trying to read more books off my physical tbr but i will gladly make an exception for this book.

this book follows three women who are sick and tired of their husbands and decide to hire a hitman to dispose of them so they can claim their life insurance. only issue. their husbands have hired the same hitman and have devised a plan of their own.

this has the miscommunication trope in the best way. it was fun reading the wives povs and then also getting to read the hitmans full knowledge of the situation.

i can definitely see how this could be compared to finally donovan (another fave). would definitely recommend for anybody looking for a fun mystery to read this summer!

I received this book through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. ARC provided by HarperCollins Canada and HarperAvenue.

Three wives wanting a new life, three husbands in their way.

After thirty years of friendship, Pam dreams of her perfect retirement with Nancy, Shalisa, Marlene, and their husbands—until their husbands pool their funds for an investment that goes terribly wrong, and their dreams of beachfront condos and a sunny, carefree retirement vanish. The golden years are looking as dreary as their marriages.

But when one husband dies in a freak accident, the other three women are shocked to see his widow rebound with a huge life insurance payout and a new life in Florida. In the aftermath, the women discover that their husbands have identical, seven-figure life insurance policies. A new dream forms, and this time, it involves a hitman.

Meanwhile, their husbands have a secret retirement plan of their own. So, when things begin to go awry, they fear their own scheme may have backfired with deadly consequences. The husbands scramble to stay alive, but they may not be fast enough to outmaneuver their wives.

The Retirement Plan is a high-stakes tale of cat and mouse, while ultimately is a bighearted look at marriage, friendship, and middle-age. I think this is one book that you will either love or hate. This was such a chaotic read. It does border on silly at times but it fast paced. This book does have a lot of characters, but Hincenbergs does still making them all memorable and recognizable. Getting inside all the different characters heads really added to the story, especially with so much miscommunication going on. I am also unsure what to think of the last chapter. It does give us readers closure, but it also felt off. This book would be the perfect book for when your brain needs a break or palette cleanser from a heavy book. I would recommend if you want a chaotic and silly read.

Thank you so much to netgalley and publishers for providing me with an ARC of this book!
All opinions are my own and entirely honest.

4.5 stars

WHAT. A. DELIGHT. I had such a blast reading this book, and could not put it down. I had so much fun with the plot twists and the characters brought such a huge smile to my fac constantly. I love this genre that I'm calling "retirees doing things you wouldn't expect them to." Highly recommend for lovers of The Thursday Murder Club. Just so much fun and so delightful.

This is absolutely a case of 'creative differences' that affected my star rating of this book. I enjoyed this right form the jump and will forever feel that this is the book that best layered the layers. Absolutely exquisitely done. The way that two storylines linked up with Hank at the centre is just *chefs kiss* for sure. That alone will make me pick up this authors next book and the one after that. I had a great time with this and enjoyed the level of depth we got with the characters and the story. I enjoyed the commentary on life. I enjoyed the way this story played out until about 75% and that's really where it went downhill for me - personally. And again: it's not the authors fault - this is me wanting a different ending to this than I was provided. But I will absolutely still recommend this book if someone is looking for a little bit of a goofy plot that is well written that keeps you turning the pages.

Thank you Netgalley, Harper Collins Canada and Killer Crime Club for the ARC of this book.

In order to collect on their husbands’ life insurance policies, three middle-aged friends turn to murder—unaware that their husbands have a devious plan of their own, in this darkly funny debut perfect for fans of The Thursday Murder Club and Everyone in My Family Has Killed Someone

Meet three wives who want a new life, and three husbands who are in their way . . .

After thirty years of friendship, Pam dreams of her perfect retirement with Nancy, Shalisa, Marlene, and their husbands—until the husbands pool their funds in an investment that goes terribly wrong. With their dreams of beachfront condos and a sunny, carefree retirement shattered, the women’s golden years are looking as dreary as their marriages.

Then one of the husbands dies in a freak accident and the other three women are shocked to see their friend rebound with a huge life insurance payout and a new life in Florida. In the aftermath, the three discover that their husbands have identical, seven-figure life insurance policies. A new dream begins to take form, and this time it involves a hitman.

Meanwhile, the remaining husbands have a secret retirement plan of their own. But when things begin to go awry, they fear their own scheme may have backfired . . . with deadly consequences. The husbands scramble to stay alive, but they may not be fast enough to outmanoeuvre their wives.

What follows is a high-stakes tale of cat and mouse that is both laugh-out-loud funny and unbearably tense and, ultimately, a big-hearted look at friendship, marriage, and middle age. 

This was a fun, quick read. I was literally laughing my head off throughout it. The misunderstandings and incorrect assumptions the men and women make are hilarious. This would be a great beach/vacation read. Not my usual genre of books, but it was SO worth reading! 4 out of 5 ⭐️

This is not your typical book. Part mystery/thriller, part women’s fiction and partly just absurd in a good way. You have the women planning to kill their husbands, the men thinking that someone is out to kill them but no clue it is their wives because they have bigger problems. A hitman who gets involved with everyone and you still have time for margaritas and charcuterie boards on a boat.

Bonus points for a local author on this one. Sue Hincenbergs is a former television producer who has worked on multiple award-winning programmes ranging from sitcoms to lifestyle. She lives in Toronto with her (very much alive) husband and rescue-foster fail scruffy dog Kramer.

I found it a little hard to follow the couples in the beginning so they are

- Pam & Hank: Hank works as a manager in a casino and they have a daughter living abroad
- Nancy & Larry: Larry works at a bank and they have a son who is estranged from Larry due to his sexuality
- Shalisa & Andre: Andre runs a courier company and they have no children
- Marlene & Dave: Dave works at the casino maintaining the slot machines, they have several daughters

Then Padma, who runs the casino and is the daughter of a Mumbai Mob type boss who is trying to find love instead of an arranged marriage, and Hector, a barber with his wife Brenda.

You can tell that Hincenbergs worked in television. This would make a hilarious mini series. It felt a little long for a book but would work in hour long episodes. So much of the chaos in this book could have been saved by any of them actually speaking to their partners.

It is hard to say more about this one without spoilers , but it was a different yet enjoyable read. I am happy to see that Dave’s story was explained at the end because it was still a mystery how he died. We obviously knew some people were not involved, but still could have been others.

Thank you to Netgalley and HarperCollins Canada for the advance copy for review.

The book follows 3 besties who decide to murder their husbands for the life insurance money⁠⁠. But, the husbands have a plan of their own 👀 It was the most absurd plot in the best way, everyone was misinterpreting things during every chapter which lead to some crazy antics.

The book is filled with hilarious misunderstandings involving a handful of characters and multiple POVs. I do think this book should have been shorter, it started to drag on a little too much halfway through. I can totally see this being turned into a movie and I desperately need Lisa Kudrow and Christine Baranski to be casted as the wives.

The Retirement Plan is a fun read that entertains you and keeps those pages turning.

We meet four couples that have been friends for decades.

Retirement is fast approaching.

You cant help but feel for the four ladies when their husbands managed to lose all their retirement money and then some

What the women dont realize is the men have been scheming to replace the money not legally but replace it all the same.

When one of the men is found dead and his death looks somewhat suspicious the women realize that all of the men have taken out million dollar life insturance policies.

Oh what could they do with that money but there is the catch of them being alive.

A hitman sounds good.

Sue Hincenbergs takes the reader down a twisted road full of twists and turns that is diabolically clever.

I laughed out loud , I was caught off guard on many occasions and I was routing for the ladies as they got themselves into one dilemma after another.

Then there is the men, the other side of the story but I leave that up to you the reader.

I highly recommend The Retirement Plan . It was a fun refreshing read and I cant wait to see what the author has in store next.

Thanks to NetGalley and Harper Collins Canada/Harper Avenue for the privilege of reading and reviewing The Retirement Plan.