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The Retirees: Retirement has never felt so deadly
Welcome to the idyllic yet eccentric retirement community of The Ocean’s Edge—where retirement has never felt so deadly.
Disco is dead, there’s a serial killer on the loose, the coffin dodgers are solving cold cases, and only the neighborhood cat knows where all the proverbial bodies are buried.
When sharp-tongued sugar heiress Diana is ousted from the empire she helped build, she retreats to a posh 55+ paradise expecting peace, maybe even a pool boy. Instead, she finds a ragtag group of retirees with a knack for solving cold cases—and a disturbing knack for attracting new ones. She quickly finds herself entangled with this quirky yet capable team of senior a psychic, tarot-reading twin duo, a retired detective, a conspiracy-minded tech guru, and a nurse who might just talk to animals.
Among tarot cards, a talking cat, and dark web dives, this misfit crew uncovers more than just bingo night secrets. Because in a place this sunny, the shadows run deep, and someone at The Ocean’s Edge has blood on their hands.
As the group begins investigating cold cases, darker truths emerge, uncovering clues that tie back to mysterious pasts, hidden traumas, and residents with more secrets than memories.
Hilarious, heartwarming, and deliciously twisted, The Retirees is a witty, tightly woven, charming, cozy mystery that reminds us it’s never too late for redemption, reinvention, or revenge—and that sometimes the most unexpected heroes come with walkers, wisdom, and wildly colorful personalities.
Disco is dead, there’s a serial killer on the loose, the coffin dodgers are solving cold cases, and only the neighborhood cat knows where all the proverbial bodies are buried.
When sharp-tongued sugar heiress Diana is ousted from the empire she helped build, she retreats to a posh 55+ paradise expecting peace, maybe even a pool boy. Instead, she finds a ragtag group of retirees with a knack for solving cold cases—and a disturbing knack for attracting new ones. She quickly finds herself entangled with this quirky yet capable team of senior a psychic, tarot-reading twin duo, a retired detective, a conspiracy-minded tech guru, and a nurse who might just talk to animals.
Among tarot cards, a talking cat, and dark web dives, this misfit crew uncovers more than just bingo night secrets. Because in a place this sunny, the shadows run deep, and someone at The Ocean’s Edge has blood on their hands.
As the group begins investigating cold cases, darker truths emerge, uncovering clues that tie back to mysterious pasts, hidden traumas, and residents with more secrets than memories.
Hilarious, heartwarming, and deliciously twisted, The Retirees is a witty, tightly woven, charming, cozy mystery that reminds us it’s never too late for redemption, reinvention, or revenge—and that sometimes the most unexpected heroes come with walkers, wisdom, and wildly colorful personalities.
302 pages, Kindle Edition
Published January 5, 2026
108 people are currently reading
6 people want to read
About the author
Leah Orr
6 books2 followersLeah Orr's research interests include eighteenth-century literature, fiction, book history, and the classical tradition in English translation. She has published on the attribution of work to Aphra Behn and Eliza Haywood; the representation of religion in Defoe's Robinson Crusoe; the genre terms early novelists used to describe fiction; and the eighteenth-century reception of Horace and Virgil. Her work has appeared in various journals, including Philological Quarterly, Studies in Philology, Modern Language Review, Papers of the Bibliographical Society of America, and Journal for Eighteenth-Century Studies. Leah Orr holds the Flora Levy/BORSF Professorship in English for 2019-2022.
Novel Ventures (Cover)She is the author of Novel Ventures: Fiction and Print Culture in England, 1690-1730 (Charlottesville: University of Virginia Press, 2017), viii + 336 pp. Resisting the standard “rise of the novel” paradigm, Novel Ventures incorporates new research about the fiction marketplace to illuminate early fiction as an eighteenth-century reader or writer might have seen it. Through a consideration of all 475 works of fiction printed over the four decades from 1690 to 1730, including new texts, translations of foreign works, and reprints of older fiction, Leah Orr shows that the genre was much more diverse and innovative in this period than is usually thought. Ultimately, Novel Ventures concludes that publishers had far more influence over what was written, printed, and read than authors did, and that they shaped the development of English fiction at a crucial moment in its literary history.
Novel Ventures (Cover)She is the author of Novel Ventures: Fiction and Print Culture in England, 1690-1730 (Charlottesville: University of Virginia Press, 2017), viii + 336 pp. Resisting the standard “rise of the novel” paradigm, Novel Ventures incorporates new research about the fiction marketplace to illuminate early fiction as an eighteenth-century reader or writer might have seen it. Through a consideration of all 475 works of fiction printed over the four decades from 1690 to 1730, including new texts, translations of foreign works, and reprints of older fiction, Leah Orr shows that the genre was much more diverse and innovative in this period than is usually thought. Ultimately, Novel Ventures concludes that publishers had far more influence over what was written, printed, and read than authors did, and that they shaped the development of English fiction at a crucial moment in its literary history.
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
January 8, 2026
The Ocean's Edge has everything you could need in a retirement community and then some. When Diana is ousted from her empire in the sugar business that she helped build, she makes the leap and moves into the idyllic community. She expects to find a quiet, posh paradise. What she finds is much, much darker. She is immediately befriended by a quirky group of friends who make it their mission to solve old cases through some very unusual practices (trust me, they're unique). Everyone in the community is gearing up for a disco party, but things aren't quite as they seem. By the end of the night, it will be more than just confetti on the dancefloor.
This book has a little of everything: humor, intrigue, and a really twisty mystery that I had to solve (spoiler: I didn't solve it). The characters have big personalities and even the cat, Mr. Anderson, is a scene stealer. If you like your mysteries with a large splash of humor and served up with some very sketchy characters, then look no further. This is the book for you!
I read The Executive Suite by Leah Orr previously and really enjoyed it, and I'm glad I snagged this one that just released. I'm definitely going to be checking out more of her work!
This book has a little of everything: humor, intrigue, and a really twisty mystery that I had to solve (spoiler: I didn't solve it). The characters have big personalities and even the cat, Mr. Anderson, is a scene stealer. If you like your mysteries with a large splash of humor and served up with some very sketchy characters, then look no further. This is the book for you!
I read The Executive Suite by Leah Orr previously and really enjoyed it, and I'm glad I snagged this one that just released. I'm definitely going to be checking out more of her work!
January 18, 2026
The Retirees is what happens when a cozy mystery downs a strong cup of coffee and decides to misbehave. Leah Orr gleefully proves that retirement is less about shuffleboard and early-bird dinners and more about secrets, side-eye, and the occasional murder—plus a talking cat who absolutely knows more than it’s letting on. The cast of retirees is sharp, sneaky, and far more entertaining than anyone wearing orthopedic shoes has a right to be, delivering laughs alongside clues with impeccable timing. It’s witty, warm, and just unhinged enough to make you wonder if your own neighbors are knitting—or plotting. If you like your mysteries clever, your humor dry, and your senior citizens wildly underestimated, this book will have you laughing all the way to the final reveal.
January 18, 2026
Entertaining Read
The Retirees was a very light and quick read which entertains. I liked the entire idea of the crew working on cold cases. Liked each person’s background too. It’s a book you can’t put down!
The Retirees was a very light and quick read which entertains. I liked the entire idea of the crew working on cold cases. Liked each person’s background too. It’s a book you can’t put down!
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews