I loved Killers of a Certain Age. It’s a great novel that drew me in from the beginning. It follows the story of four sixty year old female assassins. They’ve done the job for forty years but just don’t want to retire. However things take a turn for the worse when they’re sent on a luxury retirement cruise and it seems that one of their own has targeted them. Great characters and a plot that moved at pace, I found it really hard to put down. I would rate this book 4.5 stars. Thank you to NetGalley, Hodder and Stoughton and the author for the chance to review.

I had fun with this one. The Golden Girls, but make them assassins!

Humorous and action packed, ideal for fans of Richard Osman needing something to plug the gap between his books.

Loved this book with its unusual heroines, switching between their younger exploits and their current dangerous predicament. Very gripping plot. Highly recommended.

For the last 40 years Billie, Mary Alice, Helen, and Natalie have worked for the 'Museum'. A name given to a company that works outside the government, and arranges contract killings.
The four women are now in their 60's, and are spending some time on a cruise to celebrate their retirement when they find that they themselves are targets for a 'hit'.
This book was brilliantly written, and held my attention from the very first page. I loved everything about this book and was disappointed when it had ended.

Billie, Marie Alice, Helen, and Natalie have been contract killers for forty years. They obey the rules of their organisation, the Museum, and never kill anyone who doesn't deserve it. Now, it's their retirement party, a final farewell cruise, courteousy of their employers. But when they discover someone from the Museum trying to use assassination techniques on them, they have to decide if retirement is really something they can afford.

This is a pacey, relatively light-hearted thriller, despite the ocassional description of their preferred assassination techniques. Scattered throughout with snippets from Billie's training, the book mostly features the women post-retirement and takes great advantage of the fact.

I didn't always enjoy the switch between past and present - it came with a somewhat fluid narrative point of view that - but I read this in a couple of hours, and didn't quite guess all the twists.

Older women often feel invisible, but sometimes that’s their secret weapon.

This fantastic story centers around four women, elite assassins, who discover a sinister plan to ‘get rid of them’ just as they are about to retire. Having devoted their careers to the service of the Museum, they’re flabbergasted at being betrayed by the organization. Day after day, for decades, Billie, Mary Alice, Helen and Natalie have served in the all-female ‘Project Sphinx,’ bringing justice to those who’ve never been held accountable for their atrocities. Now they are being shelved and placated with a retirement send-off on the high seas. Can they hang up their tools of the trade and walk into retirement without looking back? Are they even given the chance to do this? You’ll have to read this funny and thought-provoking book to find out.

I loved Billie’s reaction to retirement when she claims that “it’s like going from playing high-stakes poker to nickel slots for the rest of your life.”

Slide into retirement unnoticed? I don’t think so. They’ve got age on their side! Being invisible and having their back pockets stuffed with experience, these overlooked and underestimated women are able to fade into the background and ‘get away with murder.’ You’ll be rooting for them the entire story and wishing for it to be optioned for the silver screen so that you can laugh out loud … again.

It’s a thought-provoking exploration that mirrors our society’s lack of value on ageing and begs us to revisit our preconceived ideas of gender roles within the workplace. As I turned over the last page, I questioned whether I’d have the ability to ‘start over.’ I’m still not sure.

I was gifted this copy by Hodder & Stoughton and NetGalley and was under no obligation to provide a review.

Loved this book! It was a great read that kept me hooked right to the end. Full of twists and a light hearted fun read. Very much recommended

Billie, Natalie, Mary Alice and Helen have worked as elite assassins for the Museum for 40 years and they’re at the very top of their game. Now in their sixties, the network sends the team on a special holiday to mark their collective retirement, they’re each thinking about what the future holds. But it appears that someone is hunting them and it appears that it’s someone from inside the Museum. Only a Museum top dog can call off a hit, so it seems that the women will have to work together to turn against the organisation they’ve served for decades in order to survive. This witty, unique novel is a cosy crime story with characters that you really want to come out on top. There are some wonderful friendships to explore and an incredibly page-turning plot, finished off with plenty of quirky humour. I’d love to read of these ladies’ adventures!

3.5/5 The basic plot of this book immediately captured my imagination - four former assassins about to retire must solve the mystery of who is trying to kill them so they can enjoy their twilight years in peace - what's not to love?! With it's interesting premise and enjoyable characters this mildly thrilling mystery was a fun, light-hearted read. I reckon it would make a great 'made for tv' movie or a non-romance holiday read too, and I look forward to checking out more from the author in future.
Thanks to Netgalley.co.uk and Hodder & Stoughton for the free eARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Deanna Raybourn writes a fun, humorous and entertaining action packed thriller, shifting from the past to the present, featuring women of a certain age who have had an unusual career as elite assassins, working for a below the radar organisation known as the Museum for the last 40 years. Billie, Mary Alice, Helen and Natalie are retiring from a profession that has markedly changed over time with its now greater emphasis on technology. Narrated primarily from Billie's perspective, the women are on an all expenses paid vacation on a cruise ship when they become aware that they have now become targets for elimination themselves. They are forced to spring back into action, having to work together if they are to survive their ordeal, having to take on the Museum itself without any back up.

Insights into their past history are provided, from being recruited to kill Nazis, recovering art, and moving on to the likes of other bad people, such as dictators, drug lords and sex traffickers. The women make plans as they embark on their adventures, move from location to location, intent on taking out their enemies in a variety of gruesome ways. As the body count rises, it soon becomes clear that you underestimate these extraordinary post-menopausal women at the your peril as they utilise their past experiences, expertise and unique skill set, to great effect. The issues associated with the ageing process are highlighted, the losses, the increasing number of bodily aches and pains, the problematic knees and more, all of which might be expected, when you are deadly female killers of a certain age, as the women take advantage of the notion that their age renders them 'invisible'.

Raybourn's thrilling novel is almost certain to be made into a movie, the ingredients are all there, the humour and wit, a marvellous set of characters, terrific locations, and the wonderful plotlines with twists. This is an engaging read with its pertinent themes, of getting older and the inescapable consequences of the ageing process, being women in a man's world, and the nature of female friendships. I can see this appealing to a wide range of readers. Many thanks to the publisher for an ARC.

Such a funny, brilliantly written book that I could not put down and laughed out loud so many times. Would definitely recommend and would read more from this author

I have been wanting to read Deanna’s other series, the Veronica Speedwell series. That one is a mystery series with a historical setting and I have heard great things. So my expectations for Killers of a Certain Age are pretty high. As I said, I love the premise, assassins but they’re 60 years old. That is not something we see a lot and I really enjoyed it. I also loved seeing them have back pain and other age related problems. It made the whole book more realistic and that is something I really appreciate.

“She might be less than what she had once been, but she was still worth a hell of a lot.”

The plot wasn’t the best, but it was really fun. Our main characters are about to retire but before they can really enjoy their retirement they are targeted by someone from their own organisation. We follow them trying to get out alive in a pretty straight forward way. The story moves from one part to another and all goes quite easily. There was a little twist in the end that I didn’t see coming though!

“…The entire plan was there in shimmering hot pink ink.
“It looks like a My Little Pony murder plot,” Mary Alice said. “Jesus, is that glitter?”
“I like it,” Natalie said loyally.
“I find it hard to take us seriously as agents of vengeance when our plot looks like a kindergarten craft project.”

We got to travel all over the world with these ladies. It was nice seeing all those places. And I really enjoyed the flashbacks we got to some of their first assignments. We got the first ever assignment they did and a couple more. I think those were the highlights of the story for me, apart from the ladies themselves. All four of them are very different but still great friends. We see them go through training, some of their assignments and now the start of their retirement. It was lovely seeing their interactions, sometimes irritated by each other but in the end they were friends and would fight for each other.

“It isn’t your anger that will make you good at this job. It’s your joy.”

This wasn’t the greatest book ever but I just really enjoyed it. Like I said, the plot wasn’t the best but it was fun! I guess it’s hard to describe haha, it was simply fun and the kind of story I wouldn’t mind reading more of.

Billie, Helen, Mary Alice and Natalie were all recruited in the 1960s and 70s to join a secretive international organisation of assassins. Now retired, they’re rewarded with a cruise that rapidly turns lethal, and they realise that the very organisation they dedicated their lives to is now targeting them.

Billed as James Bond meets the Golden Girls, imagine the Richard Osman books, but every character is ex-spy Elizabeth, and you’re some way to understanding Killers of a Certain Age. This was a fun read and, while requiring heroic levels of suspension of disbelief, the twists came hard and fast and the ending was especially rewarding.

3.5 stars rounded up to 4

This was a fascinating story about 4 young women who are taught how to kill. They followed their calling for 40 years and thencame the conclusion.. An epic story of the capabilities of women.

Four friends who are lady assassins. This book time shifts between the past and present to a cruise ship and one last mission. A thrilling read. Thanks to Netgalley and the publishers for letting me review this book.

I'd seen quite a few favourable reviews of this book about four older female assassins so was keen to read it. However I couldn't really connect with any of the characters and I struggled to finish it. Not for me unfortunately.

This is a great read, digested it in one sitting! Such an easy book to follow, and did not want to put it down!

Four midlife female assassins. What’s not to love? This was a gritty, darkly funny read that also looked at the devaluation of women after a certain age. An interesting take. If you enjoyed ‘The Change’ you may like this one also.

A really fast paced, fun read. The writing is sharp and really witty. The story grabs you and doesn’t let you go. I really loved the writing style and would definitely recommend. Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for giving me access to an early copy of this book.

An elite, all female, group of assassins are approaching retirement age. The clandestine organisation they work for sends them on a retirement cruise. When they realise that they are now marked for assassination a game a cat and mouse begins as they try to figure out why they've been made a target and who is responsible.

This book is such fun. I read quite a few of Deanna Raybourn's Lady Julia Grey series a number of years ago and assumed this would be a period thriller (I really should read the blurb more carefully rather than just jump at a name I enjoy). Killers Of A Certain Age certainly isn't a period thriller, unless you count the 1980's as historical.

As I was reading I kept thinking "this is a cross between Charlie's Angels, Mission Impossible and The Golden Girls". We open in 1979 with a newly formed team of four female assassins carrying out a mission. The dialogue is crisp and witty, a tongue in cheek humour that continues throughout the story. There is pace, intrigue and action as Billie, Mary Alice, Natalie and Helen use their skills and feminine wiles to deal with their target.

The story then jumps forward forty years and we discover that our group of four are about to retire after a successful career. As a reward the organisation they work for send them on a luxury retirement cruise. However, the skills the women have honed over forty years are always on alert and they realise they've now become the target.

The story jumps backwards and forwards over a forty year period as we learn why the group was formed and who they work for. Some of the action and dialogue is dated and sexist but this fits perfectly with the time period. When the action moves back to now we see how modern the group of four are and that they have the ability to take on anyone. The action and pace never lets up throughout. You are constantly rooting for the group of friends to clear their names and be victorious. I really do hope that we'll see more from the team in the future.