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!

Unfortunately I didn’t not enjoy the writing style of this book. It was too ridiculous of a story and the characters were not likable on either side. I don’t know who the target audience of this book is.

The four couples have been friends for a long time. Even after all their savings had been lost in an investment scheme that had gone wrong and their marriages suffered. When one of the men died in a freak accident, his wife found out that her husband had a large insurance policy and other benefits, that she knew nothing about. The other women now think that their husbands have been keeping a similar secret from them. The women are so unhappy with their lives and husbands that they want revenge. The men now think that their friends's death wasn't an accident but he was murdered because of the get rich scheme that they were involved in. So separately, both groups go to a person who is reputed to fix things and they want things, fixed.
An entertaining story that includes new casino owners , possible murder, mafia hit men from Mumbai and how the friends try and get untangled from the mess that they are all in.
Thank you NetGalley and Harper Collins for the opportunity to read this e-galley of "The Retirement Plan".

For the first third or so of the book, I just felt depressed reading about three women whose marriages had reached the point that they all wanted to have their husbands killed. There wasn’t anything funny about it. Then, soon after, the plot started to take off. And what a plot. So many twists and turns, double- and triple-crosses galore.

But while I admire the plotting, most of the characterization left me flat, and I didn’t find much f the promised humor. I’m reading that this has been optioned to be made into a movie, and I feel optimistic that lively acting and good screenwriting can make this entertaining plot sing.

Worth reading despite its flaws.

The Retirement Plan by Sue Hincenbergs is a darkly comedic novel about three lifelong friends—Pam, Nancy, and Shalisa—who, facing financial ruin after their husbands squander their savings, concoct a scheme to cash in on their spouses' hefty life insurance policies. Unbeknownst to them, their husbands are devising their own plans, leading to a series of unexpected and humorous twists. This book was a bit unrealistic at times, but it was still a fun and entertaining read. The over-the-top twists and larger-than-life characters made it engaging, even if not entirely believable. Sometimes, a little escapism is exactly what makes a story enjoyable! Would absolutely read more from this author!

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for sending me an ARC of this novel. What a fun, twisty, quirky storyline this was! It’s so true that when people ask you when you are retiring, they imply that you are old, and they can tell from your response how successful (wealthy) you are. A key part of the story had characters questioning whether their lives “weren’t that bad” vs. “f’ing fantastic.” Long marriages were examined, and who doesn’t love a happy ending? This book had lots of issues to explore, so it would be an excellent selection for book clubs. It will be published May 2025.

3.5 stars

This is a madcap caper novel featuring four couples who have drifted apart. The husbands lost their family finances in an ill thought out scheme and the wives can't forgive them for ruining their dreams for the future.

And then miscommunication happens on a massive scale. What the wives don't know is that the husbands have done two things to make up for their lapse: they each have taken out huge insurance policies on their lives, and they are skimming money from the casino operation where some of the husbands work.

When one of the husbands dies in a freak accident, the other three decide their theft has been discovered and the foreign organized crime owners of the casino bumped him off. They hire their barber - a former Central American shadowy enforcer -- to eliminate the people coming after them. But then the wives see the insurance payoff for the widow, they also contact the barber and hire him to bump off their husbands so they can collect the insurance.

It gets pretty crazy with the emphasis on the fun. A sort of marital buddy movie with a lot of red herrings and unexpected events. I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

Thank you NetGalley and publisher for the free digital ARC.
I first heard about "The Retirement Plan" by Sue Hincenbergs last summer at the Old Peculiar Crime Writing Festival and have been anticipating it ever since. It has the perfect blend of humor, suspense, and the complexities of long-term friendships and marriages. The Retirement Plan follows 3 middle-aged best friends witnessed a fellow widow's newfound wealth from a life insurance payout and then contemplate orchestrating their own husbands' demise. Unfortunately for them, their husbands are devising their own secret plans, leading to a series of unexpected twists and turns. I really enjoyed this one! If you are a fan of The Thursday. Murder Club or The Marlow Murder Club then I think you will really enjoy this one!!

The story kept me guessing and engaged. I liked the writing style that was easy to follow for all of the characters. I found myself enjoying the story and laughing throughout

The dark humor on this book reminds me so much of a combination of oceans movies and tarantino.
It was entertaining and honestly this book got me out of a slump!

A true screwball comedy that was very twisty, went in a lot of unexpected directions, and was a very fun read.

Wildly implausible but a lot of fun.



Thank you to William Morrow and NetGalley for the DRC

Thanks @netgalley @harpercollins and @hincenbergs for the chance to read Sue's debut, The Retirement Plan. It releases on May 6, 2025.

Y'all, this book is SO MUCH FUN. I can already imagine buying it for friends and relatives. I have a feeling that it will make a big splash when it comes out. It has a great combination of humor, twists, double crosses, and men who get the job done.

Four women have been friends for thirty years and dream of a great retirement together. But those dreams were dashed when their husbands made a bad investment and lost all their money several years ago. When one of their husbands dies in an accident, his widow winds up with an unexpected payout of $1 million from a life insurance policy--it seems all their husbands took out policies and the women stand to have a big payoff if they die. So, naturally, they turn to planning the remaining three husbands' murders so they can join their BFF in Boca Raton and live out their Golden Girls dreams. (They all want to be Blanche. No one wants to be Sophia). Unfortunately, the husbands have their own secret retirement scheme and worried that their buddy's death might not have been an accident.

I don't want to give away any more of this darkly hilarious, twisty story. Read it and let me know what you think!

Three female friends plot the demise of their husbands to collect the insurance money and start a new life. This is filled with dark humor and loved all the frank conversations the ladies had discussing their husbands.

The husbands had a plan of their own. This had some unique twists along the way as each person is out for themselves.

Some great one liners and very entertaining.

Humorous. Over the top. Delightfully twisted. These are just a few of the ways to describe The Retirement Plan by Sue Hincenbergs. Packing the frenetic chaos of a Finlay Donovan or Stephanie Plumb novel, The Retirement Plan tells the tale of some best friends who find out their dreams of a peaceful retirement may have been derailed because their husbands have blown their savings on a bad investment, but they also happen to discover that each of them has massive life insurance policy. And with that…as they say…let the games begin! This is definitely an impressive debut for Ms. Hincenbergs, and I’ll definitely be interested in seeing what she comes up with next. Also with the right set of actors this would make an excellent movie/mini series. (Amazon or Netflix make it happen!) Thanks so much to the publisher and NetGalley for allowing me access to an ARC of The Retirement Plan.

This is absolutely a delightful book! I know, a murder. sure. But the hilarious
chaos in the lives of the four women, and eventually the husbands, Casino
rats, etc. is just the best. I doubt I will look at Barbers or slot machines in
their unadulterated form ever again.
From the murder, and poor Dave being offed by his old manual open
garage door, to the rest of the gang learning about the supposed
money the husbands were insured for, all the way to most of them
reuniting with wonderful stories to tell, thus book just keeps moving.
I discovered some interesting twists at the halfway mark. But, this
was just the beginning of the story! By the time I was reading the
the last chapter I realized that this is really an excellent, fun story.
My thanks to the Publishing folks at William Morrow for the down
load copy of the book via NetGalley for review purposes!

Thanks to NetGalley, the publisher, and the author for the opportunity to read an advance copy of this book.

I am definitely in the minority in not liking this book. It was entirely predictable and over the top ridiculous. I thought all the characters came across as just plain stupid. Except Hector - oddly enough, he was my favorite. And Elmer! Gotta love the dog. I was expecting this to be funny and it wasn't. There was too much going on. I skimmed almost all of the Padma scenes as they added nothing to the story, especially the matchmaking parts.

A quick read, but somewhat predictable in a "it's all gonna work out in the end" sort of way. Plowed through it in a day, enjoyable, but not remarkable.

This was a good mystery. We have 3 female friends that wants their husbands dead so that they can collect their life insurance and have a good life. What they didn’t know what their husbands got plans of their own. That was an enjoyable cat and mouse game with secrets. Will read more book in this series in the future.

Thank you NetGalley and HarperCollins Publishing for the eARC.—these are my honest opinions.