Title: Finlay Donovan Knocks ‘Em Dead
Author: Elle Cosimano
Series: Finlay Donovan
Source: Kindle
Genre: Mystery
Explicit? No
Trigger Warnings: Violence but mainly offscreen
Summary: Finlay Donovan is—once again—struggling to finish her next novel and keep her head above water as a single mother of two. On the bright side, she has her live-in nanny and confidant Vero to rely on, and the only dead body she’s dealt with lately is that of her daughter’s pet goldfish.

On the not-so-bright side, someone out there wants her ex-husband, Steven, out of the picture. Permanently. Whatever else Steven may be, he’s a good father, but saving him will send her down a rabbit hole of hit-women disguised as soccer moms, and a little bit more involvement with the Russian mob than she’d like.

Meanwhile, Vero’s keeping secrets, and Detective Nick Anthony seems determined to get back into her life. He may be a hot cop, but Finlay’s first priority is preventing her family from sleeping with the fishes… and if that means bending a few laws then so be it.

With her next book’s deadline looming and an ex-husband to keep alive, Finlay is quickly coming to the end of her rope. She can only hope there isn’t a noose at the end of it…

The Job

In this book, unlike in the first, the hit has been called out on none other than Steven, a character formerly close to Finlay’s heart. In all honesty, I get why she wanted to keep him alive, ex-husband, father of her children etc etc. But she exerted some effort in this book at the peril of her own health and well being.

The Mob

If I thought the mob was a threat in the first book, it was nowhere near as bad as in this one. Feliks is a really threat here, along with his lawyer Kat. Though not often seen in this novel, there was always a presence looming, even on a date.

Did I solve the mystery? Oh hell no, I did not. The revelation of who had put out the hit on Steven actually had me laughing more than it had me shocked. It was a perfect moment in the book for me.

The Characters

I love Finlay. Oh Finlay, you need some kind of help. With your house, with your kids, with staying away from your ex and with keeping yourself out of water so hot it’s about to boil over. She is a grade A mess, and yet I love her.

Vero is a badass and I love her. She has her secrets and that’s okay for me.

The Plot

The plot is so zany it left me desperate for more and reaching for the next book immediately. Between the Christmas tree lot to the house at the end, I could close my eyes and picture not onl what was happening but where the characters were placed.

The situations that happen in this book would hopefully never happen in reality, but gosh is it entertaining when it happens in the book.