When a new job at a certain age becomes a challenge full of mystery…

Synopsis

A delightfully heartwarming and funny story that proves it’s never too late to change the habits of a lifetime, perfect for fans of Judy Leigh, Hazel Prior and Maddie Please.

Something old, something new, something stolen…?

Gina Knight is looking forward to the prospect of retirement with her husband of forty-three years. Until, to her surprise, said husband decides he needs to ‘find himself’ – alone – and disappears to Santa Fe, leaving divorce papers in his wake.

Now Gina needs a new role in life, not to mention somewhere to live, so she applies for the position of Companion to elderly Dorothy Reed. At eighty-three, ‘Dot’ needs someone to help her around the house – or at least, her family seems to think so. Her companion’s first role would be to accompany Dot for a week-long extravagant wedding party.

But when Georgina arrives at the large Norfolk estate where the wedding will take place, she quickly discovers Dot has an ulterior motive for hiring her. While the other guests are busy sipping champagne and playing croquet, Dot needs Georgina to help her solve a mystery – about a missing painting, which she believes is hidden somewhere in the house.

Because, after all, who would suspect two old ladies of getting up to mischief?

My review

Just when Gina is about to start enjoying retirement with her husband, he decides that he needs to ‘find himself’, without her by his side, and wants a divorce.
With their house being sold, Gina now needs to find a new place to live, and also instead of retirement, needs to find a way to just live.
So she applies for the position of Companion to Dorothy Reed. While Dorothy, at the blessed age of eighty – nine,  can still look after herself, her daughter seems to believe it couldn’t be a bad idea to have someone looking a bit after her, especially now that there is a week – long extravagant wedding party taking place.
It’s with relief that Gina gets the position, but she also learns upon her arrival at the Norfolk estate, that Dorothy has an ulterior motive: to find a missing painting, a painting Dorothy is sure is hidden somewhere in the mansion.
With Gina present on the “crime scene” and looking after Dorothy, no one would suspect these ladies of a certain age having a mission, right?

I mean it in the most kind possible way, when I say that a story involving elder people up to some mischief put a smile on my face.
So having two characters in this book that could easily pass as my mother or grandmother, well, that was for sure a double smile!

The book doesn’t start that greatly for Gina, as her marriage ended, her husband described her as ‘beige’ and just took off to ‘find himself’, whatever that may mean…
Instead of enjoying together retirement, now Gina has to start all over again, and even has to find a place to live…
It’s obvious that her soon – to – be – husband isn’t my favourite character of this book!

But at the same time while I felt sorry for Gina, I also admired her, as she didn’t just sit there and wallow in pity. She decides to find something to do, and when stumbling upon the position of Companion, it’s clear that it is something perfect for her.
And it does help that while even it is for just a week t start with, accommodations are included.

As Dorothy has already discarded other people to be her companion, I was already suspicious on why she so easily accepted Gina, after learning about Gina’s background. But it was also sweet to see how well these two women get along, beside Dorothy’s motives.
Even if Gina is getting paid for her services, it’s clear that these two women will quickly and easily become friends.

The mystery of the missing painting is also a sad tale, one that caused heartbreak not only to Dorothy, but to her whole family.
And with Dorothy having her own suspicions, I was very eager to know if Dorothy was right, or if her imagination was perhaps running wild.

While reading, I had several laughs, as I was seeing the scene right in front of me, and seeing how things funnily were going wrong. But I found it great to see how generations and even surprising characters joined forces, to get to the bottom of everything.

This was for sure an uplifting book, in a way also showing us that we should never underestimate people, no matter what their age is. Just because someone is older, it doesn’t mean that they cannot surprise us anymore, or don’t have that power, strength or determination anymore. You will find yourself smiling, laughing out loud, but you will also feel sad, angered at other moments. But if you are anything like my, you will also feel proud of these two women, showing us that age is just a number, and that you are never too old for some mischief in your life! 😊