“Getting the job done” for one single mom takes on a whole new meaning in Finlay Donovan is Killing It.
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.
Title : Finlay Donovan is Killing It
Author : Elle Cosimano
Series : Finlay Donovan (book one)
Format : eBook (overdrive)
Page Count : 355
Genre : contemporary / mystery thriller
Publisher : Minotaur Books
Release Date : February 2, 2021
Reviewer : Hollis
Rating : ★ ★ ★
Hollis’ 3 star review
While much of this story is the depiction of a woman stumbling through a situation (or two) that requires her to suddenly dispose of another human when she’s mistaken for a contract killer, it might be more accurate to say this is a domestic mystery/thriller. Because so much of who Finlay is.. is a stressed out, barely making ends meet, mother and writer. Both tasks demand much of her and she’s rather spectacularly failing at both, all while navigating interactions with her ex and the woman, now fiancé, he cheated on her with. It’s the threat of bills, of losing her kids, that convinces Finlay to do it. Or rather, like any good writer, to do her research. Who is this man she’s been asked to kill? Is he actually terrible? And thus sets in motion a series of events that Finlay can’t come back from, which spins out into connections she never could’ve seen coming and, also, the mob?
I’ll admit those same connections sort’ve had me side-eyeing the plot because it’s all just a little (lot) too convenient. But it does make for an interesting quandary or two that Finlay has to reconcile with and maybe that was the main point of it all.
While I did enjoy Finlay, most of the time, I think I enjoyed her side-kick, Vero, more. Or maybe I just really enjoyed their dynamic together? Because every Vero scene was great and I was a fan of their completely inept duo (the cling wrap scene, I cannot even..) and very much look forward to more of that.
For romance fans, or readers who like a little romance spliced into their novels, regardless of genre, there’s something here for you, too! Perhaps even more than one option? I won’t say more. Except to say I am very pleased with where we ended by the final chapter of this first book. Though.. I also did a little side-eye of a certain visit to a certain bar near the end. Honestly, proving this isn’t some smooth and slick murder mystery, there was a lot of side-eyeing of a lot of decisions, really. But it does give it some amateur hour realness, I guess.
So, yes, maybe some of the hype took some of the shine off this one, and that’s why I’m not quite as effusive about this as I expected to be, but I have hopes that book two might be even better. And yes, I’m about to find out right.. now.
A Take from Two Cities 