Killers of a certain age
(Large Print)

Imagine if the Golden Girls were trained as elite assassins and you'll have some idea of the delights and thrills filling the pages of Raybourn's latest. In 1979, rebellious Billie, proper Helen, practical Mary Alice, and flirtatious Natalie are the first women recruited to join a top-secret, nongovernmental organization known as the Museum, which specializes in hunting down Nazis, sex traffickers, arms dealers, and other bad guys. Now in their sixties, the women are enjoying a retirement cruise. When Billie ducks into a fridge to cool off during a hot flash, she spots a young colleague in disguise, and the women soon uncover a bomb in his room, realizing that their retirement gift is actually a death sentence. But why, after 40 years of loyally serving the Museum, are they now targets? Raybourn has crafted a brilliant crime novel, with wit, intrigue, and heart, in which these bold, aging agents travel through catacombs and luxury spas and keep in contact via menopause apps. Her descriptions about aging are both funny (comparing saggy boobs to melted ice cream) and bitter, as the women recognize that some skills don't come as readily as they once did. But, most of all, this is a fun, exciting romp that celebrates the everlasting bonds of sisterhood.

Edgar finalist Raybourn (the Speedwell series) makes a dazzling excursion out of the Victorian era with this uproarious contemporary thriller. Billie, Mary Alice, Natalie, and Helen have been a cozy quartet of "avenging goddesses" for more than 40 years, one of the "most elite assassin squads on earth," recruited in late 1978 by an "extra governmental" organization called the Museum. Soon after they're forced to go on an all-expenses-paid retirement cruise in the Caribbean, they discover they've apparently been targeted for death by the Museum board. They immediately go into investigative overdrive, relying on their expert training and experiences to uncover the means and motives behind their potential demise. Flashbacks to several of their high-profile cases, including a Zanzibar hit on an aging baroness that comes back to haunt Billie, keep the reader guessing. Colorful regional details and vividly portrayed secondary characters flesh out this rollicking tale. Fans of Helen Tursten and Richard Osman will relish watching these badass women in their 60s ("no one notices you unless you want them to," Billie observes) swing into action. Raybourn has outdone herself. Agent: Pamela Hopkins, Hopkins Literary Assoc. (Sept.)

Fans of Raybourn's historical mystery series featuring the feisty Veronica Speedwell (An Impossible Impostor) will relish this contemporary thriller about an all-woman assassination squad confronting an unexpected mission as they near retirement. The Museum, a global covert organization, recruited Billie, Helen, Mary Alice, and Natalie in the late 1970s to dispose of any remaining Nazis, and, later, other evildoers (e.g., arms dealers, drug lords, dictators). The Museum honors their service with an all-expenses-paid cruise on which they quickly learn they've been double-crossed and are now assassination targets themselves. The majority of the narrative comes from Billie's perspective, which Jane Oppenheimer delivers with spot-on emotion and energy. She suspensefully relays the team's furious quest for answers and empathetically conveys the joys and regrets shared by these resourceful women who, as elite global assassins, understandably struggled with work-life balance and now feel cast aside in a youth-obsessed society. With her beautiful, deep voice, Christina Delaine reads the non-Billie chapters with verve. Each narrator also shows perfect timing, presenting the story's many laugh-out-loud moments. VERDICT Featuring two great performances, Raybourn's latest is recommended for mystery lovers of all ages, as well as anyone (assassin or not) trying to balance their professional and personal lives.--Beth Farrell