“I shouldn’t be hiring hitmen and dodging threats. I should be scrapbooking and playing pickleball.”
Four couples in their 60s have been friends through it all: raising kids, growing older, planning for retirement. But when the husbands throw away their promises to their wives and lose their life savings, a rift grows between them all. So when one of the husbands turns up dead in a horrific accident, the men suddenly feel the sting of what they’ve done (and yes, you’ll have to wait to find out what). Meanwhile, the dearly departed’s wife isn’t exactly as devastated as she should be; instead, it’s like a weight has lifted. And thanks to his generous life insurance, she’s finally free. That gives the other wives an idea: To hire a hitman and collect what they believe is owed to them, by any means necessary.
The Retirement Plan is a hilarious tangle of interpersonal relationships fueled by miscommunications used to brilliant effect. I’m not normally a big fan of miscommunication in relationships—seriously, can’t the couple just talk to each other??—but here it is used for pure comedy and shenanigans. In fact, the whole story depends on it to flourish. And you’ll be entertained the whole way through as the husbands and wives fail to understand one another’s motives…or process their shock when they do.
The couples aren’t particularly likable but that’s the point—they’re real and, while they actually act on feelings most of us would consider fleeting or intrusive, you can completely understand how they reached the end of their tethers. (I’m not saying it’s right, all I’m saying is I understand.) Their complex feelings about one another and the situation are messy and great fun to unravel, making you root for them in the grey areas of their arcs. But it’s the surrounding characters who steal the scenes they’re in; Hector, the barber with gang ties and a particular set of skills, is smarter than the rest of them and enthralling to read about. His wife Brenda is his partner in almost every way, bringing the perfect balance and support. I’d read a whole book just about them if I could.
You can tell author Sue Hincenbergs is a longtime television writer because the novel plays out like a comedy-drama—Desperate Housewives meets Grace and Frankie with a sprinkling of Hit Man to make the recipe sweet but also with a zing. The tropes about useless husbands and middle-aged struggles are all there but utilized deftly. With that said, it does rely on some tired stereotypes that may not sit right with you—particularly in its depictions of the characters of color, or in the use of unattractive traits befitting the shadier characters. The owners and staff of the casino, where two of the husbands work, provide a decent threat even if it’s a little too conveniently steeped in racial stereotypes. However, the novel does work hard to show that most of these characters are far more layered than they first appear. Sometimes it works, other times you might wish for more.
Overall, The Retirement Plan is an amusing ride that relishes in its twists and tricks. The writing is smart and sharp, always with a knowing wink and a tip of the martini glass to the reader. It’s also great to see more mature women take back their agency and commit some crimes, all while holding onto their femininity and family-first mindsets (yes, ladies, yes!). We’re used to seeing the way Cupid makes you do stupid things when you first fall in love, but this is far more fascinating: What a shared lifetime of far more complicated emotions can drive you to the edge of reason (and boy, does this novel take you through every up and down of that journey).