Finlay is a divorced mother of two and a struggling author. Meeting her agent at a restaurant, Finlay discusses the
plot of the book she's working on. Another patron overhears and mistakes Finlay for a hit woman and wants
to hire her for a job. One thing leads to another, and Finlay ends up dodging the police and trying to discover what
really happened. Story keeps one turning the pages to find out what happens next.
First book in the series -looking forward to the next one.
#FinlayDonovanisKillingIt #StMartinsPress #Minotaur #NetGalley

Thanks to NetGalley for the opportunity to re-read the Finlay series in anticipation for the next book to come out in 2025. If you haven't read the Finlay Donovan series, I highly recommend you pick up these books ASAP!

A fun entertaining read and lives up to the hype. Will have you laughing and feeling a kinship as a mom at wits end and in dire financial trouble. Finlay is willing to do anything to keep her kids. A fun, yet morally questionable, caper and unlikely heroine.

A good, solid, fun read. It reminded me soooo much of the Stephanie Plum series, which I haven’t thought about in ages, but truly loved. Excited to read the next few.



Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher!

Wow, lol. I loved this book. It reminds me a lot of Lucy Score’s books, without the paranormal element. It’s funny yet the characters are strong, resilient women who power through although there’s also a hot cop & a sexy bartender. Definitely reading the next. #aFinlayDonovanisKillingIt #NetGalley

I never got into this series when it first came out so I'm so glad I got a chance to read via Netgalley! Thank you to the publisher & Elle Cosimano for offering them all as Read Now, what a wonderful treat!

I liked this a lot. It's a cozy style mystery, you're going to have to deal with a regular degular person doing some investigating on their own outside of an official police investigation (and sometimes alongside the police). I thought Finlay was a fun character! At the beginning I wasn't sure if I would feel for her or find her to be a hot mess in a life of her own making. I leaned more towards the former, as it seemed like her ex-husband really screwed her over.

The relationship between Finlay and Vero was one of my favorite aspects of this story. They truly have each other's backs and they also have fun together.

The mystery in this gets a tad convoluted in the middle, like was having, "where did that character come from and how do they relate to this story" kind of thoughts. But it all gets resolved in the end. This leads right into book 2.

I listened to the audio as well and thought the narrator was one of the best I've heard in a while. She did sound effects such as laughs, her different character voices were great and she packed this with the perfect emotions. Well done!

Thank you NetGalley for the ARC. I adore Finlay! She is a mystery write who is newly divorce with children. She's trying to navigate this new life and what fun it is.

I originally borrowed the Finlay Donovan series from the library, but I loved it so much that I just had to get my own copies—thanks to NetGalley for making that possible! Finlay's adventures are such a perfect mix of humor, suspense, and charm, and I can't get enough of her. We absolutely adore Finlay and her chaotic, crime-solving life!

I really enjoyed this book. It kept me engaged and it only took a few days to read. I think this is going to be a good book club option for several clubs. I plan recommending to my book friends and I look forward to reading more by this author.

Finley Donovan is my new favorite heroine. She has a terrible knack for finding herself in situations that no one wants to be in, but she also manages to find creative ways to get out of them. I wish I had a Vero in my life - she's a hoot! Overall, this is a great read for those days when you want something with a little bite but not dark and twisty. In Finley's words, neat!! I regret not picking up all of the books in this series when they were available as Read Now.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for the arc.

This was a fun read that kept me entertained! I haven’t read anything like this and some parts actually had me laughing out loud. It was a page turner and there were a lot of twists so that kept my interest!
It took me a bit to like Finlay but I loved Vero!

I thought the author’s writing was great and the cliffhanger makes me excited to read the next book!

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press as well as Minotaur Books for the ebook.

I have always wanted to start this series and now I am mad that I waited so long to start. I loved the interactions between Vero and Finlay. The plot was fun, twisty and kept my guessing and laughing the whole time. I am so happy that I was able to read this and look forward to reading more books in the series.

When I heard about this, I was so excited, and it's even better than I thought. Finlay Donovan is a writer with a lot of stresses in her life, even before she's mistaken for a contract killer. Her ex is annoying, and he's already fired her babysitter, the woman who helped hold the pieces of her life together.
The mystery is interesting and clever enough. The children are messy and hilarious. And Finlay is a wonderfully sympathetic character.
Thanks to NetGalley for making this available

There’s nothing I don’t love about this series - it reminds me a bit like an updated Stephanie Plum series. I love how relatable the characters are - especially Finlay. She’s not perfect — in fact, more often than not she’s struggling through something with her ex, her kids or her conscience - but going through her tribulations with her makes us root for her more. I’ve enjoyed each entry in this series and can’t wait for more.

This was the perfect way to break up my romance book reading! Finlay is the perfect blend of a hot mess but still functioning lol
I absolutely adored this novel and could relate more times than I could count as an overstimulated mom. She was determined to make it work at all costs. This novel has some of the best humor, angst and relatable that I’ve come across in awhile.
Thank you for the opportunity to read this work of art. Cannot wait to dive into the rest of this series.

This is a cute book that kept me wanting more and I enjoyed it more than I thought I would! It was funny, the characters were great, and I'd probably go for the next book in the series.
Thanks to the publisher Minotaur Books and NetGalley for the review copy!

I couldn't put it down. I remember being a single mom and my boys were about the same age as Finlay's.

As a stressed-out single-mom of two, Finlay’s life take a decidedly about face turn when she is heard discussing her latest novel plot with her agent. She is mistaken for a contract killer and is hired by the person listening to the conversation. In the mode of everything goes wrong at once, she accidently accepts the job to get rid of a problem husband.

How many things can go wrong at once? In a heated divorce settlement battle with her ex-husband, she finds out he fired her as he is paying her bills right now. The fired nanny comes to pick up her belongings thinking Finlay is not at home but is. They plot together to get back at the ex and complete the "contract" without being the ones to kill him. Writing about crime is easier than real life. Finlay uses the information to complete the novel her agent wanted.

Describing the frustrations and triumphs of motherhood makes for a wonderful read especially when mistaken identity is thrown into the mix.

I can't even really put into words how much I enjoyed this. What a hilarious way to tell a story about something that should be really dark, and instead had a heartbeat.
When we first meet Finn, she is on a struggle bus with no real end in sight. The husband has left her to be with his side piece (now fiancee?!) and she is a struggling author turned bread-winner. When she meets her agent to discuss the 'new project,' the woman sitting a table over mistakes the discussion and believes Finlay to be a literal hitwoman. She offers her $50,000 to kill her husband. And that's just the beginning. Now I, like many others, can't really be behind an MC that is killing for money. I was pretty worried this was going to turn into that, and that we were going to have to sort of ignore the bad things that were happening.... I was glad to find that it wasn't at all!
There were so many elements layered into this story--the nanny and accomplice, the Russian mob, the hot cop, the attorney bartender, ex husband and his fiancee--that if Elle had handled it any differently, it could've been a real mess. The author crafted this with care and it SHOWED. Perfect amount of sort of subtle romance being added in, too.
The cliffhanger.... ARE YOU KIDDING ME. I'm so many levels of relieved that I don't have to wait a year for the second book.
With that said, I MISS THE HOT COP, ELLE. BRING HIM BACK. LOL.

thank you to St. Martin's for the gifted copy which allowed me to check out (and fall in love with!) this story.

Finlay Donovan is killing it . . . except, she’s really not. She’s a stressed-out single-mom of two and struggling novelist, Finlay’s life is in chaos: the new book she promised her literary agent isn’t written, her ex-husband fired the nanny without telling her, and this morning she had to send her four-year-old to school with hair duct-taped to her head after an incident with scissors.

When Finlay is overheard discussing the plot of her new suspense novel with her agent over lunch, she’s mistaken for a contract killer, and inadvertently accepts an offer to dispose of a problem husband in order to make ends meet . . . Soon, Finlay discovers that crime in real life is a lot more difficult than its fictional counterpart, as she becomes tangled in a real-life murder investigation.

This book was so fun. I read this as a buddy read with one of my friends, and she HATED the end. And I LOVED it. Any book that makes people feel that strong is a winner in my eyes!

This was exactly what I needed, a simple small-town murder mystery.

Struggling author Finlay Donovan attempting to navigate life after a divorce with two kids, no money, and a craptastic ex, finds herself in a tight spot when she is mistaken for an assassin.

This entire book was a series of unfortunate events..smh.

Good grief!

Thank you Netgalley, St. Martin's Press | Minotaur Books, and Elle Cosimano for the ability to read this book and to leave my honest review.