Book Review
Title: Finlay Donovan Knocks ‘Em Dead by Elle Cosimano (Finlay Donovan Book 2)
Genre: Contemporary, Mystery, Humour
Rating: 4 Stars
After reading the first book in this series which surprised me greatly with the humour and mom read elements, I was so excited when book 2 was picked as a book club read for July. The opening of the second book gives a brief summary of the first book which was appreciated since it has been a while since I read the first book and I did need the reminder about the offer to kill Finlay’s ex-husband. Finlay and Steven are still going through a custody battle but it has died off a lot since the bodies were discovered on Steven’s farm but it hasn’t gone away. Finlay’s relationship with Julian which I ordered in the first book is still hot and heavy but Finlay is torn between becoming official so she doesn’t have to be jealous around Julian’s younger female friends but she also doesn’t want to burden Julian with her responsibilities. The novel does open with Vero and Finlay trying to work out who is behind the username FedUp who posted the contract to kill Steven on a forum but so far they’ve had no luck and Finlay once again is behind on her writing.
As we approach the ¼ mark in the novel, I was struggling to get back into the story but I did appreciate both Julien’s appearance and Finlay’s friendship with Vero. However, I was disappointed that Julien left so early on in the novel since I had to wait through the majority of the first novel to get any page time with him and he’s gone again. Vero and Finlay continue trying to find out who has the hit out on Steven but made no progress but Finlay does find inspiration for her next book once again using her real life as a template. During the evening that Steven has the kids, Vero and Finlay spy on him while they are buying a Christmas tree only to witness through the baby monitor, Steven getting “mugged”. The person knocked him out and stole his phone only for Steven to find it in his truck later but Finlay knows what is really happening. This is confirmed when someone offers to take the hit on the forum but Finlay has no choice but to pose as someone also taking the job in order to buy herself and Vero time to figure out the person’s identity.
As we cross the ¼ mark in the novel, Finlay begins looking into to who could be behind the plot to kill Steven and she isn’t short of suspects since he gets around. Theresa is out of the question since she had already been arrested by this point and wouldn’t have been able to make the post so she turns to Bree. Before meeting her, they decide to break into the farm and see if they can get any information and they learn that Steven fired Bree well before he claimed to which is suspicious in Finlay’s mind knowing her ex. However, someone turns up at the farm and sets fire to the trailer, the same trailer Steven had been living in until a few days ago. Finlay knows her children won’t be safe with their father alone until this is over and the police investigation backs this up. Even Finlay goes to visit Bree who is clearly in love with Steven and it’s the reason she continued their affair because Theresa was cheating too but she wanted something he didn’t want to give her. She also tells Finlay that some woman had been harassing Steven for months which is why he got the security system.
As we approach the halfway mark in the novel, Finlay and Vero are trying to track down information on the people that set up the hit on Steven and those who are trying to take Steven out but so far they have nothing concrete. However, events from the first book are coming back to haunt them with a vengeance when they learn that Theresa rented a storage locker which happened to contain the dismembered corpse of one of Steven’s silent partners and she set Steven up to be the fall guy if the body was ever found. Now, Finlay and Vero still have a piece of the man they need to dispose of and the headache of Theresa and Aimee vanishing along with Finlay’s phone. This is a major problem since all the records of Finlay trying to find the hitman are on the phone as well as all her conversations with Cam who happens to be a confidential informant for the police and he could unknowingly land her in some serious trouble. Alongside all of this she is still trying to be a good parents and has the headache of Julien who is still away and Nick who desperately wants to be with her all piled on top of her existing problems. Now, they have been dragged into another murder, this one could see them behind bars for an extremely long time and another potential murder to deal with. It is interesting that all the evidence the police have found at the fire belongs to Vero and Finlay which could seem like they were the ones setting up the hit on Steven which isn’t the case. That being said it almost feels like a rerun of the first book and I am hoping something happens that changes that course otherwise I might be not finishing this series which would be disappointing.
As we cross into the second half of the novel, Finlay and Vero still hasn’t dealt with the remainder of Carl which is starting to stink up the house and with Nick coming around again, they are running out of time. Finlay also knows that Nick is looking into the forum because of Cam even though he and Teresa have disappeared so she ends up getting a meeting with Feliks while posing as his attorney. They discuss the website and he agrees to take it down but she also wants to know who EasyClean is and he makes her an offer. He can find EasyClean or take the site down and Finlay protects herself first but on the way out she runs into Nick and manages to ward him off. Steven then phones and explains that he knows it was Finlay at the farm and thinks she is using these events to stop him seeing the kids when that isn’t the case but she can’t explain and he hangs up seconds before she gets cornered again by Nick but this time without her disguise.
As we approach the ¾ mark in the novel, Finlay manages to get out of jail with the help of Nick as he thinks Finlay was meeting Feliks to save Steven and when he follows through on taking the forum down she thinks she is in the clear. However, Steven turns up thinking she’s the one behind everything when she isn’t but he won’t listen to reason so they ends up kidnapping him, staging a crime scene and contacting FedUp. However, Steven gets a notification for a meeting with Ted and Carl, his silent partners, at Carl’s home but Finlay and Vero know Carl is dead. They head there in Steven’s place almost certain that Aimee is behind the contract killer but soon learn that isn’t the case. It turns out Teresa’s mother is Carl’s wife and she has been protecting her daughter, when Ted shows up, they also learn he is Bree’s father and Bree’s mother, Melissa set fire to the trailer to warn Steven to stay away from her daughter. However, no one believes that Melissa is behind the hit and just when they realise that no one there sent the invitation for the meeting, they are met with a hail of bullets. With this going down right now my interest in the mystery and its conclusion is reignited and I can’t wait to see who has been behind all of this.
As we cross into the final section of the novel, we get to see everything come together but not in the way I expected. While we do find out the identity of FedUp it wasn’t either of the people I suspected and EasyClean’s identity is still unknown even though Finlay has a strong suspicion around who it is. Finlay also gets some huge development as she manages to sort out her relationship with Steven, she ends up ending this with Julian and taking things slow with Nick which was surprising to see. Overall, I did end up really enjoying this book, not as much as the first book since the first half of this book felt like a copy and paste job but the second half really blew me away and I can’t wait to read Finlay Donovan Jumps the Gun.
Buy it here:
Paperback/Hardcover: amazon.co.uk amazon.com
Kindle Edition: amazon.co.uk amazon.com
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