Loyalty and Chosen Family in Killers of a Certain Age

The central claim of Killers of a Certain Age is that loyalty among the four women of Project Sphinx forms a chosen family stronger than blood ties, one that enables them to survive betrayal, aging, and the killing machine that created them. Billie Webster, Helen, Mary Alice Tuttle, and Natalie Schuyler have spent decades assassinating targets for the Museum, but their truest allegiance is to each other. This bond is tested when the Museum itself tries to eliminate them, and it is reaffirmed in quiet moments of shared risk and recovery. Through three distinct phases of the plot, along with recurring symbols and character arcs, Deanna Raybourn argues that a family built on mutual trust and sacrifice can outlast any institution.

The Reunion: Sisters in Arms

The first major expression of chosen family appears in Chapter Two, when Billie flies from Greece to Dulles Airport to reunite with her former squadmates. The narrative voice immediately establishes the depth of their connection: “the closest thing I had to sisters. They annoyed the shit out of me, and I loved them enough to take a bullet for any of them—and I had” (evidence chapter-0003-chunk-0002). This line captures the essence of chosen family—irritation coexists with profound loyalty. The four have drifted since their last mission, but the moment they see each other, they fall back into easy intimacy. Helen has changed—she is sober, white-haired, and happier—yet Billie accepts her without question. Mary Alice arrives with her trademark pout and new bifocals, and the women share a juice bar drink instead of alcohol, a small ritual that signals their willingness to support Helen’s recovery. This opening scene establishes that their bond is not based on shared blood or even shared lifestyle, but on a history of saving each other’s lives.

The summons itself is suspiciously cheap—Premium Economy, a Best Western, a compact car—and Billie immediately reads the threat: “nobody wants to be a bargain-basement killer.” Yet the women do not hesitate to answer the call. Their loyalty to one another overrides any caution about the Museum’s intentions. As Billie later reflects, they “survived because they banded together” when the Museum marked them for termination (evidence chapter-0003-chunk-0002). The reunion scene crystallizes the thematic claim: their chosen family is a survival mechanism, but also a source of identity and comfort.

The Shepherdess and the Sphinx: Loyalty Across Generations

The theme deepens in Chapter Six, a flashback to an early mission where Billie disobeys Museum protocol to save her mentor, Constance Halliday. After the team’s target is killed and Constance suffers what appears to be a stroke, Billie refuses to leave her behind as regulations dictate. “I’m not big on rules, remember?” she says, and she guides the older woman out of the party, using a bloody handkerchief to conceal Constance’s condition (evidence chapter-0007-chunk-0006). This act of loyalty is not to an institution but to a person—a woman who trained, scolded, and believed in her. Constance later becomes the “shepherdess” of the sphinxes, a metaphor that recurs at the novel’s end.

The symbol of the Shepherdess of the Sphinxes—a painting by Leonor Fini viewed in the final chapter—represents the ideal of chosen family. The painting shows a female shepherdess striding among sphinxes (lion-bodied, human-headed creatures) who have devoured men. The shepherdess “didn’t despise them for what they were. She knew they were simply being true to their nature” (evidence chapter-0033-chunk-0002). The four women toast themselves as “necessary monsters,” embracing their violent nature while affirming their loyalty to each other. Constance, their original shepherdess, taught them that they could be killers and still belong to a family of sisters. This symbol directly connects the loyalty theme to the idea that a chosen family does not try to change its members’ essential selves.

The Mission as Family Test

The central plot—killing Pasha Lazarov to prevent the Museum’s mole from exposing them—functions as a test of the women’s loyalty. In Chapter Twelve, the four reassemble at a safe house in Sardinia with allies Akiko, Minka, and Taverner. The scene is domestic: they share food, argue about cats, and catch up on personal news. Billie feels “that some jobs you leave, but they never leave you,” yet she also realizes that “the people I cared most for in the world” are around that table (evidence chapter-0013-chunk-0003). The mission forces them to trust each other completely—to jump from trains, eliminate enemies, and cover for one another’s mistakes. When Billie accidentally kills the wrong man in Chapter One, the team covers for her, and Constance later uses that failure as a teaching moment (evidence chapter-0007-chunk-0003). The logic of their chosen family is that mistakes do not dissolve the bond; they strengthen it through forgiveness and correction.

The obsidian wolf left at the scene of Lilian Flanders’s murder (evidence chapter-0004-chunk-0002) symbolizes the external threat from Boris Lazarov’s son, but it also mirrors the women themselves: a pack of predators who protect their own. The wolf is a symbol of loyalty in many cultures, and here it becomes a calling card of the enemy, yet the four women form their own wolf pack. Their collective past—killing Boris Lazarov decades earlier—now binds them in a new mission. They choose to face the danger together rather than run separately.

Complexity and Contradiction

The theme is not presented without nuance. The Museum itself was once a family of sorts—founded by “the disaffected and the lost” (evidence chapter-0003-chunk-0001)—but it betrays its own agents. Institutional loyalty proves hollow; only interpersonal loyalty remains. Billie’s relationship with Taverner also complicates the idea of chosen family: she loves him, but she repeatedly chooses the squad over him. When Taverner says, “I’m not enough for you,” he acknowledges that her primary family is her sisters (evidence chapter-0003-chunk-0001). Yet at the novel’s end, she rides away with him on a motorcycle, suggesting that romantic partnership can coexist with the squad’s bond. The women also have separate lives—Mary Alice is married to Akiko, Helen begins a relationship with Naomi, and Natalie remains the wild artist. Their chosen family does not require them to be together constantly; it requires them to show up when it matters.

Another contradiction lies in the morality of their work. They are assassins who have killed many people, some perhaps undeserving (like the nephew in Chapter One). The book does not shy away from the ethical ambiguity. Yet within their group, loyalty is absolute. The final toast to “necessary monsters” does not excuse their deeds but justifies their mutual protection. They are monsters—but they are each other’s monsters.

Study Questions and Answers

How does Billie’s narration establish the four women as a chosen family in Chapter Two?
Answer: Billie explicitly calls them “the closest thing I had to sisters” and states she would “take a bullet for any of them.” Their reunion is marked by easy acceptance of each other’s changes (Helen’s white hair, Mary Alice’s bifocals) and a shared history of surviving the Museum’s betrayal. The cheap travel arrangements immediately trigger suspicion, but they stick together.
What role does the painting Shepherdess of the Sphinxes play in reinforcing the theme?
Answer: The painting depicts a shepherdess who accepts the sphinxes’ ferocious nature. The women toast as “necessary monsters,” identifying themselves as sphinxes and Constance as their shepherdess. It symbolizes that their chosen family embraces their violent identities rather than trying to reform them. The moment occurs after the mission is complete, cementing their bond.
Describe one moment where a character breaks institutional rules to protect a squad member. What does this reveal about loyalty?
Answer: In Chapter Six, Billie ignores Museum protocol (which says to leave compromised agents behind) and helps Constance escape the party after the target’s death. She lies to the hostess and takes the bleeding Constance out. This shows that personal loyalty overrides institutional rules, a pattern that continues when the women refuse to let the Museum kill them.
How does the symbol of the obsidian wolf connect to both the enemy and the women’s own group?
Answer: The wolf is left as a sign of revenge by Boris Lazarov’s son, representing a threat from the past. However, wolves are pack animals known for fierce loyalty. The four women act as a wolf pack—hunting together and protecting each other. The symbol thus mirrors their own chosen family dynamic, even as it belongs to the antagonist.
In what way does the novel suggest that chosen family can survive geographic distance and separate lives?
Answer: The women have “drifted” between missions, yet when summoned, they immediately fall back into sync. At the end, they plan separate futures—Helen rebuilding Benscombe with Naomi, Billie returning to Greece with Taverner—but their final walk through Venice and the toast at the Guggenheim reaffirm that they remain a unit. Their loyalty does not require constant proximity; it is a permanent, underlying bond.