I’m so glad Finlay got a writer’s block and decided to take fire arms and forensics training at the police academy! Every character played their part in this story and the two people finally do it 😉 My favourite parts are the ones with Mrs. Haggerty, old grumpy people are funny. This instalment picks right up after the second book, Finlay and Vero work towards finding who Easy Clean is. Along the way Finlay, Vero and Nick find themselves in troubling situations, but it’s nothing Finlay can manage. Overall, like the previous books in this series, Jump the gun too is very entertaining.

Thank you Minotaur for the e-arc!

FINDLAY DONOVAN JUMPS THE GUN by Elle Cosimano
Published: 1/31/2023
By: Macmillan Audio
Narrated by Angela Dawe 8 hrs 38 min


What a hoot !! A new genre arises - the screwball comedy mystery. Mix into the pot a heaping amount of misunderstanding and misadventure, a humungous amount of humor, a tinge of romance, a deepening friendship and murder, and you’ve got an amazing propulsive read.
Finlay Donovan Jumps The Gun is the third Finlay adventure, but can certainly be enjoyed as a standalone, as Cosimano seamlessly weaves into the narrative the necessary backstory.
Findlay Donovan is a struggling B-list writer of romantic mysteries, always facing impending deadlines for her next book … and struggling with “writer’s block” …. She needs to provide a “spicy' ending for her next book. Her reader’s are clamoring for more romantic involvement with the “hot cop” from her previous book. She is the mother of adorable four year-old Delia and perpetually sticky two-year-old toddler, Zach … who forever is skirting away into escalating degrees of mischief. Donovan is divorced from her no-good husband, Steven… who carried on a lengthy affair with their curvy, blonde realtor. She continues to be “aided” by her most unusual live-in college student, Vero … who wears many hats: trusting nanny, confidante, partner-in-crime, and accountant - and from this, a blossoming friendship has evolved.
Returning for this adventure are the kids, Vero, Nick the “Hot Cop”, her sister Georgia ( who also used to be Nick’s partner), a cadre of police officials, a cameo from her previous flame, the law student Julien, and a cast of other nefarious operatives. Finlay quickly reneges on her New Year’s resolutions: no more junk food, no more men, and no more bodies in the back of her minivan. Incidentally, Vero is being hounded by a henchmen of a loan-shark from New Jersey…. who gets accidentally is crushed by the misadventures of Vero and Findlay.

Finlay has two pressing problems. She can’t seem to finish the ending for her impending next book. Her fans’ are clamoring for a romantic tryst with the “hot cop” from her previous book (based upon her real life escapades with cop, Nick Anthony ). As she faces “writer’s block” head on, she is being threatened by the Russian mob boss, Felix Zhirov, to help uncover the true identity of the contract killer, Easyclean, who’s trying to blackmail him. Findlay suspects it’s the same dirty cop who tried to kill her ex-husband, Steven. Felix is threatening to reveal some damaging dirt on Findlay, that will destroy her life. To accomplish both, Findlay and Vero enroll in a week long Police Academy Boot Camp for Citizen’s . Hopefully she’ll be able to investigate the cadre of officers involved in the event and uncover some damning evidence pointing to the identity of Easyclean, and provide inspiration to finish her book. The camp is being run by none other than Nick Anthony … who she has been trying to keep at arm’s length. Why? Their budding romance and involvement has been complicated and convoluted.
Elle Cosimano spins a twisted and hilarious tale that is well plotted, suspenseful, and is marvelously outfitted with multiple colorful characters that are both flawed and yet believable. The burgeoning relationship and “sisterhood” between Finlay and Vero is nothing less than amazing. The dialogue banter flows in an entertaining fashion, frequently funny and at times, sarcastic, as our two main protagonists entangle themselves in the world of murder and mayhem. This certainly rivals the “ Lucy and Ethel “ adventures of television lore. This propulsive page-turner is a welcome antidote to everyone’e angst. The denouement of this delightful gem begs for further adventures in the trials and tribulations of Finlay Donovan. Although I’ve read the first two installments on my Kindle … I opted to enjoy the experience of an audio version of this zany tale, through the marvelous narration of Angela Dawe. I’t truly amazing how she captured the voice and essence of both male and female characters. Her perfomance completely matched the timbre of this zany, hysterical madcap adventure. This certainly brought this novel to a new height in the theatre of my mind.
Thanks to NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for providing an Advance Audio version of this novel in exchange for an honest review.

This third installment in the Finlay Donovan series is just as great as its predecessors! This time around Finlay and her nanny-turned-sidekick, Vero, are still trying to figure out the identity of a hitman featured in the previous books. The dynamic duo is participating in a citizens' police academy and wondering if the hitman may be among them working as a police officer. The academy proves to be the perfect cover for the ladies to continue their search for the hitman. There are lots of laughs and some romance, too! This series is so much fun! Both the audio and print versions are great. My only criticism is that the audiobook narrator makes most of the male characters sound like young children which got annoying pretty quickly in a book with a large cast of men.

Thank you to St. Martin's Press, Minotaur Books, and NetGalley for advanced reading and listening copies of this book and audiobook.

I never posted review for the first two books in the series, so consider this my comprehensive review of the series thus far. The first book, Finlay Donovan Is Killing It starts off strong. An author is meeting with her publicist, discussing the not-so-pretty (or legal) details of her latest suspense novel, when a woman next to her at the local Panera Bread overhears her conversation and thinks she’s actually a murderer. Finlay finds herself caught up in a kill-for-hire scheme while also balancing a divorce, custody battle and potential new love interests. The first book is the perfect cozy thriller with a main character you can root for.

Things got a little rocky for me with the second book, Finlay Donovan Knocks Em Dead. There is a mob angle throughout the series that gets a bit far-fetched at times. I found myself yelling, “they would absolutely be following you!” and “why isn’t her phone bugged?!” Some of the details like that seemed to be overlooked, and it made it feel more YA because those always seem to be cleaned up more neatly than adult mysteries. Finlay’s love life does take a turn for the better in this book, though, and you have to decide whether to root for the charming, reliable cop or the fun, young lawyer.

Finlay Donovan Jumps the Gun redeemed the series for me. The Russian mob was on top of their sh*t this time around! I flew through this book because I found the thriller aspect of it all the more thrilling than the second book. Finlay has a lot of personal growth in this story as she battles herself to let go and let herself be happy (I won’t say with whom). We also learn a lot more about Vero, who just might be my favorite character. Vero is loyal and strong-willed, and she is the encouraging, supportive friend that everyone like Finlay needs in their life. As Finlay and Vero try to untangle themselves from the Russian mob, they spend some time at a Citizen’s Police Academy to “do research” on the mob’s behalf but also to keep themselves safe from outside threats. They go through rigorous training exercises and get to participate in mock investigations and trials, each activity exposing just how suspiciously good they are at some of these crime-related activities. The book ends on a complete cliffhanger that I’m hoping leads into a fourth book centered more around Vero.

4 stars. This is a nonstop ride of shenagigans and adventure. There really is never a moment of downtime as there is always something happening. A very fun read. Finlay and Vero's situation is being dragged out a little bit, was kind of expecting a little more resolution.

Thank you to Netgalley, St. Martin’s Press/Minotaur Books, and Ms. Cosimano for the opportunity to read an ARC of this title. An honest review was requested but not required.

At first, to be completely honest, I was a little concerned that a more accurate title would be “Finlay Donovan jumps the SHARK.” Finlay is back to her crazy, zany, over-the-top ways with her sidekick-slash-assistant-slash-nanny, Vero. Bodies keep piling up (through no fault of Finlay’s, of COURSE!) and Finlay continues to accidentally break through on cases that stump trained and seasoned detectives.

The first few chapters were definitely eye-roll-inducing. How does Finlay get away with this stuff? She is the least subtle, most conspicuous person ever. However, once the story hit its stride I guess I just mentally shrugged and hopped on for the ride. I think it was slightly more plausible once the kids were removed from the equation. While having them around does lend more authenticity to Finlay’s frazzled, seat-of-the-pants state, it also makes her ability to solve ANY problem much less doubtful. This is not particularly a Finlay issue so much as a mom issue. From personal experience, I can’t really tackle any task around the house without interruption so I can believe Finlay’s distracted state when her kids are present.

As in previous escapes, trust no one (a good life lesson). We do have some cameos from previous characters that were very satisfying. One in particular gave Finlay some real closure and impetus forward in the storyline. (I’ll give you one guess who that was.) I also appreciated that Finlay FINAAALLLLLLLY took a big step forward in her personal life. Thank God. I was dreading that that particular plot thread would be dragged out interminably. Now let’s see if Finlay can manage to keep on the straight and narrow (doubtful), not lose any more money (one can hope) and successfully get out of the mob business (ha). Looking forward to book #4 :)

⭐⭐⭐⭐

I received a complimentary ARC copy of Finlay Donovan Jumps the Gun, A Novel, by Elle Cosimano from NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press /Minotaur Books in order to read and give an honest review.

…This book has it all a thrilling twisted mystery, romance, and a lot of laughter that will keep the reader entertained to the very last page….…

Lucy & Ethel meet Thelma & Louise in this third entry of Elle Cosimano’s Finlay Donovan series. Finlay Donovan Jumps the Gun picks up where book two leaves off with Finlay and her nanny/accountant, Vero, up to their necks in trouble whilst trying to discover the identity of a person who has been blackmailing an incarcerated Russian mob boss awaiting trial. The blackmailer who goes by the online handle of EasyClean is threatening to produce evidence that will put the mob boss away for good.

Due to events from previous books this mobster has leverage on both Finlay and Vero and threatens to expose them if they do not uncover EasyClean’s real identity. EasyClean is already on Finlay’s radar after he/she attempted to kill Finlay’s ex-husband, but also injured Nick, the police detective in charge of the case and someone Finlay has grown quite fond of. Currently Finlay’s life is a mess, she’s split from her lawyer boyfriend, she has a brutal case of writer’s block despite a looming deadline, her ex-husband is keen to reconcile, and Vero owes money to some bad people who are looking to collect. When offered a chance to do some research for her book at a week-long Citizen’s Police Academy they both jump at the opportunity to have a safe haven until they get to the truth.

Both Finlay and Vero are convinced EasyClean is a current or former police officer so they are sure they can kill two birds with one stone attending the program. The pressure is on to uncover the identity of EasyClean before they are exposed or worse…. killed. When the detective in charge of the academy is none other than Nick the stakes rise even higher. Add in murder, mayhem, a sneaky ex-husband, plenty of suspects as well as a blossoming romance and Finlay’s week gets even more complicated.

Another fast-paced, action packed, humorous and quirky mystery that we’ve come to enjoy in this series, like the previous two books, this one also ends with a cliffhanger suggesting more adventures in Finlay’s future.

This book has it all a thrilling twisted mystery, romance, and a lot of laughter that will keep the reader entertained to the very last page. My only complaint is sometimes there was too much happening at once that left it feeling somewhat overwhelming at times, but overall, I really enjoyed the book and I definitely recommend it.

#FirstLine ~ The man's voice cracked on the other side of the partition.

I read this book and also listened to the audiobook version as well. To say I am a fan of the Finley Donovan series is an understatement. I love how easy it is to get sucked into the story. There is humor, mystery and interesting characters, plus a story that is so perfectly plotted. You get to know Finley and her pals and are invested in their mishaps and misguided adventures. You will blast through the pages; both wanting to see how it ends and simultaneously trying to savor every word! I will read every book in this series and I want these installment to keep coming!!! I am a super fan and want everyone else to read this story too!!!

Another delightful installment in the adventures of Finlay and Vero! This was by far my favorite of the series. I loved the adventure, the way the clues came together at the end, and the hot cop moments we’ve all been waiting for.

The citizen policy academy was a delightful setting and the new characters added more fun and personality to the saga.

Check this one out if you’re looking for:
🚔 More adventures of Finlay and Vero
🚔 Wins for Team Hot Cop
🚔 Clues that take you in circles but come together at the end
🚔 A whimsical, fun adventure of a read that passes quickly.

Thank you to Netgalley and Minotaur Books for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I loved the first book, I hate a love hate relationship with the second book and now I feel a bit disappointed with this third instalment somehow.

I was excited to read it because the way book 2 ended , it left my imagination run wild with the possibility of so many great scenes that were to come in Finley life.

She and Vero are still strong and their game hasn’t changed much.
Witty, hilarious and suspenseful moments, they all add for a good story overall. But there are so many things that I just couldn’t wrap my head around them in here.
I guess i should just throw my disbelief out through the window and just enjoy the ride, which I’m sure it would have been more fun to do. But I’m me and can’t always do that.

Either way, just because it didn’t work well for me, it doesn’t make it a great story for other readers.

Very grateful to the publisher for my review copy through NetGalley (Read Now title)

Loved this one so much! I’ve loved this series from the get go. The third book in the series did not disappoint at all.

Another great Finlay Donovan book! I was worried the series would start getting too predictable, but so far I still really enjoy the series. The cast of characters are funny, annoying, and lovable alk at the same time - like family!

This series is one of my favorites. I enjoy the crazy shenanigans of Finlay and Vero. If you are looking for a read that rivals the Stephanie Plum series, this is it!

Oh my what fun! The sass, the laughs and the sleuths! I loved getting back into Finlay's story and will never be over this series! Picking up right where the last book left off, this book follows Finlay and Vero's craziness with the Russian mob.

All the over-the-top craziness, fun and antics, this is a great next installment in everybody's favorite comical mystery series! It's just so much fun!

The Finlay Donovan series is a non-stop comedy of errors. Finlay Donovan Jumps the Gun is the third installment of the series, and it doesn't disappoint. Finlay and her sidekick nanny, Vero, experience one hilarious catastrophe after another. This series is worth the read if you are looking for sleuthing shenanigans.

Finlay Donovan Jumps the Gun is funny and charming with witty banter and an opening scene that immediately hooks you. However I had not read the first two books in the series and was lost in the overall plot - references to characters and prior story line - and would not consider this a standalone.

Ahhhhhh another Finlay Donovan book! I can say now after reading 3 of them that I have never been let down by one of these books. They are fun and have me on the edge of my seat until the end.

This third one was very fun, but it wasn’t my favorite of the series. Hey- they can’t all be a favorite! The only reason I say it isn’t my favorite is because it took longer than 2 days to read unlike the other two.

I recommend the entire series to everyone!

✨ Finlay Donovan Jumps the Gun ✨⁣
⁣⁣
⁣Oh man. Finlay and Vero are probably two of the biggest hot messes in fiction and I love them for it! These books are silly, unrealistic, and a great escape! ⁣
⁣⁣
⁣Somehow Finlay has gotten on the wrong side of the Russian mob and now must complete a job for them before they off her… Yikes! ⁣
⁣⁣
⁣*Insert a lot of far fetched silliness and unbelievable scenes where everyone and their dog is in danger!* ⁣
⁣⁣
⁣This one was fine. Fans of Finlay will enjoy it… If you were feeling lukewarm on this series, I’m not sure I’d recommend this one. Three stars! ⭐️⭐️⭐️⁣
⁣⁣
⁣Thank you to Netgalley and Minotaur Books for the eARC. Finlay Donovan Jumps the Gun publishes on January 31, 2023

**Many thanks to NetGalley, St. Martin's Press/Minotaur, and Elle Cosimano for an ARC of this book!**

Ever heard (or played) the piano classic, "Chopsticks?"

It's a simple enough song to play, hence why so many can sit down at a piano with little to no training and plunk it out in a matter of minutes. At first, it's exciting: you (or the piano player in earshot) can play it! But if you KEEP playing it for more than about 2 minutes, the tune starts to grate on you a bit, and it eventually sounds like you're simply playing the same two discordant notes, over and over.

And by the end of installment three, I felt like Cosimano was happily playing away...but I just couldn't ENJOY the tune anymore.

Finlay Donovan has made the transition (of sorts) from writer and mom to hit woman with her own brand of panache, aided by bestie and nanny Vero who is her steady (and sometimes snarky) sidekick. After Finlay's ex Stephen narrowly escaped with his life in installment two, Finlay and Vero are back...but of course, mob boss Feliks hasn't lost track of them...even from prison. Finlay needs to find out who the mysterious "Easy Clean" who put out the initial hit on her ex is before Feliks loses patience...and the bodies start piling up!

When Finlay and Vero discover the perp might be a cop himself, they figure it's best to jump directly into the police's natural habitat: and find themselves enrolled in a bonafide Police Academy (well, a Police Academy for CITIZENS...but why split hairs?) Newly single Finlay has ended her entanglement with Julian, the hot lawyer, but dashing detective Nick is suddenly closer (and cuter) than ever...but can Finlay trust him? With every cop a potential suspect or a lead, will the dynamic duo zero in on their target? Or will loose ends from their past come back to haunt them...and lead them RIGHT back to Feliks?

The beginning of this book had me SO hopeful it would fall in line with the Finlay I fell in love with in book one: there is a hilarious anecdote involving Finlay's toddler aged son (and having my own toddler boy now, especially, this made me chuckle) and I was hoping this would be one of MANY moments of hilarity involving Finlay's sometimes wild but always sweet kiddos.

But sadly...this ONE moment was basically...well, IT.

Finlay's kids get quickly passed off to relatives for the majority of this book, so she can attend the aforementioned Police Academy. Fair trade, if said academy provided the Leslie Nielsen-esque humor I was craving...but sadly, this was yet another idea that probably sounded fun in THEORY, but was somewhat pedantic in its execution. I was hoping for silly hijinks, but instead got a lot of what felt like the same sort of plot over and over again.

I'm not sure if the whole mob angle is just a bit much for me as a reader, since cozy mysteries (even silly ones) aren't usually in my wheelhouse, but I just found it all a bit tiring. Cosimano is a solid writer, so the pages move along, but I didn't feel any sort of emotional push and pull, a gasp at any revelations from Vero's past (one of the main reasons I figured I'd give book three a try after feeling much of the same about book two), or much of ANYTHING, even an interest in they will-they-won't-they between Finlay and Nick...more like a groaning, eye-rolling "get on with it already."

As much as I once fell in love with the frick-and-frack banter of Finlay and Vero, the wild antics of Finlay's silly kiddos, and the increasingly messy situations piling up around our charming heroine, this one for me was less "Finlay Donovan Jumps the Gun" and more "Finlay Donovan Jumps the Shark."

3.5 stars

With the way book 2 in this series ended, I was really expecting (and hoping for) more Vero, so that was a bit of a letdown. Still a fun read though, and I will continue to recommend this series! Fingers crossed for more Vero in book 4 though.