Reviews

Mrs. Plansky's Revenge by Spencer Quinn

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dunnadam's review against another edition

2.0

At the start of the book I was intrigued by Mrs Plansky's intelligence and the fact that her character seemed deeper than the average cozy mystery.
But I read on and the plot grew more and more outlandish until by the end I was glad to see the back of Mrs Plansky.
I would suggest reading 419 by Will Ferguson instead.

theavidreaderandbibliophile's review against another edition

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3.0

Mrs. Plansky’s Revenge by Spencer Quinn has an interesting premise, but it did not live up to it. Mrs. Loretta Plansky is an active woman in her early 70s who is a recent widow. Mrs. Plansky has recently moved into a retirement community from the house she lived in with her beloved husband, Norm. She has two grown children who see her as a bank. Loretta and her husband were lucky to invent an item that a hot seller and sell out at the right time. Unfortunately, Loretta uses one password for all her financial accounts. In the middle of the night, she receives a call from someone claiming to be Mrs. Plansky’s grandson, Will, who needs money immediately and does not want his mother to know. Personally, I would have immediately been suspicious. The next morning, Mrs. Plansky’s various accounts were drained. The FBI gets involved, but she is told not to get her hopes up. They were able to pinpoint the city where the transaction took place. Mrs. Plansky decides to take matters into her own hands and heads for Romania. The author is an overly descriptive writer. The long, drawn-out descriptions are not needed. We learn way too much about Mrs. Plansky’s deceased husband, Norm (including a tale about a tree cutting that he planted and all the work it entailed). It appears that Mrs. Plansky is a little out of it in the beginning (zoning out frequently and forgetting things). Later, though, she comes up with a plan to get herself to Romania and find a way to retrieve her money. The setting up of the characters and plot takes up the first third of the book. I had trouble liking any of the characters. Mrs. Plansky enables her children. They only visit or call when they need money. I did not understand how she could give them money for their cockamamie ventures (it is like Mrs. Plansky is throwing her money away). Mrs. Plansky needed to learn to say no or make those ungrateful kids sign loan agreements. The story is told from Mrs. Plansky and Dinu, a budding criminal, point of view (it is sad when you start liking the criminal more than the protagonist). Mrs. Plansky refers to herself in the third person throughout the whole book. It is odd. I found the internal dialogue to be awkward and dreary. The story moves at a slow pace (actually, snails move faster) until near the end. The ending is swift and farfetched. I believe some things are supposed to be humorous, but I did not feel like laughing. I was just grateful to turn the last page. The story does contain mild foul language, intimate relations, swindling people of money, physical abuse, and alcohol consumption. Mrs. Plansky’s Revenge is a monotonous tale with a wealthy widow, avaricious kids, a currency scam, a difficult father, a magnetic writer, cybercrime criminals, and a farfetched finale.

triptisoni's review against another edition

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adventurous funny medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

gb50's review

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adventurous funny lighthearted fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.75

eminireader's review against another edition

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4.0

A fun read with all the ingredients of a charming, cozy mystery that has a subtle wit about it, a terrific cast of characters, some with endearing character traits, others infuriating, and a fulfilling final act.

Mrs. Plansky's Revenge features a strong-willed and spirited FMC, Loretta aka Mrs. Plansky, who is newly retired and is soon set on a quest for justice.

I found this to be a great genre mix-up for my reading list and was left very satisfied with how it was written and the resolution of the story.

It seems this year is the golden age of kickass retiree-aged protagonists. Pick this up if you are a fan of The Mostly True Story of Tanner and Louise and Vera Wong's Unsolicited Advice for Murderers (both excellent books as well).

This was excellent as an audiobook. Petrea Burchard is a fantastic narrator and brings each character to life. I especially appreciated how she modified Duni's, a Romanian teenager learning English, accent throughout the book as his English improved.

Thank you to NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for the advance copy of this audiobook.