Title: Finlay Donovan is Killing It
Author: Elle Cosimano
Series: Finlay Donovan
Source: Library
Genre: Mystery, Comedy? Everything?
Trigger Warning: References mariticide, hit people, abuse and mob violence.
Summary:  Finlay Donovan is killing it…except, she’s really not. A stressed-out single mom of two and struggling novelist, Finlay’s life is in chaos: The new book she promised her literary agent isn’t written; her ex-husband fired the nanny without telling her; and this morning she had to send her four-year-old to school with hair duct-taped to her head after an incident with scissors.

When Finlay is overheard discussing the plot of her new suspense novel with her agent over lunch, she’s mistaken for a contract killer and inadvertently accepts an offer to dispose of a problem husband in order to make ends meet. She soon discovers that crime in real life is a lot more difficult than its fictional counterpart, as she becomes tangled in a real-life murder investigation.

Fast-paced, deliciously witty, and wholeheartedly authentic in depicting the frustrations and triumphs of motherhood in all its messiness, hilarity, and heartfelt moments, Finlay Donovan Is Killing It is the first in a brilliant new series from award-winning Elle Cosimano. 

My main question when reading this book and even now having finished it. Why do I identify so much with Finlay even though I have no children and/or an ex husband?! I promise you I would never become a hit woman but dang, there’s just something I identify with here and I think I need to talk to my therapist about it. Now. …I wonder if she’s read this book.

Anyway. I would recommend this book to anyone who used to, or maybe even still loves Stephanie Plum. For those who find themselves watching Only Murders in the Building on Tuesdays. For anyone who has ever spun a yarn. For anyone who loves a cozy mystery with a little bit of extra blood dashed in. Or soil, as the case may be.

This book is fun. It is also funny. The cast of characters had me constantly shaking my head and wanting to embrace them all at the same time. (Except for the ex and the woman.)

Finlay is trying so hard to keep it together and she is easy to empathize with. Her ex is awful, as so many are. Her babysitter deserves a major pay raise. A major one.

The series of unfortunate, and then fortunate events that occur within this book, and the voices of the characters within make this a quick read that will leave you constantly wondering what comes next.