Gladdy's possible boyfriend Jack is away doing something mysterious, which is annoying her. Her sister is not much help, since she's recovering from a disaster of a romance herself... and the rest of the "girls" tend to need more care than they offer support, even when they try.

Various mysteries come up in this episode, but the main one is that Jack- Gladdy's maybe-SO- has returned to NYC to try to solve the murder of Gladdy's husband.

Things get complicated, especially when both Gladdy's and Jack's families meet and bond enthusiastically!

While there are some sad and heavy themes here, it's mostly light-hearted and at times almost farce-like in the best way. And at the end, Gladdy can lay a ghost to rest and be more open to the future.

Despite the occasion serious elements, these books are mostly pretty light and entertaining. I love the idea of a PI firm made of senior women! each with her own strengths, despite everything else.

I have a couple more novels in this series, and plan to read them. ( )

It’s been 47 years, but Gladdy Gold has never quite gotten over the death of her husband. Her boyfriend, Jack, wants their relationship to grow deeper so, unbeknownst to Gladdy, he travels from Florida to New York to try and find out, after all these years, who murdered Gladdy’s husband. While he’s doing that, Gladdy is in Florida working with her friends solving cases with their thriving detective agency. Unaware of what Jack is doing Gladdy thinks their relationship is over. Jack hopes it is just beginning – which one of them is right?

“Getting Old is to Die For” is the fourth book in Rita Lakin’s Gladdy Gold mystery series and it is the best one so far. While Gladdy and her elderly but intrepid gang (her sister Evvie, Ida, Bella, and Sophie) do use their detective skills to solve a case in Florida, most of the book takes place in New York and focuses on Jack’s attempt to find out who killed Gladdy’s husband (also named Jack). This works wonderfully since readers get to meet both Gladdy’s and Jack’s families, which helps develop them even more as characters. The New York scenes are excellently done and I could feel my mouth water as Lakin described some of the delis Gladdy and Jack went into.

While this series really can’t be considered a cozy mystery series, it is not hardboiled either. There are some genuinely tragic moments (the way Gladdy’s husband died) and some very sad moments (a case Gladdy and the girls investigate in Florida and the way her husband’s death affected several people). But Lakin does inject some humor in the book when Ida, Bella, and Sophie visit New York. Their reason for visiting there wasn’t very believable nor is anything that happens to them there believable, but it is very funny – something that is welcome in a series that can be a little depressing at times.

“Getting Old is to Die For” is a nice entry in a series that improves with each book. The first three books in the series are “Getting Old is Murder”, “Getting Old is the Best Revenge”, and “Getting Old is Criminal”. Enjoy! ( )