Barbara**catching up! (Longboat Key, FL)’s review of The Sunset Years of Agnes Sharp

3.5 stars:

I americium a immense instrumentality of nan genres involving aged detective sleuths. Most are cozy mysteries, delightfully plotted. “The Sunset Years of Agnes Sharp” by Leonie Swann, translated by Amy Bojang is simply a awesome communicative involving six plucky pensioners.

Sunset Hall, Agnes’s puerility home, is location to an array of absorbing seniors. There is: Bernadette, a unsighted erstwhile spy; a cognitively declining Marshall; a wheelchair bound Winston; Edwina nan yoga enthusiast; Hettie nan tortoise; Lillith, a puerility friend, and Agnes, each of whom telephone Sunset Hall home. Agnes opened her location to different seniors who want to control, arsenic overmuch arsenic possible, their sunset years. Agnes knows nan value of organization and societal engagement arsenic 1 beforehand successful age.

The communicative opens pinch a sojourn from a constabulary serviceman to alert them to nan find of a dormant assemblage successful nan location crossed nan street. She was changeable and near for dead. The group is thrilled successful that they were hiding their ain dormant body, besides changeable successful nan head. Swann keeps nan scholar successful nan acheronian arsenic to why nan group had a dormant body; she reveals who and why successful bully time. Now nan group must lick nan execution enigma to pin nan blasted connected that murderer for their ain dormant body.

What writer Swann does, truthful eloquently, is show nan frustrations of aging, nan nonaccomplishment of control. Obviously, location are mobility issues, let’s not moreover statesman pinch nan representation issues. There are medicine mix-ups (some intentionally). But mostly it’s nan knowledge, aliases nan indignity, of not being believed aliases seen. The fearfulness of being put successful an elder installation looms large.

Agnes takes nan scholar down her representation lane, which allows writer Swann to show really frightening it is erstwhile 1 questions nan accuracy of their ain memory. Swann builds hostility successful nan helplessness feelings that plague Agnes. Balancing retired nan affectional frustrations are nan comedic antics of nan housemates.

For example, Marshall brought his grandson Nathan to enactment pinch him astatine nan house. Agnes is miffed, arsenic he needed anterior authorization. Well, Agnes decides to befriend Nathan, nan enthusiastic machine gamer, and nan 2 get into immoderate amusing escapades, 1 involves redeeming nan quiet animals. There is an evil twin, a cannabis hijinks, a decease pact, and of people nan tortoise, Hattie. Swann adds an author’s statement explaining nan responsibilities of being a tortoise owner. She didn’t want her caller to beryllium misinformative arsenic to nan requirements involving nan due attraction and attraction of tortoises. Hattie was a whimsical summation to nan story, adding overmuch delight. I personally loved her slumber stone. Plus, what amended pet for a group of elderly, situation I say, tortoise-like humans?!

I chose to perceive to nan audio, narrated by Moira Quirk. Her sound scope was interesting, yet a fewer characters sounded excessively overmuch alike. Nonetheless, it was 12 hours of listening enjoyment. I emotion aged sleuths❤️