I acquired a evaluation copy from the writer. This doesn’t have an effect on the contents of my evaluation and all opinions are my very own.

Too Previous for This by Samantha Downing

Mogsy’s Score (General): 4 of 5 stars

Style: Thriller, Suspense

Collection: Stand Alone

Writer: Penguin Audio (August 12, 2025)

Size: 10 hrs and 50 minutes

Creator Data: Web site

Narrator: Elizabeth Wiley

I’ve by no means made it a secret how a lot enjoyable I’ve with Samantha Downing’s books. Her thrillers are twisty, fast-paced, and just a bit bit outrageous—and I imply that in the absolute best approach. That’s why I used to be instantly on board with Too Previous for This, her newest novel a few retired grandmother with a moderately inconvenient previous as a serial assassin. I imply, how will you resist a premise like that?

The story follows 75-year-old Lottie Jones, our protagonist who seems each bit the a part of a candy little outdated woman. She blends into her small-town group, the place she may be seen puttering about city along with her walker, attending bingo nights at her church, and serving her guests tea each time they arrive round. However what folks don’t notice is that Lottie has a secret previous. The truth is, she wasn’t even generally known as Lottie again then. Underneath a special title, she lived a much more violent life as a prolific killer, leaving a path of our bodies behind her. And he or she’s by no means been caught. Oh, there have been occasions when the police got here shut, however they have been by no means in a position to pin something on her.

However now, a few years later, simply when Lottie thought she’d efficiently buried her outdated identification, a younger and decided investigative journalist named Plum Dixon exhibits up on her doorstep threatening to dig all of it again up. Plum is researching a string of unsolved instances from a long time in the past and needs to characteristic them in a brand new sequence she is making—one which, sadly for Lottie, would require her direct involvement. By some means, Plum has uncovered her outdated title and its ties to these long-ago crimes. Out of the blue, the quiet requirement Lottie has labored so laborious to construct doesn’t appear too protected anymore, not with somebody like Plum eagerly sniffing round. However whereas occasions have definitely modified, making it a lot tougher to get away with homicide today, Lottie luckily hasn’t forgotten all her outdated tips. In fact, it’s not one thing she ever anticipated to need to do once more, however as she has discovered over time, some issues merely have to be completed.

What follows is slightly totally different from the earlier books I’ve learn by Samantha Downing. Her novels are often filled with twists and stunning reveals which might be approach on the market, preserving you glued to the pages, however Too Previous for This takes a barely totally different method. For one, the tempo is steadier, the surprises not as in-your-face, but the story remains to be each bit as batshit insane as you’d anticipate—it simply creeps up on you in a extra delicate approach. A lot of the enjoyable comes from the slow-building tensions as Lottie tries to navigate her fastidiously maintained picture of a frail harmless outdated lady whereas dodging pesky reminders of her previous that hold cropping up. Nevertheless, the tougher she tries to cowl her tracks, the extra errors and different unexpected issues start to pile up, and ultimately her efforts snowball right into a chaos that nearly borders on comedic.

Then there’s Lottie herself, who supplies no scarcity of leisure. She’s a implausible protagonist, stuffed with dry wit and biting observations that make it laborious to not root for her, even when she’s doing one thing morally questionable—and she or he often is. There’s additionally one thing deliciously twisted about following an innocuous wanting septuagenarian as she waxes poetic about one of the best ways to eliminate a physique in the identical breath that she worries about what birthday presents to ship to her grandbabies. Removed from innocent, Lottie is sharp and calculating, and clearly age hasn’t dulled her instincts one bit. The truth is, she makes use of her aged look to her benefit, and it’s that fixed distinction between the mundane considerations of on a regular basis life and the informal brutality of her murderous actions that offers the guide a lot of its darkish humor.

All in all, Too Previous for This was one other wild trip from Samantha Downing, even when it options extra darkish humor and character work than on the massive, over-the-top twists she’s recognized for. Personally, I cherished the change of tempo, and Lottie has simply turn out to be certainly one of my favorites of her characters. Talking of which, I additionally cherished the audiobook, whose narrator does the novel’s distinctive protagonist justice. Elizabeth Wiley’s voicework was unbelievable, completely nailing the sly humor and sharp edges lurking beneath Lottie’s sweet-little-old-lady façade. Should you’re within the temper for a thriller that’s each darkly twisted and enjoyable, I extremely suggest selecting it up.