KILLERS OF A CERTAIN AGE received a starred review in all four library journals which is a rare feat. I’m not aware of any other mystery this year with that many starred reviews. It will be published on September 6, 2022. While I don’t personally consider it the best book I’ve read in 2022, it was a pleasure-filled, ingenious romp and a very enjoyable read.

Plot:

Four women (Billie, Helen, Mary Alice and Natalie) have retired after working as assassins for an organization known as the Museum. The goal of the Museum is to rid the world of bad people. The foursome were recruited as young 20 year-olds and are now in their 60s. We find them enjoying a Caribbean cruise as a going-away present from the Museum. But a former colleague (assassin) is recognized as a member of the crew and they sense that perhaps they are being targeted by the Museum. So they manage to surreptitiously escape the ship before it blows up.
Now they have to find out what the dickens is going on. Only the Board (the top three members of the Museum) can authorize assassinations, but those assassinations are based on extensive research, not just a whim. It turns out that someone has been lying about them and they are being wrongfully targeted. So they use their skills to eliminate the threat against them. They realize that their physical prowess is in decline so they depend on their ingenuity and the fact that they are now “old” and therefore invisible to most of the public.