#1 Finaly Donovan is Killing It
#2 Finaly Donovan Knocks ‘Em Dead
#3 Finlay Donovan Jumps the Gun
#3.5 Veronica Ruiz Breaks the Bank
#4 Finlay Donovan Rolls the Dice
# 5 Finlay Donovan Digs Her Own Grave
My Rating:
Favorite Quotes:
#1 Finaly Donovan is Killing It
Shame wasn’t a color that existed in Theresa’s wardrobe.
…certain things about motherhood had always eluded me, and cooking had been one of them. Apparently, marriage had been the other.
#2 Finaly Donovan Knocks ‘Em Dead
Not because I wanted to kill Steven. I mean, I did, I guess. Some days. Most days. Definitely whenever he opened his mouth.
My heart raced as I ducked into the passenger side and locked the door. I stared at the dashboard, unable to form words. The exterior of the car was a giant phallus, and the interior looked like Darth Vader’s bathroom.
#3 Finlay Donovan Jumps the Gun
“The child is holding very still. I think he might be up to something.” I wrinkled my nose. Zach was definitely up to something. “He’s grunting and his face is turning red. I think he’s possessed.”
It was only a month into the new year, and I was throwing my third resolution into the fire like a cheap champagne flute.
#3.5 Veronica Ruiz Breaks the Bank
Darren was all clumsy hands and overly optimistic tongue. It was a little like playing Whac-A-Mole with a clingy octopus with boundary issues. It was obvious he wasn’t keeping any big secrets in his pants.
Her mother was a tiny whirlwind. A five-foot-two-inch wrecking ball of unfiltered honesty and brutal determination. She was unstoppable, like the Terminator,
Javier Romero had the most disarming smile Vero had ever seen, but he could also turn bad assery into a full-time job.
#4 Finlay Donovan Rolls the Dice
“A parley?” he said, rubbing his watering eyes. “Who do you think you are, Jack Sparrow? This isn’t Pirates of the Caribbean.”
I leaned back against the wall between our rooms, sliding down it until I was sitting on the carpet. It was tacky and smelled like cigarettes and despair.
…that man has a very sexy voice. I think my panties are wet, and at my age, that’s really saying something. Put me on speaker.
Poker’s all about faking it, Finn. After eight years being married to Steven, you’ve got plenty of experience with that.
The woman pointed a long black fingernail at a chalkboard sign. PSYCHIC READINGS $ 25. PALM. TAROT. CRYSTAL BALL. “You want a reading?” she asked, affecting an accent that sounded a lot like my agent doing an impression of Count Chocula.
“There’s a very reasonable explanation for this,” I said calmly. “We just don’t know exactly what it is yet.”
# 5 Finlay Donovan Digs Her Own Grave
I’d made some observations after all the time I’d spent with my mother and Mrs. Haggerty over the last few weeks, and getting old seemed a little like going through adolescence backward.
“Why won’t he keep his pants on?” my father asked. “Probably something to do with the apple and the tree.
He couldn’t get out of here fast enough. The guy laid enough rubber in the street to outfit the whole tire department at Costco.
A quiet two-year-old was rarely a good thing. Last time Zach had been alone and quiet in the bathroom, he’d been finger-painting the walls with his own poop.
‘He’s a really good cop!” Vero called out over the women as they started to argue. “The best! He’s like John McClane in Die Hard, but with better hair. And a lot more backup!”
My Review:
I gleefully bounced in my chair and frequently laughed aloud while I inhaled this amusing and cleverly penned series. I loved every well-chosen arrangement of words. Elle Cosimano is absolutely brilliant, and her Finaly Donovan creation is a gift. Poor Finaly, she was a semi-successful writer who had an ex-husband who couldn’t keep it in his pants and a toddler who refused to keep his pants on, or toilet train. Finaly was a hot mess.
Her adventures started with an inadvertent slip of paper on a Panera tray, which eventually led her to helping various women living in difficult situations who were “seeking a specialist with a certain skill set.” Finaly didn’t actually have the skill set, but she and Vero, her ever helpful nanny, kept managing to accidentally kill bad people, some they were supposed to, others just had the bad luck to die in their vicinity.
The engaging storylines were active, eventful, smartly plotted, and populated with a colorful cast of oddly compelling characters, many of whom were unlikable, yet quirkily and knowingly drawn. I downed six in a row and finished the last one hoping there are more to come.
Elle Cosimano is a New York Times and USA Today bestselling author, an International Thriller Award winner, and an Edgar® Award nominee. Her acclaimed young adult novels include Nearly Gone, Holding Smoke, The Suffering Tree, and Seasons of the Storm. Elle’s debut novel for adults, Finlay Donovan Is Killing It, kicked off a witty, fast-paced contemporary mystery series, which was a PEOPLE Magazine Pick and one of New York Public Library’s Best Books of 2021. In addition to writing novels for teens and adults, her essays have appeared in The Huffington Post and Time. Elle lives with her husband and two sons in Virginia.
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Britney King lives in Austin, Texas with her husband, children, two dogs, one ridiculous cat, and a partridge in a pear tree.
