Skip to main content

Member Reviews

Just as electric as the first, the second Finlay Donovan book was an addicting and fun mystery. I loved seeing all the characters we got to meet in the first one-Finlay with her quirky way of thinking, Vero with her loyalty and connections, Nick with his hot detective-ness…and all the rest of the gang! I think I liked this one even more than the first, even with some scenes that were grossss. 🤣🤢 It was a wild ride but oh so fun! Can’t wait for the next one!

Was this review helpful?

family-dynamics, friendship, suspense, situational-humor, mystery, mystery-writer, verbal-humor, divorce, arson, organized-crime, law-enforcement, lawyers, nanny*****

Almost lost it about velociraptor erotica! There is a clearly discernable plot, but I get so caught up in the farce/satire/humor that I laugh myself silly and have to go back to find the thread. The characters certainly are, and the distractions are just too funny. Absolutely loved it!
I requested and received a free ebook copy from St. Martin's Press/Minotaur Books via NetGalley. Thank you!

Was this review helpful?

This book was just as fun as the first! A quick read, with some twists and turns to keep you engaged. Highly recommend!

Was this review helpful?

Finlay & Vero are back at it again with their shenanigans and they just may be my favorite dynamic book duo! I cannot get enough of them!

What I loved:
-instantly had me laughing (hello dino porn & velocirapterotica)
-resolutions from the first book
-I’ll say it again: Vero & Finlay. Their friendship is everything
-continuation of will they/won’t they with Nick and Julian
-another great open ending setup for the next book

If you loved Finlay Donovan is Killing It then you MUST read this ASAP! And if you haven’t read Finlay, what are you doing?! It is one of my favorite reads this year and I recommend it to everyone.

I absolutely love Elle Cosimano’s writing and how she is able to weave a story together with elements of humor, surprise, mystery, and relatability. Bring on book three!!

Thank you so much to Netgalley and St. Martin’s Press for the eARC!

Was this review helpful?

Read this if you:
*need a good laugh
*love reading about crazy situations characters get into
*sucker for a hot cop AND a hot lawyer
*want to steal a luxury car off the lot to drive

Elle Cosimano did it again. I was laughing out loud at the situations Finlay got herself into. This was fast paced, hilarious, and overall just a fun read. And now I’m sitting here waiting for another book to keep the story going 😂

Highly anticipating this one and it releases Feb 1. Thank you NetGalley & Minotaur for the eARC in exchange for an honest review.

Was this review helpful?

Welp, Elle Cosimano does it again in her sequel to FINLAY DONOVAN IS KILLING IT.

FINLAY DONOVAN KNOCKS ‘EM DEAD follows Finlay and Vero on another wild adventure involving the mob, plenty of romance, and, overall, a ton of hijinks.

I don’t think I’ll ever tire of anything Elle writes for this series. This book was twisty, engaging, and such a fun time!

While the cliffhanger on this one wasn’t as shocking as the first book’s (I mean, WOW), it still has me pumped for the next one! (Elle, there better be a next one.)

Big thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press/Minotaur Books for an eARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Publication Date: February 01, 2022

Was this review helpful?

💁🏻‍♀️ Overall Impression: Really enjoyed being back in Finlay’s mess of a life with sidekick Vero.

📖 Synopsis: After a chaotic last month, Finlay thought her troubles were behind her until she is notified that someone on a woman’s forum has taken a hit out on her ex husband, Steven. And yet again, chaos ensues.

💭 Thoughts: While I think the first one was more laugh-out-loud funny, I thoroughly enjoyed reading through each of Finlay and Vero’s ridiculous mishaps playing amateur detective. Definitely didn’t see the end coming 😂, but loved that little twist.

Sadly, it didn’t wrap up all that well leaving us to wait another year to find out who the heck did it! I have so many theories and no idea which is right. Ugh.

Loved the little shoutout to booksta in the acknowledgments. I think bookstagram will love this one too. ❤️

I’ve been in such a reading slump and this was the perfect one to pull me out of it.

Was this review helpful?

Thank you NetGalley & St. Martens Press for my gifted eARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Gah I do love a good mystery. But throw in some comedy, romance, and some fun action… 5 stars for me! I wanna be friends so badly with Finn and Vero. And goddamn it, Nick is so delicious lol there better be a third book!!!

Was this review helpful?

I was so beyond excited to get the chance to read an advanced version of this book! The first in this series, Finlay Donovan is Killing It, was so perfectly fun and mysterious. I gave it four stars. This second one was also enjoyable and a nice fast-paced mystery, but a couple of things fell short for me. In this one, the cast of characters is so insanely long that I couldn’t keep up. It seemed to me that everyone was trying to kill everyone! Second, there wasn’t any romance really. I know that’s not technically was this series is about, but after the first one, I was really looking forward to that! Third, Finlay’s all over the place personality that seemed so humorous and endearing in the first book seemed more overdone and spacey in this sequel. Overall I still enjoyed this one and would read a third in the series!

Was this review helpful?

Finlay and Vero are back again with their shenanigans and witty banter. I was laughing out loud so many times through out, especially with the Dino sex comment Vero suggests. I did not at all see the ending coming with the twist of who FedUp was wanting Steven dead. I enjoyed that the sequel takes place around the Holidays, so with all the Holiday stress we are playing detective and chasing cars to keep the kids safe and get down to the bottom of who and why someone would want Steven dead. The relationship between Vero and Finlay gets stronger which I love and we get to find out more about Vero and her back story, creating a better understanding of why Vero is even a part of this crazy plot from the first book. I really enjoyed having hot cop around and not the bachelor lawyer, also how Finlay takes her personal life to make a plot point for her new mystery books that also helps her make decisions in her personal life. I am so hoping there is a third book, even more crazy shenanigans and more spicy hot cop encounters.

Was this review helpful?

OhhhEmmmGeee! Finlay is back and shit is going off the rails from the beginning. Between her constant inability to choose between the hot cop and the bartender/lawyer - she’s also dealing with the fact that someone wants her no good ex husband dead. An awesome sequel and now I must wait for #3!

Was this review helpful?

Finlay and Vero are back and I couldn't be happier! I was nervous going in to this sequel after obsessing over Elle Cosimano's debut but, owe her an apology for those traitorous thoughts. This story delivered again on the mystery, humor, snafus, personal growth, friendships and romance! The ex-husband we love to hate returns, along with the smoking hot cop, and several dubious supporting characters, all swirling around Finlay's chaotic life and a looming book deadline. I laughed, cringed and swooned through this story in a single sitting!

Was this review helpful?

After the ending in Finlay Donovan is Killing It, I couldn't wait to read the second book and I think I enjoyed this one even more than the first! As Finlay and Vero search for who could possibly want Finlay's ex-husband Steven dead, the mystery and hilarious scenes that made the first book so enjoyable are here again in book two. I found the pacing in this book to be even better, it was hard to put down.

The one thing I would say is you have to read these books in order, you would be doing yourself a disservice if you read them out of order. The majority of the books you meet in book one are in this book as well, so it helps to know who everyone is and what happened in book one to lead up to this. The only thing I could've done without was Finlay and Julian's relationship, I felt it didn't add much to the storyline.

If you are looking for a fun mystery series that will keep you laughing, definitely pick these books up. And with that ending, I can't wait to get my hands on book three!

Was this review helpful?

While it felt like a middle book and the plot was a little meandering at times (there is so much going on and we’d drop off the lawyer/cop/book writing for a bit and pick them up again down the road), it was good to be back with Finley Donovan again and was a great book to binge read on a rainy day. This time she plays a more active role in the investigation but always manages to find her way out of a tough spot. Reading mostly romance books these days and appreciating the safety net of at least a guaranteed happy-for-now, these books feel like a bridge between that and traditional suspense. Even when it looks bleak, Finley’s going to knock ‘em dead.

Was this review helpful?

🔫Finlays hijinks continue as she tries to keep her husband alive after someone put a hit on him.

👍🏼This book is a fun quick read.

👎🏼Once again this book gets repetitive and the plot was a little bit all over the place.

✅Despite some of the plot and writing issues this was still a fun little escape of a read and I’ll be waiting for the third one. If you enjoyed the first one pick this one up too.

Was this review helpful?

I had really high hopes for the second Finlay book, and I think that's tough. I loved the first book, and I'm not sure if it's how it was tee'd up or if it was a time of life thing, but everything hit just right. But unfortunately book #2 feels forced. The relationship between Finlay, Vero, Julian, Nick, Steven, and all the side characters came across wooden. I wasn't nearly as invested in the plot or any of the relationships this time around, and I thought there were parts of Vero's story that took a bit of a turn in an odd direction. This also lacked the humor that came about so naturally in the first book.

Was this review helpful?

First of all, Thank you to St. Martin’s Press and Netgalley for the ARC of Finlay Donovan Knocks ‘Em Dead in exchange for an honest review.

Publishing Date: February 1st, 2022.

Finlay Donovan is Killing it was one of my favorite books of 2021 and made me discover that I love the mystery genre, especially when there is humor and romance intertwined. I had high expectations for the second book, Finlay Donovan Knocks em’ Dead and it truly lived up to the hype. I was in a slump before I picked this up and it immediately cured me.

We get to follow the same hilarious characters, Finlay and Vero, in their murderous escapades once again getting themselves tangled up in bad things by accident. It was the perfect sequel to keep the first book of high jinks going especially one that ended on a cliffhanger.

If you haven't picked up the first book you have plenty of time to pick it up before the second one comes out on February 1st, 2022. I was just so excited to read it I truly could not wait.

Was this review helpful?

Another hilariously messy adventure for Finlay and Vero. This time the murder is way close to home then either of them would like. I couldn't get enough of the surprising twists and turns at every corner. Finlay is yet again under a massive deadline for her book and its not coming along like shed hope, but also she as to run around protecting her ex from the hit someone has on him. I liked the more of Veros story is coming out, but just enough for you to start questioning things more. I have grown so attached to these characters and the love and devotion these two women have for each other, they are family now. The messes they seem to get into, you just have to laugh. The way they land into shoot outs, massive online fronts, body parts, and police around every corner.

Thank you to Minotaur Books and Netgalley for my copy for honest review!

Was this review helpful?

I LOVED THIS SEQUEL! Seeing more into the life of Finlay and getting the answers we needed after the cliff-hanger of book one was everything! I can't wait for the next one and this one isn't even published yet.

Was this review helpful?

f you want a light and fast-paced mystery with a lovable heroine, look no further than Finlay Donovan Knocks ‘Em Dead, the follow-up novel to Finlay Donovan is Killing It. Elle Cosimano delivers an entertaining ride and the novel give readers the thrill without getting into dark matter.

Finlay is back and faces a new mystery after just getting out of her predicament in the first book. Someone posted what seems like an ad in a women’s forum for someone to kill Finlay’s ex-husband Stephen. Finlay, scared for her kids’ safety, especially after someone responds to the ad to take the job, must learn the identity of the poster and the assassin. Besides that, she’s torn between two live interests: Nick, the cop who she always comes to a head with during her adventures and Julian, the law student/bartender whose lifestyle seems to conflict with Finlay’s.

I really enjoyed the first book and found it hilarious. While this second book isn’t as funny, I still liked reading about Finlay again because she’s such a likeable character. Finlay is resourceful and independent and someone that you can’t help root for. Besides Finlay, her sidekick Vero is also likeable and this book compels you to want to learn more about her especially what compelled her to help Finlay and seek money. Their alliance is so unlikely but it’s such a strong bond that is easy to appreciate.

Apart from the characters, the plot was interesting and the reveal at the end was pretty funny and clever. It looks like these books will be part of a series, and I thought the author did a great job of setting up the next novel at the end. I do wish some chapters allowed the reader to breathe and pause. There is so much going on with the plot that other than Finlay and Vero to an extent, the characters in the book feel one-dimensional. Especially the villains who fall into stereotypical tropes.

Despite the drawbacks, I still love this series and look forward to the next book. I recommend people look into these novels for an entertaining read.

Was this review helpful?