Book Review of: Killers of a Certain Age by Deanna Raybourn

I have always been a sucker for stories with older women as kick-ass heroines. Now that I am an older woman, I crave these stories even more. That’s a big part of my inspiration for writing THE BADASS WIDOWS. And that’s why KILLERS OF A CERTAIN AGE is so special. 

First, a bit of a synopsis courtesy of the publisher’s back-cover copy:

Older women often feel invisible, but sometimes that’s their secret weapon.

They’ve spent their lives as the deadliest assassins in a clandestine international organization, but now that they’re sixty years old, four women friends can’t just retire – it’s kill or be killed in this action-packed thriller.

Billie, Mary Alice, Helen, and Natalie have worked for the Museum, an elite network of assassins, for forty years. Now their talents are considered old-school and no one appreciates what they have to offer in an age that relies more on technology than people skills. When the foursome is sent on an all-expenses paid vacation to mark their retirement, they are targeted by one of their own. Only the Board, the top-level members of the Museum, can order the termination of field agents, and the women realize they’ve been marked for death. Now to get out alive they have to turn against their own organization, relying on experience and each other to get the job done, knowing that working together is the secret to their survival. They’re about to teach the Board what it really means to be a woman–and a killer–of a certain age.

This book isn’t perfect, but if you’re looking for a fun read, give it a try. The plot is exciting, the characters are likeably idiosyncratic and the dialogue is funny as hell. If you’re like me, you’ll be surprised by some of the characters because we all have unconscious stereotypes about women of a certain age. Most novels show women over 50 within a rather narrow range of roles. For instance, she could be a grandmother who acts as mentor to the main character. Older women are frequently cast as frail victims who must be rescued. Then of course there is always the cranky busy body older woman who acts as comic relief. 

Reading KILLERS OF A CERTAIN AGE made me want to write more stories about older women doing unexpected things. Society underestimates older women and we underestimate ourselves. Too often, we are constrained by our limited experience and imagination. Stories can show us different paths, better ones and ones to avoid. I’ve just done an AI assisted search for other novels in this sub-genre. I’ll post reviews here when I read a good one. There are some violent bits in KILLERS OF A CERTAIN AGE, as you would expect in a book about assassins, so don’t say I didn’t warn you. But check it out and let me know what you think.