This really hit the spot, and it had a lot more emotional depth than I was expecting from it! I think I was expecting something more on the cozy mystery side of things, something lightweight, and it did have a bit of that feel to it as well. But this also had a larger scope than a cozy mystery, way more characters, and a lot more focus on uncozy things, sad and emotional things—like accepting death and dying, the realities of getting older, dealing with loss. It was very bittersweet in places, even as it was also funny and smart and fun to read.
I really bought this book on premise alone, it was that compulsive to me. Didn’t read any reviews, nothing. Bought it in hardcover, when I normally only do that for trusted authors. The idea of four oldsters in a retirement home refusing to go into that long night and getting up to mischief, and their hobby is solving murders was just immediately delightful to me. I was really banking on that feeling, and it didn’t even cross my mind that the book would disappoint me. And it didn’t! I had such a good time with this book, on pretty much every level.
I’ve seen some reviews, now that I’ve read the book, where people thought the plot was a little convoluted, but I loved that it wasn’t just one mystery, just one body. It was like a tiny little zing of pleasure every time each individual mystery was solved, no matter how big.
I pre-ordered book two yesterday in hardcover, and I will eagerly be planting my butt in my reading chair come September with my copy, hoping that it will be just as fun as this one.
[4.5 stars, rounding up]