Seventy-five-year-old retired serial killer Lottie Jones is enjoying her quiet life of church bingo, potlucks, and no visitors. All that changes when a docuseries producer shows up at her doorstep for an interview. Well, Lottie can’t have someone digging up old secrets, and just like that, she’s pulled out of retirement. As one murder leads to another, Lottie realizes it isn’t the 1980s anymore, and she has a lot more physical and technological challenges when concealing murders in TOO OLD FOR THIS by Samantha Downing.

After murdering Plum Dixon, Lottie’s visitors become more frequent, including Plum’s boyfriend, local detectives, and eventually Plum’s mother. Lottie does her best to deal with these minor obstacles, but her arthritis and mental aging are making it harder to keep up with all the new advances in criminal investigations. Soon, Lottie learns that a nemesis from her past still has her in his sights to take down. Can she tie up all the loose ends, enjoy her son’s wedding, and find a nice, affordable retirement village to live out her remaining years?

TOO OLD FOR THIS is dark, twisted, and delightfully fun. Lottie Jones is a terrible person. She has no empathy, no remorse, and no compunctions for killing. She deals with things as they come, using morally reprehensible means, and goes about her day as if everything is normal. The writing is highly engaging and shows Lottie’s contradictions. The murders are gory and horrifying, juxtaposed with the quiet churchgoing, tea-drinking personal life Lottie lives. The story flows smoothly, with vivid descriptions and great characterization, and readers will stay glued to the pages to see what comes next. The ending wraps up nicely for Lottie, although a final twist that meted out more justice for the victims would have been nice. Yet, TOO OLD FOR THIS does exactly as it intends - it entertains, keeps readers invested, and delivers a dark thriller that will delight fans.