Review of "Mrs. Plansky's Revenge: A Cozy Thriller" by Spencer Quinn

Seventy-one year old Loretta Plansky is having a pleasant retirement in Punta D'Oro, Florida.

Years ago, Loretta and her husband Norm made millions of dollars with their patented 'Plansky Toaster Knife', which slices and toasts bread simultaneously. After Norm passed, Loretta moved into a pretty little condo, and though Loretta misses Norm terribly, she's enjoying her life - shopping, playing tennis, seeing her friends, etc.



Loretta is comfortable financially, and her family seems to view her as something like an ATM machine. Loretta's daughter Nina and son Jack request hundreds-of-thousands of dollars for sure-to-fail business ventures;





and Loretta spends nearly $10,000 a month for her cranky, 98-year-old father's upscale retirement home.



Thus Loretta doesn't give it a second thought when she gets a middle-of-the-night phone call from her grandson Will.



The line is fuzzy, but Loretta can hear Will say he needs $9,000+ to bail himself out for a DUI, and to get his car out of impound. Loretta sends the money to 'Safemo' - which Will says is the best - and which requires Loretta's banking password. Unfortunately, the call is not from Will at all. The call is from a scammer, and by the following morning Loretta finds out she's been bilked out of all her money - nearly $4,000,000.



Loretta has a meeting with bankers and FBI agents, who say they'll investigate the theft. However, the FBI cautions Loretta that these scams originate in Eastern Europe, and Loretta is unlikely to get her money back.



Loretta is no shrinking violet and she's angry. Thus, when Loretta learns the cyberthieves are in Romania, she makes her way to the American Embassy in Bucharest, and then to a Romanian town known to harbor cyberscammers.

The Romanian townsfolk assume Loretta is an American tourist as she goes about her investigation. Loretta's skills - like driving a stick shift, riding a motorcycle, and befriending people - serve her well in her quest.



In the Romanian town, Loretta happens to make the acquaintance of two teenage boys, Dinu and Romeo, who - unknown to Loretta - are involved in the cyberthief scam.



The boys work for Dinu's Uncle Dragomir, a thug who runs the operation, bullies the boys, and pays them a pittance.



As the story unfolds, Loretta's serendipitous discoveries lead to danger and adventure. On the upside, Loretta meets some helpful people, and gets to enjoy Romanian specialties like Țuică (plum brandy) and plum jam.





Loretta is a plucky heroine with a good sense of humor, and it's great to see her hold her own in this 'cozy thriller.'

I listened to the audiobook, narrated by Petrea Burchard, who does an excellent job.

Thanks to Netgalley, Spencer Quinn, and Macmillan Audio for a copy of the book.

Rating: 3.5 stars