Finlay Donovan is Killing It by Elle Cosimano

Finlay Donovan is Killing It by Elle Cosimano

The first of Elle Cosimano's Finlay Donovan books, Finlay Donovan is Killing It, was published back in 2021. It was a book pick for PEOPLE Magazine and one of New York Public Library's Best Books of 2021. Since then, it has become a USA Today Bestseller, a New York Times Bestseller, and is even being developed into a television series by Tina Fey and Lang Fisher for Peacock. It deals with bullying, death, allusions of domestic abuse, gun violence, infidelity, references to physical abuse, rape, and sexual assault, kidnapping, stalking, murder, and blackmail.

Finlay Donovan started her morning by duct taping her four year old's hair back to onto her daughter's head before shipping her off to preschool and, since her ex-husband unceremoniously and without any prior notification fired her nanny, is now very late to a dreaded meeting with her literary agent. In a discussion about the plot of her (currently nonexistent) next suspense novel, Finlay is overheard by a woman who is desperate to get rid of her husband. Finlay is also desperate. The pile of overdue bills is so tall that it looms over Finlay and her ex now wants to sue her for custody of their two kids. She could really use the money. But it turns out, writing about committing a crime is a lot easier than actually getting away with one.

I'm going to be honest, I chose this book because it was available immediately on Libby. I was nothing but annoyed at the beginning. It still is amazing to me how a woman who writes crime novels is so inept at not getting caught - she makes so many mistakes at the beginning that I was pulling my hair out (not literally, I'm not interested in duct taping my own hair back on). I found Finlay to be bitter and not a little bit selfish, but a quarter of the way in, she began to win me over. She's still bitter, but I understood a little bit more about why, although she's still selfish I think Georgia deserves more praise. If a little bumbling, the cast of characters was still very well written and realistic, Theresa's character made me angrier than I can remember in some time. The plot is, like every other mystery, a little outlandish but still very fun and I enjoyed the way the author brought it all back around, wrapping it up in a tidy but fairly realistic way. And the hook at the end, really got me. Although I had enjoyed the book and was going to look into continuing the series when I had the chance, it wasn't something I was going to put at the top of my list. But the last line in the book snagged me and put book 2, Finlay Donovan Knocks 'Em Dead, very near the top.

I'm giving Finlay Donovan is Killing It by Elle Cosimano 4 stars out of 5. A fun, light-hearted novel about mistaken identity that entertained me despite frustrating me at the beginning. Look forward to a review for the sequel, because Elle Cosimano really got me with that ending.

For more from the author, check out https://ellecosimano.com/

Pairs well with meatloaf and knowing that you can fix almost anything with some duct tape.