This was an enjoyable caper with some good characters, but there were times when the narrative felt tonally unbalanced for me. I thought the relationship between our four retired assassins was good, but I did feel that other than Billie (our narrator), the other women weren't as fleshed out as I would have liked. I thought that the Museum as a concept was great and was well done. I was also quite surprised (pleasantly) by how vicious the action got at times and it was this that was quite tonally jarring for me. Overall, I enjoyed my time with this one, but it isn't a new all time fave.
I received a free copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for a fair and honest review.

I absolutely loved everything about this story: the people, the plots, the places, everything!

Someone realises that in some occupations there is no reason why women should not be able to do at least as well as their male counterparts; in this example, assassination.

A tale in parallel timelines, four young women chosen and trained in all the arts of death and the parallel those same women 40 years later, after retirement, when they are the targets!

This is the best work of fiction that I have read in quite a while and it would have had 6 stars if such a thing were possible. Treat yourself to a copy and hope you have the time to read it in one go.

A departure from Deanna Raybourn's usual historic detective fiction, Killers of a Certain Age is about an all-women group of assassins. Employed by an organisation called the Museum that originally hunted down Nazis post-WW2 but which widened its remit to include all sorts of nasty characters, our heroines have just retired after successful careers. On a celebratory retirement trip, they soon discover that someone doesn't want them enjoying a quiet life of retirement. Our heroines are soon on the run, trying to discover who wants them dead.

This is a highly entertaining book. I enjoy Raybourn's other books a lot but found it really interesting to see how she approached something different. Our assassin heroines (a phrase I never thought I'd say) are great characters and I'd love to read more about them.

This was one of the best books I've had the pleasure of reading this year! Sassy, classy, clever, and a complete joy from start to finish. These characters are so special! Thank you so much for the ARC.

Interesting characters and an intriguing storyline featuring women of a certain age. Deemed to be past it they must work together to save their lives.

What a fun romp of a book! I went into this a little blind - didn’t read the synopysis again before I started, but I was very pleasantly surprised.

Our 4 brilliant ladies are at retirement age but they are still sharp, quick thinking and more importantly, fit lethal killers. I love the angle where they are underestimated- both as women and because they are now in their 60s.

I enjoyed the mystery aspect of it as they tried to work out who set them up, and plot their revenge. It was really fun and exciting to read from beginning to end. 4 Stars

A fun premise on which to base a thriller. A final mayhem ride as four aging assassins set off on a last mission as they face retirement

I'm a huge fan of Deanna Raybourn's Veronica Speedwell series and was curious to read this book as it's set now and not in the past.
I can say she did and excellent job and delivered a book that is highly entertaining, full of her usual humour and with her excellent storytelling.
A winner in my book that I strongly recommend.
Highly recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher for this arc, all opinions are mine

Billie, Mary Alice, Helen and Natalie have worked for many years as assasins. Finally its time to hang up their weapons but they're about to learn that retirement is more deadly than they thought. There may be one more job and this one hits close to home.

Well this was an interesting read. I liked the sound of it and ended up really enjoying it too. Okay them talking about men's appendages was a little strange but funny too. I like how clever and determined they were. The plot is well written with some good twists along the way. The ending worked so well and tied the story off brilliantly. I really liked Billie the best. She was tough and smart. There are some very inventive methods in this especially at the spa. A brilliant read.

I wasn't too sure if I would get into this book, especially as the opening chapter didn't grab me but I was wrong. It turned into an enjoyable read, a little dark in places and a little fun in others. Once the story got into the present day I was hooked.
I found the present day elements more interesting, how they could cope without the resources etc and how it would all end. However the flashbacks fleshed out the characters and gave more insight into their characters and actions.
Thoroughly enjoyable and worth a read.

This book had me laughing from start to finish. It was a fantastic read and I look forward to deannas next book.

I have read a number of this authors previous novels so was delighted to receive this ARC. Natalie, Billy, Mary Anne and Helen are four women in their 60s who have reached retirement from their careers as assassins only to find that they have been targeted by their own organisation for termination. This book is a real page turner, which I can see being turned into a film with some seriously sassy older actresses. A book a strong women and friendship, a thriller with with no small amount of tongue in cheek humour. I have my fingers crossed that there will be a sequel. Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for allowing me to read this novel in return for an honest review.

Billie, Mary Alice, Helen and Natalie are great lead characters- feisty and always prepared to not take any s**t, I loved how they were ready for the fight against the Museum. The story of the women’s friendship and history was a brilliant background to their current issue and I really enjoyed seeing how their previous jobs had given them the experience needed to get this last job done. Fighting against ageism and misogyny this tough foursome are a force to be reckoned with and a joy to get to know.

While I don’t consider myself a person of ‘a certain age’ yet, I have got caught up in the trend for more senior characters taking lead roles in books. On this occasion I didn’t find the characters grabbed my attention in the way I’d have hoped and I struggled a bit reading this. I’m sure this will hit the mark for other readers but there was just something missing for me.

Killers of a Certain Age is my first novel by Deanna Raybourn, but it certainly won’t be my last (in fact, I have already bought the first two books of her Veronica Speedwell series). I love her writing style and she created a story full of action and incredible characters.

Billie, Mary Alice, Helen, and Natalie are professional assassins. Recruited in 1979 to be part of Project Sphinx, the first chance of female operative trained together, they are part of an extragovernmental organization known as the Museum, born after World War II to rid the world of the worst of the human race. For the last forty years, the four of them have killed murderers, sex, drug, and human traffickers, dictators, politicians, and all those who deserved it, but now it’s time to retire. As a parting gift, the Museum has offered them a cruise, but once on board of the ship, they realize that someone from the organization is there to kill them. They manage to escape the first assassination attempt, but they are not safe because there are more coming for them.

The story is told from Billie’s point of view, in first person in the present time, and in third person in the flashbacks to the past where we see when Billie was recruited, the training that was far from easy, and her first missions. In the present time, Billie, Mary Alice, Helen, and Natalie are running for their lives using all the resources and information collected in forty years to stay alive, figure out why the Museum wants to kill them, and find a way to stop them. Despite their different personalities, Natalie, Helen, Billie, and Mary Alice are very close and support each other. They are dynamic, intriguing, cunning, and strong characters, but Billie comes out a bit as the natural leader of the group, the one with the stronger personality, the one they follow and confide in. They all have suffered loss, grief, guilt and, despite a few aches and pains of their age, they turn the chase around and go after their own killers because they don’t want to spend the rest of their lives hiding.

Killers of a Certain Age is engaging, well-written, and well-executed. There is travel, exciting scenes, dry humour, twists, and suspenseful moments and I enjoyed every page of it!

They've spent their lives as the deadliest assassins in a clandestine international organisation, but now that they are sixty years old, four women friends can't just retire - its kill or be killed.

Billie, Mary Alice, Helen and Natalie have worked for the Museum, an elite network of assassins, for forty years. Now their talents are considered old=school and no one appreciates what they have to offer in an age that relies on technology other than people skills. When the foursome is sent on an all=expenses paid vacation to mark their retirement, they are targeted by one of their own. Only the Board, the top-level members of the Museum, can order the termination of field agents, and the women realise they've been marked for death.

Bollie, Mary Alice, Helen and Natalie had been recruited in the seventies by an organisation that took out dangerous people. The story begins around one of their first missions, then it goes to the present day where the women are in their sixties. I was hooked after reading a few pages. The women are age to retire, and they are all sent packages for an all-expenses paid cruise. This book is descriptively written, and we get quite graphic descriptions of the assassinations. We get to know the women's personal stories, and now their fight for survival. This is a fast paced read with some unexpected twists and laugh out loud moments.

I would like to thank #NetGalley #HodderStoughton #DeannaRaybourn for my ARC of #KillersOfACertainAge in exchange for an honest review.

would like to thank netgalley and the publisher for letting me read this amazing book

i kept thinking of the golden girls whilst reading this book and couldnt get those 4 women out of my mind everytime i read this book

an elite group of assassins or an elite group of sphinx's, they had been chosen and trained to kill and now at the ages of 60 plus they were retiring and the museum was sending them on a all expenses paid holiday as a thank you for their service

but old habits die hard and on board they recognise a face who could only be on the job... and its then that they realise they are the intended targets and so begins their final job

what a ride this book was...loved how the author pulled me into this fascinating storyline with the ease of their writing
cant wait to see what else this author brings out

Billie and her friends Mary-Alice, Natalie and Helen have worked for The Museum, an elite network of assassins, for four decades. The group are looking forward to celebrating their retirement with an all expenses paid cruise. None of them is expecting to come across one of their colleagues on the trip, and when they realise that there's only one reason he would be there without letting them know the four women realise that they are about to face the biggest fight of their lives.

I must have requested this one from NetGalley a while ago, I'm not sure what I thought I would be reading but it certainly wasn't this, what a great surprise!

There's a few things that I love about this book. The first is that Raybourn has done a fantastic job of showcasing the many reasons why we shouldn't dismiss or underestimate people once they reach a certain age. It's really easy whilst reading this to forget that our four protagonists have turned 60. There's an odd gentle reminder here and there, but not to a point where the ages of the characters are the main focus. The storyline is the focus throughout the book, and the character ages are just added details.

The second thing I love about this is that it's a storyline that's very different to anything I've read before. It's quite a feat to be able to set your main characters as a group of assassins, and have the reader be totally on board with their career and life choices. I thought the origins and motivations for the creation of The Museum were well thought out, and it's hard to disagree with their reasoning.

There's some light humour interspersed throughout the book, and whilst the style might not be for everyone I personally enjoyed it. It helped to bring a lighter spin to what could otherwise have been a very dark topic.

If there's one thing that I would say didn't quite hit the mark for me it would be the character development and back stories for Mary-Alice, Natalie and Helen. Raybourn gives us a real snapshot into Billie - how she was recruited, her training and some of her early jobs. It would have been great to get a similar introduction to the others. I do wonder though whether part of the reason that isn't here is so that there is an opportunity to turn this into a series with other books focusing more on other characters.

I would definitely recommend this for anyone who is enjoying the 'of a certain age' type books that are becoming quite popular in recent times, and anyone looking for a 'cosy' read with a difference! I would also say to just be aware that this one does have a bit more graphic detail than you might see in some cosy reads.

Thanks to NetGalley and Hodder & Stoughton for an arc in exchange for an honest review.

Billie, Helen, Mary- Alice and Natalie are retired Assassins. Over 40 years they have performed acts of serious collateral damage, saved loads of people from premature death, killed a few War criminals, and have managed to survive into their 60’s with a pension- a feat practically unheard of!
As a farewell reward, they are to enjoy a luxurious cruise paid for by their ex- employer, an organisation known as The Museum. When Billie spots a fellow agent in the guise of a crew member on board, the question is, is it their turn to get bumped off, retired against their will, and more to the question, who wants them dead and why?
So begins a great black comedy, with really playful details, cool and such likeable characters, 4 women with a ‘ can do ‘ attitude despite creaking joints and other age related illnesses and injuries. The ingenious methods used by the ladies to get even with those who want them dead are so well conceived, very imaginative. Such original fun, great scheming, and a novel that treats females with respect and great caution!!
I found this to be in the same vein as Richard Osman’s Thursday Murder Club series, tongue in cheek , and with very knowing humour. We eventually find that the old adage of keep your friends close…….. and your enemies closer is true.
I have several friends who are determined to grow old disgracefully, this would make a perfect gift. A truly excellent read, 5 stars all day long!
My thanks to Netgalley and Hodder and Stoughton, the publishers, for my advance digital copy, freely given in exchange for my honest review.
I will also post to Goodreads and Amazon UK.

I received this ARC from the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

The opening chapter on the book packed a REAL punch!. It definitely set the pace for the rest of the story. What more could you want? 4 older women who are assassins.

This was twisty and in-depth, I really felt like I was in the clandestine world myself.

A luxurious retirement cruise paid for by The Museum ends in disaster when the ladies realise an assassin has been sent to dispose of them as they know too much.

I couldn’t read this fast enough, the ladies know what they are doing after 40 years in espionage but who wouldn’t ?.

They might be a little rusty but they’ve still got it, the humour was hilarious too.

It’s just a fantastic book that I want all my friends to read and enjoy.