As with all of the Finlay books, this one was full of thrills, hilarious moments, and intriguing plot lines. Cosimano has created a shining star in Finlay Donovan. She is a heroine that readers can all identify with in some small way, because of all the random things that happen to her. I really love her relationship with Vero and how it has developed over the 3 book series. And, I am so so so relieved that Finlay finally gets her head wrapped around how to handle hot cop Nick. phew!

I'll start with the positives:

1. Finlay and Vero are still adorable together and funny as ever.
2. The opening scene with a toddler playing hide and seek in an occupied men's bathroom had me giggling like I was a kid again myself.
3. Mrs. Haggerty a.k.a the Neighborhood Busy Body really stole the show whenever she popped up. I loved her.
4. The love triangle is no longer.

Now for the negatives:

1. I wanted this book to go in a new direction. I've grown tired of the Russian mob aspect.
2. The Police academy angle was a bore.
3. The over-the-top antics that were once so cute are starting to grow stale.

Admittedly I am not a series reader because I tend to get bored over time and that could very well be the case here. My memory also doesn't do me any favors when it comes to recalling the vast amount of characters and who is who from one book to the other.

This book once again closes with a cliffhanger so we all know that book 4 is on the horizon but I'm left to wonder if Finlay and Vero would be better off sailing into the sunset together once and for all. 3 stars!

Thanks to NetGalley and St. Martins Press for my complimentary copy.

Thank you so much for an advanced copy of Finlay Donovan Jumps the Gun! I loved it!

Star Rating: 4⭐️
Genre: Mystery
Pub Date: January 31, 2023

Wherever Finlay and Vero go, chaos is sure to follow...and I am here for all of it! Finlay Donovan Jumps the Gun brings all the things I loved from the previous two books while also giving a bit more suspense than previous books. While the other books focus (mostly) on crime coverup, this book leans more heavily into the fallout/aftermath of crime coverup. Finlay and Vero jump into the snake den, so to speak, by attending a citizens police academy. Amongst them is a traitor, but figuring out who that traitor is, is easier said than done.

Once this book hooked me, I was hooked. I kept trying to figure out who the "mole" was, and I am happy to say I got halfway there! For me, that's an accomplishment. I didn't see the ending coming, though. That really shocked me! I was suspicious of "that" person, but those suspicions kept getting explained away as I read. Let's just say nothing is as it seems in this book.

After this book, I am solidly Team Nick for Finlay's love life, suspicious of her ex-boyfriend's roommate, and DOUBLY curious as to why someone agreed to accept a hit job on Steven...AND triply (is that a word?) curious about Vero's past!

Overall, I loved it. I am ANXIOUSLY awaiting the fourth book now because I have to know more about all the things.

Thank you to Minotaur Books, St. Martin's Press, and Elle Cosimano for an advanced copy of Finlay Donovan Jumps the Gun in exchange for my honest thoughts.

Elle Cosimano has done it again! She keeps me hooked on these Finlay stories!

In the third Finlay Donovan story, we have Vero trying to gather money to pay off her debts while she and Finlay try to figure out who EasyClean is, yet again. Thinking back to her conversation with Cam about dirty cops, she heads to where the cops hang out. There, she and Vero get roped into joining a police academy training "camp" with other civilians, led by Nick (obviously.) What better way to scope out their suspects than be surrounded by them and learn what they do best.

I loved that Finlay and Nick are in confined spaces together and Vero gets a little side romance! This wasn't my favorite of the three, but I did read it in less than 8 hours and I really enjoyed it. I needed to know what happened and now I need the next book to be out so I know what happens!

I did read both the first and second recently, so I was at an advantage of remembering what had happened previously, so I will probably need to reread or skim to remember for book #4.

Cosimano left us with a few cliff hangers after some various twists!

Thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I love the Finlay Donovan series. If you have not read the first two, I highly recommend starting at the beginning to lay out the plot but also to fall in love with the characters. Finlay and Vero are back to continue their search for a mysterious hitman in order to get out of trouble with a mob boss. Along the way they are looking hard at a possible dirty cop, avoiding a mob lawyer, and evading attempts to collect a debt in Vero's name. These books are fun, amusing, and fast-paced! I am always rooting for Finlay and her possible relationship with police officer Nick all while lamenting that she has to deal with her annoying ex-husband. I can't wait to see what comes next! Thanks to Elle Cosimano, St. Martin's Press, and NetGalley for an ARC of this book in exchange for my honest review.

The dynamic duo, Finlay and Vero, are at it again. These 2 are always caught up in something, and this 3rd book is no exception. This time, the 2 find themselves in a police academy with the hotty cop Nick as an instructor. All this while Vero is still trying to get herself out of a bind with Finlay's help. Finlay is still ducking and dodging her publicist and book writing because of course she doesn't have time with all the other shenanigans. However, she does stumble upon a pitch but it needs a bit more steam. We also have a bit of a romance sprinkled In that I'm kind of here for!

After reading all 3 novels, I will still say that none tops book 1. That was the most hilarious, but I did enjoy this one. I'm interested to see what book 4 chaos these 2 ladies will get into next and how their current situations are handled!

If you've read and enjoyed the first 2 books, you will enjoy the 3rd installment of this comedic mystery series!

I have loved every instalment of this crazy series! It was so nice to be back spending time with Finlay and Vero and seeing how they accidentally fall into the worst situations!

The dynamic duo is back again for another ride in Finlay Donovan Jumps the Gun! Finlay Donovan Jumps the Gun is the third book in Elle Cosimano's series and it's filled with ... a lot. I enjoy this cozy mystery series and find Finlay and Vero are never short on making me chuckle.

In this book Finlay and Vero continue on their journey to find Easy Clean and somehow land themselves in a Citizen's Police Academy. As they continue to try to find Easy Clean for Felix, they land themselves in a series of events that can't help make their audience laugh.

As the plot thickens, Cosimano takes readers on another crazy journey with Finlay and Vero. While this book is far fetched and a little out of control, I think that's exactly what Cosimano intended for it to be. Taking readers on the ride with Finlay and Vero, while making us laugh along the way was a great escape in this book. If you're looking for an easy read - I'd recommend Finlay Donovan Jumps the Gun.

This book picked up shortly after the second one and was a good continuation of the series. However, the longer this series goes on the more ridiculous things get and I think I might be ready to tap out.

I do enjoy the wild antics that Finlay and Vero get up to but I just feel like it might be time to bring the series to a close. If this had ended in a way that finished off the series instead of another set up for a future book I might have rated it higher.

I did like that we saw all of the characters we love make a return for this one and the whole police training was a fun set up. It did also make for a lot of very unbelievable moments, but still fun.

At this point I’ll probably keep going with the series just because I want to see how everything finally ends, but none of these have quite lived up to my love for the first book.

Another fun, witty, action packed book about our good friend Finlay Donovan!
I like the rapport between the characters in all of the Finlay books and this one is no exception, Finlay and Vero are in another scrape involving online crime and an academy of cops.
Well written and fast paced, another great book in the Finlay Donovan series.

Finlay and Vero are at it again as an accidental criminal duo. Their story continues as they try to pay off their debts, stay out of the way of the cops in their life, and avoid getting into anymore trouble than they already are in.

I love the characters and their story and chuckle through every chapter. Just when I think the story has to be over, another twists causes the pair to dig themselves into a deeper moral grave. The writing is witty and fun and Finlay’s clumsiness in all parts of her life is adorable and relatable (other than the criminal activity, of course).

Finlay Donovan is back and this time, its not as fun? It's way more like a Janet Evanovich cozy mystery this time around as Finlay goes into a cop program to find EasyClean. There's Russian Mafia and loan sharks. The cozy formula is deep into play here. Where the first book was a breath of fresh air for the genre, the second and third book seem to delve deeper into the Evanovich brand of cozy. Quirky heroine and 2 guys (one cop) vying for her attention while she screws up cutesy style. I didn't hate this. But, it's way too pro cop for my liking.

What This Book Is About: This is the third book in the Finlay Donovan series, which is a cozy mystery type situation that has hilarious antics and also a through line of a will they/should they romantic tension situation. I'm obsessed with the series and the truly fantastic characters and am already anxiously awaiting book four.

What I Loved: This book really felt like a return almost to book one (my favorite) in the way that you could tell that Finlay was trying to do the right thing and Vero is trying to get them paid. Lol. But seriously, I loved getting to explore these relationships in this book because it really felt like we went a little deeper. I'm loving the slow reveals of Vero's past and the slow (too slow, arguably) progression of the romance between Finlay and Nick.

What I Didn't Love: It ended. Lol. I'm obsessed, okay? OBSESSED. I keep shoving this series down everyone's throats. I love it SO much.

Overall: This book was perfection and I am so anxious to have it on my shelves. Also, I should mention, I was lucky enough to receive an audio AND digital ARC, which is great, because I love listening to these books. Angela Dawe is a divisive narrator in the romance community, but personally, I think as long as you speed her up to your comfort level and don't tie yourself to 1x speed, you'll be fine. I've listened to all three books and I don't see that changing in the future.

Finlay Donovan Jumps the Gun was another fun romp in this imaginative series by Elle Cosimano. The book opens with Finlay and her ever resourceful and faithful sidekick Vero searching for the person who placed a contract on Finlay's ex-husband. Most of the action takes place at a "police camp" where Finlay and Vero participate in a sort of police training for civilians with a bent of investigation crime. In a plot that keeps a steady pace, we reconnect with all of the characters from the first two installments of the Finlay series.

The plot kept me guessing the whole way through the the ending … well, this is a mystery and I'm not gonna tell you. I am eager, however to see what adventures book 4 will include. I continue to enjoy the characters in this series and hope that it stays sharp and avoids unnecessary extraneous trivialities that plague many late entries to their series.

This series always has me laughing out loud and I’m happy to say the latest installment was no exception. In FINLAY DONOVAN JUMPS THE GUN, Finlay is back to her usual tricks, pairing up with her live-in-nanny/confident Vero to get them out of yet another situation they can’t understand how they got themselves caught up in in the first place

Cosimano’s writing style has a flow to it that makes it so easy to read. She also has a knack for witty banter and creating flawed characters you can’t help but relate to.

FINLAY DONOVAN JUMPS THE GUN comes out on January 31 and I highly recommend it. But make sure you read the first two before you pick this one up because they are all worth the read.

Thank you to St. Martin’s Press & Minotaur Books for the advance reading copy.

Thanks so much to Minotaur Books for the copy of this book.

Finlay is back again in another fun, bingeable, and easy-to-read mystery. This time, Finlay and Vero are contracted by Feliks to find and kill EasyClean. The setting is mostly a citizen's police academy, which made this one a little more over-the-top than usual since so much shady activity happened right under the nose of the police force. But I was happy with some romantic progess in this book and also a little more of Vero's side of the story (although I definitely could've used more!).

This series is really great for people who just like light & funny mysteries with amateur sleuthing.

The Finlay Donovan series is one of my favorites and the third in the series may be one of my favorites yet. I always love the hijinks Finlay and Vero get into, and Finlay Donovan Jumps the Gun it might be the funniest yet, especially since a majority takes place at a citizen's police academy.

There is the potential for a lot of spoilers here, so I won't say much more, but if you haven't checked out this series yet, do so. It's laugh-out-loud funny with a great mystery.

Thank you Minotaur Books and NetGalley for the eARC!
4.5/5 stars

A very disappointing addition to the Finlay Donovan series. The first two books were light and quick- paced, this one seemed to drag on forever.

FINLAY DONOVAN JUMPS THE GUN • Elle Cosimano

Finlay and Vero are back at it again, round 3! Thank you to NetGalley, the author, and the publisher for an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

For returning fans, I am happy to report another success! And if there was an award for best opening lines/chapter, Cosimano would be taking it home because she yet again drew me into the story using just the first few pages of the book thanks to a rambunctious two-year old antics.

For those that aren't familiar with Finlay, this series is Scooby Doo for adults: Light-hearted (slapstick) mysteries filled with over-the-top high jinks solved by lovable (slightly morally grey) characters. They have no business being able to find out who the bad guy is before the professionals but somehow do every time, narrowly avoiding being killed or caught in the process. While things may sound dire, readers will spend just as much time laughing as they do sweating while turning the pages.

What I have really enjoyed about this series is the story progression. Each installment starts with at least one big question in the air, and by the end of the book IT IS ACTUALLY ANSWERED. Readers are left with a new mystery to solve instead, allowing the story to actually develop. The same can be said about the ~romance~ component in this series because **DRUM ROLL PLEASE**...Finlay finally picks her man! After setting the stage with a love-square, readers get some closure on who really has Finlay's heart.

For those curious, this is far from Finaly's last foray in the crazy mess she has dug herself into. The book ends on the perfect segue to a fourth novel. I have no doubt I'll find myself picking it up.

Love this refreshing, fun series! I was happy with the third book and found that it kept the storyline moving perfectly. I read this one within a day or two, just like the first two, and look forward to the next one :)