Proving Age Is But A Number: A Review of Killers of a Certain Age by Deanna Raybourn

Hello, Book Nerds! Welcome back to Reading Has Ruined My Life or welcome if you are new. As always, my name is Hannah and I am your captain on this journey into my bookcases.

As promised, I have returned this week with another new review. I’m going back to my happy place today with another mystery novel. Wow, me reviewing a mystery book. Groundbreaking. Though something that certainly is groundbreaking is the fact I picked a summer read for a summer day. Aside from autumn and Pride Month, the books I review never match the vibes of whatever time of year it is.

And what book is in the hot seat? What am I reviewing today? Please give a warm welcome to Killers of a Certain Age by Deanna Raybourn!

As always, a spoiler alert is in order. If you’ve read any other review on this site then you’ll know I love to spoil the entirety of the books I read. This is your one and only warning. Also, a quick content and trigger warning, there are mentions of sexual harassment in this book; they are very brief mentions and are pretty much what you’d expect, I just want to note that they’re there. With that, let’s get to the synopsis.

Forty years is a long time to hold the same job, but Billie, Mary Alice, Helen, and Natalie have all worked for the shadowy entity known as the Museum for that long. Back in the 70s, the four were recruited to become the first all-female team of assassins in the Museum’s history. To be honest, they’re kinda the best of the best, but after forty years in the Museum’s service, it’s time to retire.

The four women are given an all-expenses-paid cruise as a retirement gift! Alas things turn sour on the first day of the cruise. The girlies spot a fellow assassin undercover as one of the cruise’s crewmates, but this assassin never checks in with them. He never fills them in on any planned hits, in fact he fully ignores the four, and when the women investigate his cabin they come across enough explosives to take out the whole ship. Based on the shady goings on and their collective knowledge of the Museum, the main characters come to the only conclusion: they’re the targets.

After forty years of service you would think they’d be allowed to retire and live their lives out in comfort, but instead they’re fighting to stay alive. Billie, Natalie, Helen, and Mary Alice manage to take out the young assassin, escape the ship, make it back to America to begin plotting what they’re going to do next and figure out why they’re being targeted. Is it because they know too much? Is it just some mistake? Or does someone in the Museum have it out for them? Find out in Killers of a Certain Age.

I have very mixed feelings when it comes to this book. I enjoyed the read, but I felt it could be better, I wanted more from Killers of a Certain Age. I think my main issues lies in the book’s point of view. Billie is the only point of view character, and readers get the traditional first person limited narrative. That would be fine if this was just Billie’s story. But it's not. Mary Alice, Helen, and Natalie are equally as important to the narrative. After all, they’re targets too. A third person omniscient narrative would have worked better.

I would have liked to know what was going on in all of their heads. Helen is notably grieving the death of her husband when readers meet her. Mary Alice, upon learning she’s an assassination target, is extremely concerned about not only her life but her wife’s as well. Natalie is just a messy bitch, which is why she’s my favorite character, and I simply wanted to know her inner monologue because I know it would have been hilarious. Billie, who tends to fill the leader role, was the most boring character in my opinion. Yes, her point of view is important to the story, but as I said, this isn’t just Billie’s story. I truly believe Deanna Raybourn, by writing in a first person narrative, hindered her book.

Another big hindrance for me were the amount of dick jokes. They're on nearly every page. I’m going to tell you straight up, if you don’t think dick jokes are funny, if potty humor isn’t your cup of tea, then this read is not for you. Seriously, don’t even bother picking it up because you will be annoyed the entire time. Personally, I don’t mind dick jokes all too much. They can be okay every now and again, but Killers of a Certain Age has far too many. There are so many that I did question if this book was actually written by a group of middle schoolers.

Killers of a Certain Age isn’t all bad. This book is all about how middle aged and older women are ignored by society, and how women should never be underestimated even though society tends to do so; two things the main characters use to their advantage. I loved getting to see how smart Billie, Helen, Natalie, and Mary Alice all are. I loved watching them be pretty badass with their ingenious plans. They all prove age is but a number. The spy thriller aspect of this novel works very well. I would say that is Killers of Certain Age’s biggest strength. The humor doesn’t always work, but the spy thriller does.

I found Killers of a Certain Age to be fun enough. I was interested in most of the main characters and did want to learn who was responsible for targeting them. The humor was pretty hit or miss though. For me, this book is simply fine, it’s mid. Another two-and-a-half or three star read out of five.

With that, I shall bid you all adieu. Thank you very much for joining me today, Book Nerds. I will see you all again next week with another new review. If you can’t wait till then, then I highly suggest giving RHRML a follow over on Instagram (@ReadingHasRuinedMyLife). I post there almost daily so come back often to revel in literary goodness. You can also follow the blog over on Twitter and BlueSky (@RHRMLBlog). If you want something not related to books then I highly suggest checking out my podcast Nothing to See Hear. It stars me and two of my dearest friends as we talk everything and anything. We have episodes on haunted houses, Barbie, weird moments and people of history, Scooby-Doo, and so much more; there is bound to be something that strikes your fancy. You can find the show on Spotify and YouTube.

Until next time, stay safe, wash your hands, and read some good books for me.

See ya'll then, bye!