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Mike Befeler
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Retirement Homes Are Murder (Five Star Mystery Series) Hardcover – January 1, 2007

by Mike Befeler (Author)
4.2 4.2 out of 5 stars 107 ratings
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Ornery and robust octogenarian PAUL JACOBSON, who suffers from short term memory loss, wakes up in a place he doesn't recognize and struggles to figure out where he is.  He learns he's living in a retirement home in Hawaii.  Still trying to get oriented, he finds a dining hall where he meets, for what he thinks is the first time, table mates MEYER OHANA, a retired judge, and HENRY PALMER. His frustration builds when he's informed that he ate meals with them the day before.  In his growing confusion, he returns to his room, finds a bag of bottles in his kitchenette and decides to discard them in the building's trash chute.  When the bag gets stuck, Paul is shocked to discover a body wedged in the trash chute. Things go downhill from there for Paul as he becomes a suspect and then is threatened himself by the murderer. Along the way Paul discovers love and romance, while trying to stay alive and find the killer.
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Previous page
  1. Book 1 of 4
    Paul Jacobson Geezer-lit Mystery Series
  2. Print length
    291 pages
  3. Language
    English
  4. Publisher
    Thomson Gale
  5. Publication date
    January 1, 2007
  6. Dimensions
    6 x 1 x 8.75 inches
  7. ISBN-10
    1594145156
  8. ISBN-13
    978-1594145155
  9. See all details
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Editorial Reviews

Review

Humorous and heartbreaking. -- Library Journal

Befeler's book is a humorous example of the new sub-genre geezer-lit. Sometimes sad, but mostly funny, his tale of a plucky sarcastic "old far" will win your heart. -- Mystery Scene Magazine

Paul Jacobson is one tough old dude that will leave you laughing at his antics, and shaking your head at his "cure" for his memory loss. He is a riot, and it is worth every minute of your time to read his story. -- Coffee Time Romance and More

From the Author

Retirement Homes Are Murder was inspired by people I met when my mom and stepdad lived in a retirement community. It started as a relationship story about three men and three women in a retirement home. At the same time I was writing a collection of short stories that had either the victim or the perpetrator being an older person. The two ideas merged and Retirement Homes Are Murder was born.

Product details

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Thomson Gale (January 1, 2007)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Hardcover ‏ : ‎ 291 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1594145156
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1594145155
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 1.1 pounds
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 6 x 1 x 8.75 inches
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.2 4.2 out of 5 stars 107 ratings

About the author

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Mike Befeler

Mike Befeler

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In the May, 2008, issue of the AARP Bulletin Mike Befeler was identified as one of four authors in a new emerging mystery sub-genre. Harlan Coben, president of Mystery Writers of America stated, "We've just scratched the surface on geezer-lit. It could be the next frontier in crime fiction." Mike turned his attention to fiction writing after a career in high technology marketing. Mike's published books include six book in the Paul Jacobson Geezer-lit Mystery Series:

- RETIREMENT HOMES ARE MURDER, January, 2007

- LIVING WITH YOUR KIDS IS MURDER, April, 2009 (nominated for the prestigious Lefty Award for the best humorous mystery novel of 2009)

- SENIOR MOMENTS ARE MURDER, August, 2011

- CRUISING IN YOUR EIGHTIES IS MURDER, December, 2012, (a finalist for The Lefty Award for best humorous mystery novel of 2012

- CARE HOMES ARE MURDER, June, 2013

- NURSING HOMES ARE MURDER, May, 2014

Other published books include:

- A paranormal private investigator mystery, THE V V AGENCY, April, 2013

- A paranormal geezer-lit mystery, THE BACK WING, August, 2013

- A theater mystery, MYSTERY OF THE DINNER PLAYHOUSE, January, 2015

- A non-fiction book, THE BEST CHICKEN THIEF IN ALL OF EUROPE, May, 2015

- A historical mystery, MURDER ON THE SWITZERLAND TRAIL, October, 2015

- COURT TROUBLE, A PLATFORM TENNIS MYSTERY August, 2016

- An international thriller, THE TESLA LEGACY, February, 2017

- A geezer-lit mystery, DEATH OF A SCAM ARTIST, August, 2017

- A professional organizer mystery, UNSTUFF YOUR STUFF, October 2018

- A pickleball mystery, PARADISE COURT, May 2019

- A sequel to THE BACK WING titled The Front Wing, November 2019

- An uplifting and humorous story, CORONAVIRUS DAZE, April 2020

- A humorous spoof of the detective mystery, OLD DETECTIVES HOME, April 2022

Mike holds a Master's degree from UCLA and a Bachelor's degree from Stanford. He grew up in Honolulu, Hawaii, and now lives in Lakewood, California. Mike is past president of the Rocky Mountain Chapter of Mystery Writers of America.

Customer reviews

4.2 out of 5 stars
4.2 out of 5
107 global ratings

Top reviews from the United States

Okiri
5.0 out of 5 stars Funny story, sad background, great narration
Reviewed in the United States on September 10, 2022
Verified Purchase
This book made me laugh. It's a nice light crime-mystery story, set in a very extra ordinary setting.
The setting described can easily make you sad. Thinking about how society treats older people, and the industry of retirement home. Not a book I would recommend to the elderly.
One person found this helpful
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Cozyreaders
4.0 out of 5 stars A Hawaiian Set Murder Mystery
Reviewed in the United States on August 31, 2012
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I think that I was severely remiss in taking so long to read this book. However, I have read this book now and am delighted.

An eighty-something man, Paul Jacobson, wakes up in a room he doesn't recognize and has to cope. He is told he has 'short-term memory loss.' To be honest I kept waiting for a miracle cure, but, the character remained honest. He has a severe disability...he forgets the last 24hrs. He even forgets faces and names. I actually stopped reading and gave thought to how this disability would affect me and Paul handles it with a rough tone and some sarcasm, in other words, he handles it very well. The book is set in Hawaii which adds color itself.

Venturing out of his room, Paul luckily is placed in the dining room of this retirement home with two other men. One, Henry is a genius with the condition of Asperger's Syndrome, and the other, Meyer, a retired Attorney, becomes his friend.

To make the transition more difficult, Paul realized there was a bunch of used bottles in his apartment so he makes a trip to the trash shoot. When he discovers a body inside the shoot, Paul's life becomes even more fragile. The Detective figures Paul is the killer.

It is up to Paul and Meyer to figure out who actually did the killing before it is too late. Paul also has a family, a new girl-friend, and even Henry giving help.

At times this book was funny, at times it was sad to see how elderly persons lives change as the body slows down, and at times it was a super mystery.

I'm glad I found these books. I have a delightful time of reading ahead of me.
One person found this helpful
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MW
5.0 out of 5 stars Great fun!
Reviewed in the United States on December 7, 2010
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When a curmudgeon finds a dead body in the trash chute of his room at the retirement home, he doesn't know what happened. He only knows he didn't do it. He has the perfect motive, and no memory of the day in question, and a single minded detective on his tail, so he has to rely on his friends and his wits to piece together what happened. A fun tale filled with humor and great characters. I laughed aloud throughout the story.
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P. Sherman
4.0 out of 5 stars A fun read!
Reviewed in the United States on June 6, 2011
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I enjoyed this book, loved the characters. I gave it 4 stars instead of 5 because of the similarity between this book and the movie "50 First Dates," which came out a few years earlier. In the movie, Lucy has a good longterm memory but can't remember events of the day before. She keeps a journal so she can track her life since an accident took away her short term memory (and later, videotapes). Kind of the same thing. However, this book has the murder mystery (and I was so sure I had it figured out early on, but I was wrong. Nice surprise!) plot and the setting is very different. Knowing that similarity ahead of time shouldn't keep you from reading this fun book.
2 people found this helpful
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Gail S. Humbert
3.0 out of 5 stars A great fast read
Reviewed in the United States on July 9, 2009
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I was going to an event that included an appearance by the author and decided to read his book first. This is a nice light entry into the "geezer lit" category. Mike Befeler has chosen to make his detective a senior with a short term to long term memory storage problem. Every time he goes to sleep he forgets the past 5 years. Through dint of journal entries and friends who fill in the blanks for him our hero gets through the culture of the retirement home, senior dating and oh yes solving a murder. Fun and a fast read it is nice to see that the older generation still has dating and the occasional sexual escapade to look forward to.
2 people found this helpful
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Dizzy Lizzy
5.0 out of 5 stars NEED A LOT OF GOOD KAUGHS?GET THIS BOOK
Reviewed in the United States on November 29, 2013
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You can't find a better comical mystery writer than Mike Befeler. His stories are so funny and interesting that you can't put the book down until you've finished it. The things he gets blamed for just keep adding up to a list of him breaking the law without even knowing that he supposedly did them. Once you've read one book, you can't wait until the next one comes out. Grab your copy today and be ready to laugh a lot.
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Bill Weinberger
2.0 out of 5 stars A mediocre detective story from a time gone by
Reviewed in the United States on February 4, 2020
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Loved the premise. Didn't like the implementation.
Paul Jacobson wakes up in a strange place with no memory of where he is or the previous day. He's gruff with the nurse that comes to give him his daily medications and eventually finds his way to breakfast in the retirement home dining room with his table companions from the day before, who fill him in on some of the who, where and what of his new situation. Then he discovers a dead body and winds up the main suspect in the murder.
That's a cool set up. And it could have been the foundation of a both an interesting mystery and an interesting examination of geezer-life. Except... The prose and dialog are as wooden as can be and riddled with ancient cliches and comebacks instead of any attempt at reality. In this reality, a patient that clearly belongs in memory care is living independently, nobody has empathy, and garbage chutes have locks (?!). Most attempts at humor were also passe and trite. Several chapters in, I hoped it would get better and kept grinding through, hitting more and more reality breaks and improbable behavior. Finally, I simply started skimming to get the main points and make it to the revelation of the killer and their motive. Unfortunately, even that is disappointing and barely makes it to the level of a mediocre detective show from the sixties.
Obviously, that's what this is. A mediocre detective story from a time gone by. Except this was written in the 21st Century and misses the mark of modern story-telling.
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J. Harper
5.0 out of 5 stars A great read....
Reviewed in the United States on November 30, 2013
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Mike Befeler has written a charming mystery series and I recommend it with joy. Can't wait to read the next one and see what Mike has in store for Paul and the gang. A very good read.
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