Four unhappily married couples' lives are turned upside down when one of their group, Dave, dies. His head smashed in by his garage door and a $1,000 casino chip on his chest. His wife, Marlene, is thrilled to discover he has a $1million life insurance policy and reveals his three best friends have the same.

The seeds are sewn as Pam, Shalisa and Nancy would love to have that much money and so hire a hitman to kill their husbands for the insurance payout. Unbeknownst to their wives, Hank Andre and Larry were working on their own get-rich-quick scheme involving the local Casino.

The story is so cleverly plotted with funny misunderstandings, with every little detail linking together in a twisty, amusing rollercoaster of a ride. The first couple of chapters were a struggle with so many new characters introduced all at the same time, but Sue Hincenbergs then gives them a chance to breathe and grow (or not, in poor Dave's case).

Hector the Barber/Hitman is a great character, helping both the husbands and the wives plotting whilst doting on his own wife, Brenda. He reminded me of Bogdan from Richard Osman's Thursday Murder Club. A reliable man who will do anything for those he cares about. Though I do like Hector better.

I understand the movie rights have already been acquired and I can easily imagine this transitioning beautifully to the big screen. I wonder if Hincenbergs had that in mind when her characters discuss who should play in a film? Jamie Lee Curtis as Pam, Sandra Bullock as Nancy, Niecy Nash Betts as Shalisa and Jennnifer Coolidge as Marlene.

The last chapter in particular is brilliant, tying up the last few loose ends beautifully.

If you like cosy mysteries like The Thursday Murder Club, then I guarantee you will love this.

I would like to convey my thanks to Netgalley and Little, Brown Book Group, Sphere for providing the opportunity to review this novel. All opinions are my own.

The Retirement Plan is due to be released on 6th May 2025.

Hank and Dave were stealing from their employer, a casino. Dave has just died in a freak accident, but Hank suspects he was murdered by the casino owners, who happen to be the Mumbai Mafia (or at least an approximation thereof). His paranoia leads him to misinterpret innocent remarks by his boss, Padma, as warnings that he and his other accomplices, Larry (the banker) and Andre (the courier) will be next. In desperation they hire their barber, Hector, “a guy that gets things done”, to kill whoever is hunting them.
Five years ago, the guys had had savings and were looking forward to retirement in the not too distant future. Then they were scammed and lost everything and were looking forward to retirement in destitution instead. Hence the casino thefts. With all the stress involved, they had become rather ‘detached’ from their wives, failing to notice the effect this was having on them. However, Marlene, Dave’s wife, is shocked to be paid a million dollars from an insurance policy he had, and ‘accidentally’ discovers that the other guys also have such a policy. Pam, Nancy and Shalisa, the other wives, fed up with their ‘estranged’ husbands decide to hire someone to kill them, and turn to the only guy they know who can “get things done” – Hector. Hector takes both contracts.
This is a caper story; a well written, amusing and intricately plotted story. In order for it to roll out correctly to achieve a satisfactory resolution, every little detail has been slotted in, the slightest gap would have made it unworkable or questions would have remained in the reader’s mind. All of the characters are believable, even when their actions are essentially unbelievable. But that is the crux of any work of fiction, of course – the willing suspension of disbelief. Suspend yours and enjoy.
I would like to thank NetGalley, the publishers and the author for providing me with a draft proof copy for the purpose of this review.

This was such a fun and exciting book to read. It had more twists and turns than a country road. I'm not always a fan of multiple POVs but in this case, I enjoyed it as it was done so well. The characters are well developed and although there were plenty of times I wanted to slap them, they are very relatable. There are also some giggles throughout the book, which adds to the heart-pounding action and drama. I never knew where this book was going to take me from one page to the next, and I loved going along for the ride.

Thank you to NetGalley for an ARC of this book!

This book could have been half the length and I’d have been far more engaged.
The concept and the writing style worked really well and, despite there being a multitude of characters, the author does a great job of making them all memorable and recognisable. The timing of perspective changes is done very well and with great comedic effect, as is the irony of the characters’ assumptions coming true.

Though this book was obviously bound to be slightly unhinged, for me it just went slightly too far. Padma felt like a complete caricature and I found her chapters far too ridiculous to be enjoyable, especially later on in the book. The humour of the pop culture references became cheesy and started to make me cringe due to the vast amount of them. The quoting of ‘happy wife, happy life’ worked well until it felt like it was repeated on every third page by every single character.

I think the concept is great and with some slight tweaks, the characters would be more engaging and I could feel more attached to them. As it currently stands, I lost interest in the story and in the characters at around the halfway point as it became more and more ridiculous.

When love dies, or does it?
This is a lovely book that is a joy to read. The humour in it shines out from every page.
Four couples have been friends for over thirty years. The husbands lost their retirement funds in a dodgy investment that went bust, and after that, each of them kept getting on their partners nerves. The husbands come up with a radical plan to secure their futures, and later, the wives do the same. However, neither side has a clue to what the other is planning. From then on, it's a joyful ever more complicated romp.
One of these complications is Padma, the diminutive new boss of the local casino that is owned by an Indian owned conglomerate. She is being pressured by her overbearing mother to choose a husband from those offered by a matchmaker. Padma unwittingly plays a key role in what happens with the couples.
It's definitely worth five stars. An outstanding first offering from author Sue Hincenbergs.

What a brilliant book and a great debut!
Good friends with boredom and marriage issues, get drawn into the world of grand theft and hitmen.
Circumstances lead to misunderstandings and events spiral.
A fun read which I couldn't put down.

I’ve decided cozy crime is not for me!
The book reads like a retirement plan which doesn’t happen and everything goes wrong.
I became bored with this very quickly - it wasn’t an awful read, just not for me and I didn’t find it interesting.

Finished it in a single sitting! Really helped pull me out of a very long reading slump. Such a fun book. Full of humour and chaos.

This was absolutely brilliant - I binged it within a day! I loved the simplicity of it; a group of friends just living their lives… with a few twists and turns keeping them on their toes!
Hector gave me MAJOR Rio from Good Girl vibes! I secretly loved him! He was probably my favourite character. I have to admit though, Marlene was definitely my least favourite!
The ending was brilliant - it was like a lovely gift tied up perfectly with a bow. I’d say this could easily be your next cosy crime read!

I had so much fun reading this book! The plot is completely absurd in the best way possible, and it got me out of a serious reading slump. Even though some of the characters' decisions made me want to scream, that just made it more entertaining. The mix of humor, chaos, and suspense kept me going, and I loved how the story balanced all of that without taking itself too seriously.
One of my favorite things about this book was the multiple POVs. Getting inside different characters' heads added so much to the story, especially with all the miscommunication going on. Every time I thought things couldn't spiral further out of control, they absolutely did. If you like books with wild, unpredictable plots and characters who keep you on your toes, this is definitely worth a read.

The retirement plan reads like many people’s, great plans for a golden retirement that disappears when life happens! However this is a story so events are a much more dramatic and inevitably everything goes horribly wrong! I found that once started I was interested but then became bored and skipped to the end.
Not an awful read but also not that interesting .
Thank you Netgalley for the ARC

"The Retirement Plan" was rather different to what I expected, and very enjoyable. There are some great, feisty female characters who are all fighting for what they want, in their own ways. The plot is complex enough to keep you guessing as to what will happen next, with some unexpected twists and turns along the way. The very last chapter explains the truth behind what happened to kick off the sometimes farcical events in the story.

Thanks to Net Galley and the publishers for the opportunity to read and review this book.

Four couples, friends for decades, not just as couples but the ladies are friends and the men are friends.
After an investment goes wrong the retirement plans are put indefinitely on hold.
Guilt and resentment fester undermining the whole relationships.
An unusual and entertaining story about what you believe to be true, perceptions and paranoia.
Plans change and adapt in so many different ways.
Enjoy and smile I did. The ending surprised me, in a good way

This book was so my cup of tea. A great cast of characters with a great flowing pace. This is one of my favourite reads this year

The Retirement Plan is a black comedy about a group of long term married couples whose plans for retirement go awry when one of the husband's dies. I struggled to like the characters with the exception of lovely dog Elmer and the story was overlong. However, a light, enjoyable read.

Thanks to NetGalley and Little, Brown Book Group for the ARC.

Hell yeah, I had a really good time with this! This is a fun and witty book which doesn't take itself too seriously, but still manages to not be too cartoonish. I even laughed out loud a few times. I kept thinking of this as something that could be adapted really well to a made-by-Netflix movie. It even has a scene where the characters are discussing which actors would play them in a movie, so maybe I'm onto something.

It could have been more compact, it felt slightly too long, and the epilogue wasn't necessary at all. The post script was a fun surprise, at that point I didn't think we would get the full resolution. At a few points throughout the book, information is kept from the reader. At the points the reader is up-to-date, and the characters are still figuring out some puzzle pieces, it felt a bit repetitive, because you're getting the information twice, sometimes even three times. But it was fun to sometimes know what's up and other times not at all!

I think this is a perfect book to take on holiday. It has short chapters, its silliness is highly entertaining, and at the same time it also gives you opportunity to think about the good and bad about relationships. Also, the dog is a great addition!

A great idea and it flowed along nicely at the start but I became bored fairly quickly. The characters were fairly interchangeable and the only one I really liked, strangely enough, was Hector. Padma's sections were dull and I skimmed most of those. A clever plot, nicely wrapped up but not for me although I'm sure it will have its fans.

Totally refreshing, hilarious and very entertaining.

Not my usual style of book but it made a refreshing change. It’s absolutely ridiculous but very witty. It was like golden girls meets white lotus. I could picture this being made into some crazy American hit comedy.

It’s a lighthearted funny read. Very much enjoyed it

Thanks Netgalley and the Publisher. As someone who is over retirement age and still working this was the perfect read for me. Really enjoyed it.

This book started out as a light frothy chic lit but somewhere quite early in became a multi dimensional story with great depth and twists. I particularly enjoyed the various points of view and I ended up empathising with many of the characters. Please don’t be put off by the cover or the book blurb, this book is so much better than it seems.