The Finlay Donovan series has been my all time favorite. I was so excited when I got an early copy of this book. It did not disappoint. If you have not read this series, I don't know what you are waiting for. It is the best. Thriller, romance, and keeps you on the edge of your seat. It is a must read.

Give me 20 more! I love this series so much. I feel like this one was slowed waaay down after the last one. The first 30% was super slow and she was reintroducing the characters from previous books.

The ending had me silent screaming so I didn’t wake anyone up! Ma’am you cannot end a book like that without the next one ready for me! I REALLY hope we get Vero’s POV in future books.

The next installment in the Finlay Donovan series is here! This time instead of getting in deep with the mob, Finlay is entertaining an unwanted house guest...her kooky across the street neighbor Mrs. Haggerty. You might remember at the end of book 4 a dead body was discovered buried in the backyard at Mrs. Haggerty's. Well she's just been cleared and released and with nowhere to go (her house has no working utilities due to the water damage) she decides she's staying with Finlay. Yay, said no one. Shortly after Steven, Finlay's ex, is then accused of committing the murder of the discovered body. Now we all know Steven is a massive cheating jerk, but is he a murderer? Hmmm, you'll have to read it to find out! This book is filled with the witty banter we love of Finlay and Vero, alongside the silly antics of her kiddos. Plus we meet the ladies of Mrs. Haggerty's book club and all the other characters we've come to know and love are back too. Thank you NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for the gifted copy in exchange for an honest review. Pub Day is approaching fast on March 4th!

Finlay Donovan is at it again. I love this series. It if fun and quirky. She gets herself into things you cant even imagine getting yourself into but it always seems to work itself out. Definitely read the others in the series first, but a great new addition.

How many times can you say you love a series and characters? I will say it every time I read a Finlay Donovan book. I loved that this one was different from each of the previous. And I definitely am adding Mrs. Haggerty to my list of top five characters in this whole series. Definitely a five out of five. I hope this series never ends.

Finlay Donovan is back! I think this one might be my favorite so far.

Finlay and Vero are back to their crazy shenanigans, and this time Mrs. Haggerty is along for the ride. After a body is discovered in Mrs. Haggerty's back yard, she moves in with Finlay and her crew. Will Finlay and Vero be able to solve yet another murder and more importantly, reclaim their house?

All of the chaos and shenanigans that happen after Steven is arrested and Mrs. Haggerty moves in is pure gold! It was also nice to see some progress in Nick and Finlay's relationship. I really enjoyed the mystery in this one and it was all together a fun read!

I binged this one in 48 hours! While I loved the first two books in this series, books 3 and 4 fell a bit flat for me. But book 5, Finlay Donovan digs her own grave, felt like a return to the first few books.

With the characters we know and love, and the same wit and suspense, this was such a fun read. I’m really glad I didn’t give up on this series.

Content considerations: moderate strong language, closed door/fade to black, drug use, murder, infidelity, domestic abuse mentioned.

FINLAY DONOVAN DIGS HER OWN GRAVE, written by Elle Cosimano, is the next book in the Finlay Donovan series. Finlay hosts her elderly neighbor, Mrs. Haggerty, who has been released from jail following the discovery of a dead body buried on her property. Mrs. Haggerty’s caretaking is only supposed to last for a few days. I wonder how long she’ll be staying with Finlay, and what her stay could lead to. I read on to find out.

It’s good to return to the world of Finlay Donovan. I enjoy reading about her and the characters who inhabit her life, especially Vero (Finlay’s live-in babysitter), Delia (Finlay’s preschool-aged daughter), Zach (Finlay’s toddler son), and Steven (Finlay’s ex-husband). The humorous writing style makes me think of Janet Evanovich’s Stephanie Plum series. In this book, Mrs. Haggerty is similar to the Grandma Mazur character. I often find myself laughing aloud while reading this book. I suggest reading earlier books in the series, especially the first one, before reading this book. The Finlay Donovan series is great fun, and I look forward to reading the next installment. Thank you, St. Martin's Press and NetGalley, for the chance to read and review an advance reader copy of FINLAY DONOVAN DIGS HER OWN GRAVE.

I LOVE me some Finlay, Vero, and literally all other character in between. The wit was spot on, I LOL’d so often it hurt. I just love the way this whole series is written.

That being said, I liked that this book was short and sweet, not too over the top but still holds the charm of the other stories. I was able to guess what was happening by at least the 65% mark but still loved the whole read. I find it wraps everything up so nicely.

Also really thought this was the last book of the series but with that ending?!?! I’m confuzzled.

Every time I read a book in this series, I don’t think they can get better or that Finlay and Vera can find more trouble. Somehow, they always do. I love the familiar cast in these books and with the focus on Mrs. Haggerty this time around, more hilarity ensues. I’m not sure how this author makes murder mysteries funny, but I am always laughing out loud at Finlay’s adventures. I really enjoyed this book focusing on the women and Steven being otherwise indisposed throughout the novel. I am always trying to figure out the ending and don’t fully get there until the entire plot is unveiled. I am so excited that there will be another in this series (slight cliffhanger end, as usual) and now it’s just waiting for it to come out… 5⭐️, 1🌶

Finlay is struggling with her nosy neighbor staying in her house. Her son refuses to wear clothes and be potty trained. Her daughter is suspended from school for hitting a boy and her ex-husband is in jail because of a body found in the nosy neighbor's backyard. Could things get more complicated? With Finlay, of course they do! Another wild ride through her life! These stories are always fun but this one holds a secret, which Finlay knows she has to share with her boyfriend or they will never be able to trust each other. A good read, an interesting outcome and a few laughs at the lengths Finlay goes through to solve a crime!
I received an advanced copy of this book in exchange for a review.

This was hands down the BEST Finlay book. I’ve been a fan since I read the first one and have been eagerly awaiting this fifth installment. All of the previous books have been stellar (I particularly loved the destination mystery location vibes of book 4, with the Atlantic City setting), but this one took the cake. I loved how everything seemed to tie back to the original book and the original mystery. Admittedly, there were details from book 1 that I had forgotten, but I filled the gaps pretty quickly just from reading on in this book. Finlay and Vero’s friendship continues to be the best part of every single book, and Nick continues to be one of the best romantic mystery love interests in the genre. Mrs. Haggerty’s role as the cantankerous old woman with a heart of gold was perfection, especially when it came to her interactions with Delia and Zach. The mystery was top notch, the romance was satisfying because Finlay finally let herself admit how much she cares about Nick, and the ending has me already eager for the next book.

Another solid Finlay book! Thank you for the author and publisher for my advanced copy.

I found the fifth installment to lack the normal Finlay action - it felt underwhelming for the first 75%. But as always, the writing and characters make it such an enjoyable read.

I’m really curious to see what ends up happening to Vero in the next book!

Overall, 3 stars!

Let me begin with saying that I have historically really enjoyed Peter Swanson thrillers. Some definitely more than others, but overall they’ve usually been pretty solid. Now, his upcoming book was one of my most anticipated 2025 reads, but honestly I was extremely underwhelmed.

Firstly, I will give credit for the format as it was a unique way to tell a story, especially for a thriller. Basically, the story is told in reverse, so you start in the present and then slowly work your back. It starts you off by introducing Wendy and Thom, a married couple in their 50s, and then from there it continues to jump back to different points of time within their relationship. During each chapter, you begin to learn more about their marriage and the secrets they’ve harbored for years.

While it was different, I unfortunately think this format made for a VERY slow burn and I didn't find it thrilling or suspenseful at all because you already knew what happened and by the time you got to it, it was not a surprise.

For me, this book felt more just like a character study of Wendy and Thom + their marriage and how it started off strong, but slowly began to crumble. It showed a bit of the toxicity of their love and how it was built on such questionable foundation. Plus, they were both pretty terrible people.

Overall, there was never really that “aha!” moment where I felt like everything fell together and made to all feel worthwhile. Sadly I felt like nothing really happened and by the end it all seemed so drawn out with nothing to show for. Definitely not a favorite Swanson of mine. But don't let this sway you as I can see fans of the slow burn thriller perhaps enjoying this more than I did.

Finlay is at it again - fun cozy mystery series with humor a bit of intrigue and an I teresting cast of characters.

I enjoyed getting to see Finlay again in another adventure. I wasn't sure where this was going at first. Finlay gets involved to help out her ex, even though he doesn't deserve her help. The resolution of the crime was a surprise. The ending was a cliffhanger to lead into a next book that would involve Vero; something that of course needs to be written. These books are an adventure.

Finlay Donovan and her nanny/partner-in-crime, Vero, have not always gotten along with Finlay’s elderly neighbor, Mrs. Haggerty, the community busybody and president of the neighborhood watch. But when a dead body is discovered in her backyard, Mrs. Haggerty needs their help.

As the fifth book in what I think of as an “urban fairy tale” series, Finlay and Vero have an unexpected house guest when their elderly neighbor is arrested for a body that was found in her backyard. Finlay’s ex-husband Steven is also arrested for the murder and Finlay and Vero have to prove he’s innocent. Lots of twists and turns and crazy, cartoonish characters as you expect from this series which is fun and silly and I truly have to think of it as a fairy tale because everything always works out for everyone involved. Easy to read and a good distraction from real life.

Amazing followed up to the series,

I loved every page of it, for me Elle Cosimano is a confort read.

To put to your TBR

“The stern-faced woman stared down her nose at me, her solid black smock dress and crisp white collar framed by the regal arms of her leather chair.”
Here are reasons to read the Mystery book:

5th in Series - In this 5th book in the Finlay Donovan series
Garden Surprise - Finlay’s neighbor across the way has a body found in her garden
Houseguest - and after her short jail hold, with a house in disrepair from the search, she becomes Finlay’s houseguest
Her connection - is there a connection between Finlay and the dead body?

I continue to love this book series. Finlay is like all of us, trapped in situations that she has to fight her way out of. I love revisiting the characters of Vero and Nick in addition to Finlay. And this book was interesting to me because it kind of steps out of the mob situation they find themselves in usually. The topic is - well- topical. But I would have loved to seem more of the minor characters in this book.