killer karaoke

Carol Quinn is retired. She bought herself a room at a fancy retirement home, one with a sauna and restaurant and soft furniture and activities like karaoke. She just wants a comfortable place to retire after where she’d been. She joins the baking club to make friends. She does the crossword puzzles she enjoys. She goes where she wants when she wants, and no one stops her. After forty years in prison, that’s a gift.

Carol is a serial killer. When she was young, she killed several people and buried them in a nearby park (it was a popular park for that purpose). When she got caught, she admitted to what she did and she did her time. Now, she’s done with prison and done with killing (probably), and she’s ready to enjoy a quiet life.

But as she’s sitting on her balcony one day, a body comes flying off the roof past her. She goes downstairs to investigate, and she realizes quickly that she just witnessed a murder. She instantly realizes the danger she’s in. If someone recognizes her as a serial murderer, then Carol’s quiet retirement is over. So she knows that she has to figure out who the killer is to protect her future.

As she starts asking questions of the people in the retirement home, she sees that it is not a typical retirement home. There is the retired police officer, the crime writer, the pathologist, and the retired home secretary.. Oh, and the guy Carol recognizes from the time they were both burying bodies in the park at the same time. And the victim? A retired police commissioner.

Carol’s true identity does come out, and the police take her to the station to question her, but this time she didn’t kill anyone. With the help of some new friends, she will figure out who killed the former police commissioner and why. But not before she learns that life at a retirement home isn’t just knitting and napping. There is also plenty of sex, drugs, and outdated World War II anthems.

I’m Not the Only Murderer in My Retirement Home is a fun take on a murder mystery, with a unique setting and an unusual female lead. Carol is smart and not afraid of the truth, and I loved how she went after the answers she was wanting. She’s not afraid to play up the perceptions of the elderly (“Can I get your podcast on cassette?”) while reading a room with ease. I was a little disappointed in the ending, in that it didn’t set us up for another book about Carol, but I was still so happy to get to spend time with her. Carol is a killer character, and this book is solid mystery fun.

Egalleys for I’m Not the Only Murderer in My Retirement Home were provided by Berkley through NetGalley, with many thanks, but the opinions are mine.