I really enjoyed this mystery! It kept me up at night, which was not ideal- but I love occasionally being so taken by a book that i cannot put it down.

The characters are great- all are women of A Certain Age (here, in their 70s), with various aspects of their ages having an impact on their contributions. Gladdy- our protagonist- is the most sensible of them all- a responsibility she takes seriously.

I am not sure how plausible the central mystery is- but it works well in context.

If you want to expand your cozy mystery reading past the usual women in their 30s protagonists, I recommend this one! And I will be looking forward to reading more in the series. ( )

Getting Old is the Best Revenge by Rita Larkin is a good cozy that I really enjoyed and everyone by now knows that cozies are not my favorite cup of tea. The first book in the series, Getting Old is Murder, introduces you to seventy-five year old Gladdy Gold and her group of friends in Fort Lauderdale. Gladdy has now opened a detective agency and there is no shortage of senior clients. But now Gladdy is convinced that someone is killing wealthy widows. Cozies are light reads that depend heavily on the characters. In this series the characters will win you over. I guarantee it. ( )

Alas, my local library doesn't have Getting Old is the Best Revenge, so I had to wait until I could get the book through interlibrary loan. The large print edition is easier on my eyes than regular type, but I like the paperback's cover better. At least we still get the map of buildings P & Q of Lanai Gardens that lets us know where the characters live, and the glossary of Yiddish terms used in the book. The chapters still have the fly-swatter over a rolling pin over a plunger decoration from the first book (spur-of-the-moment weapons). This time the murders are not of residents of Lanai Gardens, but once again it's Gladdy who suspects murder where others see only accidents.

Gladdy already has nicknames for her business associates: Evvie is their female Sherlock Holmes, Ida is Miss Stubborn (which she amply proves she deserves), Bella she calls 'the Shadow,' and Sophie is their Master of Disguise (what, Gladdy thinks of them as her 'private eye-ettes and doesn't call Sophie a Mistress of Disguise?). Yeah, I'm a nitpicker.

In chapter 3, Gladdy describes herself and her two-years-younger sister, Evvie, explaining that she takes after their father and Evvie their mother. Chapter 10 is where Gladdy has the nightmare about her parents, the three maternal aunts who always gushed over Evvie and never her, with herself as eight years old and Evvie as six. When she wakes up, she tells the readers more about her family. It's in chapter 14 that we learn the names of Gladdy's grandchildren (Emily is her only child) and a bit about their interests. Elizabeth sent ballet sketches. Erin drew horses, which she loves. Pat sent cartoons of his own creation. Lindsay sent funny photos of her dogs and cats.

'Spite and Malice,' the two-person card game said to be Sophie and Ida's favorite when they're playing it on a stakeout in chapter nine, is a real game. It's also called 'Cat and Mouse' according to the site where I looked it up. (That stakeout scene is something else.)

Gladdy's romance with handsome widower Jack Langford isn't progressing as quickly as Jack would like. (Loved the question his son Morrie asks about her intentions.) Her sister and friends are still good at driving her crazy even though she loves them. Push really comes to shove when Gladdy has to decide between a getaway with Jack and a cruise with the girls.

If it seems there are just too many coincidences that allow Gladdy to piece the puzzle together, Gladdy herself has an explanation in chapter 48. The cruise itself provides plenty of fun scenes and action. Jack is trying to help Gladdy embrace 21st century technology. Good luck. A subplot mystery may be being left for the next book or the fact that it will be solved is implied in this one. I like this series. ( )

Senior citizen sleuths in Florida. Enjoyable at the time, but not very memorable, I'm afraid. ( )

After their success in catching a serial killer ("Getting Old Is Murder"), 75 year old Gladdy Gold, her sister Evvie, and friends Ida, Bella, and Sophie open the Gladdy Gold Detective Agency. They have plenty of clients, including a woman who thinks her 85 year old husband is cheating on her, plus they'd like to catch the flasher that is targeting their retirement complex. But that's not enough work for Gladdy, when she reads about the deaths of several rich women, she wonders if they were murdered. Her boyfriend, ex-cop Jack Langford and his policeman son, Morrie, tell Gladdy she's imaging things. But murder seems to find Gladdy and when she and her friends take a bingo cruise they find themselves on board with a killer.

I liked "Getting Old Is the Best Revenge" even better than the first book in the series. The characters continue to develop and we learn more about how Gladdy's husband died and why she is so hesitant in her relationship with Jack. Having Gladdy open a detective agency is a great move as it will give author Rita Lakin a good plot device to have Gladdy get involved in more murder investigations. Lakin does stretch a bit with Gladdy and the girls ending up on the same cruise ship as a murderer and befriending the intended victim, but the cruise is so much fun that readers will forgive her. The murder is well plotted and readers will have a hard time figuring out who the murderer is. Readers who are easily offended should be aware that there is a sexual overtone throughout the book.

This is an excellent cozy mystery. ( )