Book Review
Title: Finlay Donovan is Killing It by Elle Cosimano (Finlay Donovan Book 1)
Genre: Mystery, Suspense, Contemporary
Rating: 5 Stars
This series has been on my TBR for while but I haven’t been in the mood for murder mysteries lately but since it was chosen as the Destroy my TBR book club pick for August it was a given I was going to pick it up. The opening to Finlay Donovan is Killing it wasn’t what I was expecting, I was expecting more murder mystery and less suburban single mom but I am willing to give it a chance. We are introduced to Finlay who is a single mother of two children after her husband cheated on her and then divorced her for said woman and her life isn’t going well. She is swimming in debt barely keeping her head above water with her ex-husband’s help since she is overdue to turn in her book to her editor who she is meeting with that morning. Finlay is a romantic suspense novelist and is struggling to write after the collapse of her own relationship and the demands two children make on her. During the meeting with her editor someone overhears their conversation and mistakes Finlay for a hired killer rather than a writer and wants to hire Finlay to kill her husband for fifty thousand dollars and despite how crazy the whole situation is she is considering the offer because she has researched every conceivable way to kill someone and she really needs to money. I am excited to see where novel goes but I have a feeling it is going to go down more of the comedy route than a serious one and I’ve never got on well with comedic books so we will have to wait and see.
As we approach the ¼ mark in the novel, Finlay ends up going to the bar where the man, Harris, is that night just to check him out and witnesses him not only attempting to cheat on his wife but also drug the woman he is on a date with. Finlay to prevent the woman from being drugged and raped spill a drink over her, convinces Harris that they know each other and swaps the glasses. When the drugs begin to kick in she lures him back to her minivan with promises of sex where he passes out. She drives home with an unconscious Harris before phoning her sister asking questions under the guise of writing advice when actually she’s trying to find out how much trouble she is in because her sister is a cop. When she returns to the garage she realises she left the minivan running and the garage is filled with fumes that have killed Harris and it gets even worse when she is caught by her ex-babysitter, Vero trying to revive him. Vero is frightened at first but when she mentions the money her attitude changes and she asks for details which Finlay happily provides. Vero knows that neither of them can walk away from this situation now, Harris is already dead and a lot of money hangs in the balance so they work together to come up with a plan to dispose of the body. After they get his body in Vero’s trunk, Finlay has to go pick up her kids before her sister throws a fit but that still leaves the body where it can be easily discovered and now I’m intrigued as to what they are going to do.
As we cross the ¼ mark in the novel, I have to say I think I’m going to like the Vero/Finlay partnership and I hope Julian makes a reappearance again as I think he might be good for Finlay since he didn’t flinch when she said she had children which was nice to see in a male character and potential love interest. Finlay and Vero get rid of the body which a small level of difficulty thanks to Vero’s street smarts and Finlay’s expanse knowledge. By the time they return home from their task both are exhausted but the next morning Vero arranges for a meeting with Harris’ wife to collect the money which Finlay isn’t happy about but the choice between getting the money or losing her children is an easy one for her to make. However, when she has the money and returns home things are clearer for her and she clearly remembers not shutting the garage door when she returned home the night before and finds the emergency release tripped which she didn’t do since she was on the phone to her sister. This means that someone else killed Harris and Finlay knows in order to shut the door without making any noise there needed to be two people there, one to activate the emergency release and a second to catch the door. Vero is sceptical about this but it makes a lot of sense and Finlay is going to figure out who actually killed Harris but she also has the offer of another murder sitting in her purse for even more money than she received from killing Harris. Using her writing skills, Finlay starts with the facts she knows and beings to work backwards but I think I’ve already made the connection between Harris and the mafia which might be the “bad people” his wife was referring to and she is just praying that no one finds Harris which she works out who is really behind it. In the middle of all this is her budding attraction to Julian but a lot of what she has told him apart from the fact she has two children are all lies and she is going to have to come clean about her real name and job if she wants to actually go anywhere with him but he’s my favourite character so far.
As we approach the halfway mark in the novel, the first few days after the murder are tense for Finlay and Vero and when an investigation begins into their disappearances this only gets worse for them but everything begins happening back to back. First, Vero pays off all of Finlay’s debt in a way that Steven can’t access but she is worried the trail will lead back to them eventually. However, after a call with her agent she sends her the “book” she is working on which just happens to be about Harris’ murder and they love it making her a new offer with a 6 figure advance for a two book deal which is exactly where Finlay wanted to be and it allows her to breath a little and keep Steven off her back with Vero’s help and support. Meanwhile, she has been looking into where Patricia could have gone and seems to be getting no leads at all but Vero makes this more complicated when she accepts half of the money from Patricia’s “friend” to kill her husband who just happens to be an enforcer for the Russian mob but there might not be any going back now. I still really liked Julian’s appearances and I wanted him to be a more central part of the story but that doesn’t seme likely given Finlay’s current situation. I also really like the plot lines outside of the murder where Finlay is fighting to keep her children and how she has the means to do it she is becoming a lot more confident in part due to Vero’s influence she that girl has a spine of steel and she might be my second favourite character in the book.
As we cross into the second half of the novel, Vero tries to give the money back to Irina Borovkov but she won’t take no for an answer so Finlay tries instead. During this meeting she learns that Irina had Patricia killed in order to keep her quiet and if they don’t complete the job in two weeks she is going to set her husband, Andrei on them to cover her own ass about trying to have him killed. Finlay is panicked because neither she or Vero have the experience to deal with this kind of man but they don’t have a choice really. In between all this, Georgia unknowingly sets the police on their trail in the form of Nick, who happens to be investigating Theresa for the disappearances of Harris and Patricia since that was the name Finlay used in the bar and ever since while investigating and it is coming back to bite her. She knows she can’t pin everything on Theresa despite everything she has done so she has been trying to figure out why she won’t take to the police and it turns out she might be in bed with one of the gangsters. Through Nick she also knows that Julian is now aware that the woman he meet and has been talking to isn’t Theresa which is something she is probably going to have to confront sooner or later but she is more concerned with dealing with Nick. She is trying to throw him off the scent by convincing him that Theresa is having an affair and doesn’t want Steven to find out about which explains her evasive behaviour but she knows there is a lot more going on behind the scenes and she is right in the middle of it. She is also trying to be a good mother to her children while worrying about the potential of losing her kids and trying to write a book she is being paid a lot of money for without it landing them in jail. I was honestly completely hooked by this point and I couldn’t wait to see where Cosimano was going to take this in the final 100 or so pages.
As we approach the ¾ mark in the novel, Finlay is spending a lot of time with Nick as it helps her keep track of the investigation especially after he has her watched because Felik threatened her for following him. She also has some feelings for Nick so we have a love triangle between Finlay, Nick and Julian which was interesting for me as it is one of few love triangle I didn’t hate and I wouldn’t be disappointed with either option as a romantic interest for Finlay although I do like Nick a little more. The investigation is crashing towards its end as Nick finally connects the disappearance to Steven’s farm and he is getting a search warrant to dig it up where Finlay knows he will find Harris’ body. However, I have a feeling that Felik might have been watching her and moved the body to a safer location as that is the only option that isn’t going to land Finlay with a prison sentence for her role in everything. I was so invested at this point I couldn’t wait to find out who the other people were that really killed Harris and what is going to happen to Finlay when the truth comes out. I also wanted to know what the hell she was going to do about Andrei since his wife’s death threat is still hanging over her and Vero and she now knows how deadly and intimidated the man is up close and what he could do to her if he suspected what his wife is up to. There are less than 70 pages left in the book and I just hope that Cosimano can pull off that big, explosive ending that the book has promised with all of its build up and suspense.
As we cross into the final section of the novel, everything comes to a climax in the most brilliant way possible. I won’t go into too much detail since I think the ending really makes the book as good as it is but all I can say is the romance worked out perfectly for me as did the murder mystery plot and how Finlay ended up at the position she is in now. However, that final page literally made my jaw drop and I want to dive into book two as soon as I possible can because I really, really need to know what happens now especially since someone seems to have it in for Finlay’s ex-husband which makes me question if he might be worse than just a serial cheater or are there more skeletons hidden in Steven’s closet than Finlay knows about. Cosimano is an amazing writer and she has skyrocketed to an insta-buy author with one book and I can’t wait to read the rest of the series as soon as I can.
Buy it here:
Paperback/Hardcover: amazon.co.uk amazon.com
Kindle Edition: amazon.co.uk amazon.com
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