Ultimately, it was a chaotic and fairly absurd book but that I think some will really enjoy but others could be put off by - for me, it was just okay.

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.

Four couples have been friends for decades. They had hoped to save enough money for a carefree retirement. However, a bad investment doomed their plans. And their marriages suffered as well. Pam, Nancy, and Shalisa are shocked when Marlene's husband, Dave, is killed in a freak home accident (or perhaps it was something more nefarious). They are even more surprised to discover that each of the four men had taken out million-dollar life insurance policies. Marlene immediately buys a place in Boca Raton, Florida, with her newfound wealth. The other three women consider hiring a hitman so they too can get the insurance money and realize their retirement dreams. They don't know that their husbands also have new retirement plans, and their scheme includes hiring the same hitman.

After a successful career as a television producer, Sue Hincebergs has written her debut novel. The Retirement Plan is a clever crime thriller that doesn't take itself too seriously, given its murderous theme. The portrayal of all the friends was well done. Also enjoyable was Padma, the new head of the casino where two of the husbands were employed. Her wealthy, overbearing mother with mob ties in India secured Padma her job and now wants her to find a husband. And Hector, the hitman, who also works as a barber, was the real star of the story. The book balances being a mystery thriller and a humorous story. I don't typically gravitate towards "cozy" mysteries, but this book sounded fun. It was. I found it very entertaining.

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!