Cannonball Read 17

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time

Justice and the law aren’t the same thing.

Killers of a Certain Age by Deanna Raybourn

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I have read nearly all of Deanna Raybourn’s books and this one is a definite departure from her usual historical fiction. However, she keeps her penchant for mystery solving shenaningans here, and her trademark sense of humor is intact. Just a wee bit snarkier. Four retiring lady assassins are invited by their former employer to literally sail into the next phase of their lives aboard a complimentary cruise. How are former assassins allowed to just retire and sail off into the sunset, you ask? Well, […]

“She might be less than what she had once been, but she was still worth a hell of a lot.”

Killers of a Certain Age by Deanna Raybourn

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Billie and her three colleagues – Mary Alice, Helen, and Natalie – are gearing up for retirement. After forty years of being international assassins, it’s time to hang up their weapons. Their organisation, The Museum, sends them on a fabulous cruise as part of the send off, but in the midst of the festivities they discover they’re being targeted by one of their own. Only the top level of the Museum can order a hit, and once they get our of their sticky situation, they’re […]

Butterflies with a side of murder

A Dangerous Collaboration by Deanna Raybourn

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Lured to an island by the promise of rare butterflies, lepidopterist Veronica Speedwell finds herself delving into another mystery. The charismatic Lord Templeton-Vane is a friend of Malcolm Romilly, whose wife disappeared shortly after they said their wedding vows. After his loss, and the subsequent gossip, he retreated into his secluded world, which includes a castle with lots of delightful hiding places. As part of the invite, Lord Templeton-Vane (Tiberius) asks Veronica to pretend to be his fiancee, for propriety’s sake. Nothing to do with […]

A great time was had.

Killers of a Certain Age by Deanna Raybourn

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A great time was had. People were slain, revenge was had, plots were foiled, and women of a certain age came out of retirement to clear their names and kick some ass. There’s also a cat named Kevin in here, and I just think that’s important. I don’t actually think I have too much to say about this one. There wasn’t much deep about it, it’s just a good book, a thriller but more on the cozy end than not. A cozy thriller! Who knew […]

“Forty years on one of the most elite assassin squads on earth and it finished like this, with a free cruise and a bouncy letter from a girl who signed her letters with hashtags.”

Killers of a Certain Age by Deanna Raybourn

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In ten words or less: Retired female assassins: promising premise, fumbles in execution. Retired female assassins are staring down the barrel of retirement when they’d rather still be staring down the barrel of a gun. They miss the action, but they’ve earned their rest and a cruise seems like, well, like something to do with plenty of time on their hands. The contract on the hitman trope is popular in books and in movies. However, Raybourn has taken us away from male characters and even […]

Girls Just Wanna Have . . . Fun?

Killers of a Certain Age by Deanna Raybourn

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Think Charlie’s Angels facing their sunset years.  Far more deadly and ruthless than Farah Fawcett and her pals though, and there is four of them.  And to celebrate their retirement, the Museum (their employer) is sending them on an all-expenses paid cruise.  Hmmm.  Doesn’t really seem like the sort of thing an assassin agency would do. And of course it’s not.  The crew seems oddly muscular, and Kevin can’t be trusted in the least.  Especially since Billie recognizes him as a fellow agent actually named […]



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