Library Journal - Audio
09/01/2022
Cosimano (Finlay Donovan Is Killing It) is back with more zany antics featuring romantic-suspense novelist Finlay Donovan. This book picks up where the first one ended. On a chatroom of housewives, someone offers up $100 grand to kill Steven, Finlay's ex-husband. Finlay is determined to cancel that contract. If she didn't have her faithful nanny, Vero, to keep her on the straight and narrow, she might end up at the wrong end of a gun. Angela Dawes is the perfect narrator because of her believability as Finlay. She sounds like a mid-40s divorcée just barely keeping it together, while juggling kids, bills, and hit men. When she lowers her voice for the male characters, it keeps them distinguishable. She makes judicious use of accents. Her cadence is on target; the story flows from one catastrophe into another with barely a pause, and so does Dawes. This book doesn't stand alone. It relies heavily on the events of book one, going into only minor details to inform the uninitiated. VERDICT Libraries that didn't buy the first audiobook should purchase both at this time.—Jodi L. Israel
MAY 2022 - AudioFile
Angela Dawe plays it appropriately straight in her narration of this mystery caper, which doesn’t need vocal help to achieve its intended level of zaniness. Dawe’s characters sound real even when they’re caught in crazy situations meant to make listeners smile, not believe. Someone has placed an ad for a hit person to kill Finlay’s ex, Steve, a not-so-great guy who is somewhat redeemed by being a good dad. The story involves Finlay’s two romantic interests, a cop and a law student; her writing career; family members; and her friend/nanny, Vero, who has secrets of her own. Dawe's performance is restrained yet good. Her character voices are great, and she brings emotions and tension to the plot. A fine effort. G.S. © AudioFile 2022, Portland, Maine
Publishers Weekly
12/06/2021
Cosimano’s diverting sequel to 2021’s Finlay Donovan Is Killing It finds Virginia novelist Finlay Donovan still struggling to raise her two small children, manage her ex-husband Steven’s demands, and power through an early draft of a new book. She’s also balancing the attentions of two impossibly handsome suitors, one a law student and the other a police detective. Through postings in an online forum, Finlay suspects that someone using the moniker FedUp has put a hit out on Steven. Her friend Vero soon discovers that another person in the group, EasyClean, may have accepted the offer, and Finlay and Vero set out to discover who might want Steven dead. Tangling with Russian mobsters is just one obstacle they face. Newcomers may be frustrated, especially at the beginning since much of the plot carries over from Finlay Donovan Is Killing It. And much like in that book, Finlay makes decisions that strain credibility and common sense, but that’s part of what makes the series such fun. Fans of wacky, offbeat mysteries will eagerly await Finlay’s further exploits. Agent: Sarah Davies, Greenhouse Literary. (Feb.)
From the Publisher
A February 2022 LibraryReads Pick
One of Bustle's "Most Anticipated Books of 2022"
One of Business Insider’s "Most Anticipated Books of 2022"
One of The Bibliofile’s "Best New Mystery & Thriller Books for 2022"
One of Bookbub’s “Most Anticipated Books of 2022”
One of Goodreads “Most Anticipated Mysteries of 2022”
One of POPSUGAR’s “Must-Read Thrillers and Mystery Books” of 2022
One of Canadian Living Magazine’s “2022 TBR List”
"Riotous . . . Given the challenge of matching her first novel’s gorgeous premise, Cosimano does a remarkable job. What next?"—Kirkus Reviews
"Cosimano builds on Finlay Donovan is Killing It (2021) for another rollicking adventure in which the tribulations of single parenthood feel just as high stakes as the attempted murders. A sharp, slick sequel."—Booklist
"Diverting . . . such fun. Fans of wacky, offbeat mysteries will eagerly await Finlay’s further exploits."—Publishers Weekly
"Finlay Donovan is Killing It by Elle Cosimano was a delightfully fun surprise in 2021, and Finlay Donovan Knocks 'Em Dead is every bit as bright and hilarious as its predecessor."—PopSugar
"Elle Cosimano spins a twisted and hilarious tale that is well plotted, suspenseful, and is marvelously outfitted with multiple colorful characters are both flaws and believable. This propulsive page turner is a welcome antidote to everyone's angst."—Mystery Scene Magazine
"Read for round two of the fun, light-hearted mystery series. From assassins and contending with the mob to balancing life as a mother and writer while entertaining suitors, Finlay has a lot going on and it’s all explored in hilarious ways. The titular character’s high jinks and her best friend/partner’s fun, snarky personality are sure to entertain."—Book Riot
"The second entry in Elle Cosimano's Finlay Donovan series, another bumbling comedy of errors and hilarious, fast-paced mystery, upends the life of a struggling writer and single mother."—Shelf Awareness
“The Finlay Donovan series is simply spectacular and always delightful! I adore everything about it—the humor, the screwball plotlines, the mysteries, and above all the cast: the friendship between Vero and Finlay is one for the ages, and Finlay’s love life entertains me to no end. Elle Cosimano’s books are the perfect blend of mystery and romcom, and I’m ready to follow Finlay wherever she goes!”—Ali Hazelwood, New York Times bestselling author of The Love Hypothesis
"Finlay Donovan Knocks 'Em Dead could easily have become a ridiculous and over-the-top novel, but Elle Cosimano has the skill and talent to blend social satire with the mystery plot in completely believable—albeit hilarious—ways . . . a welcome escape from 2022's trials and tribulations."—BOLO Books
"Finlay Donovan fans rejoice! Hired guns, the Russian mob, and a love triangle for the ages? Yes, please! Reminiscent of Jennifer Weiner’s Goodnight Nobody and Susan Isaac’s After All These Years, Finlay Donovan Knocks 'Em Dead is clever, dark, and laugh-out-loud funny. I’m a fan for life." —Heather Gudenkauf, New York Times bestselling author of The Overnight Guest
"The Finlay Donovan series is an unpredictable, fun, funny, page-turning delight. Like her creation, Elle Cosimano knocks 'em dead."—Gwenda Bond, New York Times bestselling author of Not Your Average Hot Guy
"Finlay Donovan is the perfect 21st century heroine—I adore her."—Sophie Cousens, New York Times bestselling author of This Time Next Year
"A delightful escape with a lovable heroine. Finlay Donavan will keep you rooting for her as the pages fly by!” —Liv Constantine, bestselling author of The Last Mrs Parrish
"Elle Cosimano does it again! A funny, fast-paced sequel that's part rom-com, part mystery, pure joy!"—Chantel Guertin, bestselling author of Instamom
"A fun, refreshing series. From the first page to the last, Finlay Donovan Knocks 'Em Dead kept me smiling. A fast-paced, fabulous read, full of heart. I can’t wait for the next one!"—Kaira Rouda, USA Today bestselling author of Somebody's Home
"A clever, razor-sharp thrill ride from beginning to end! I'd follow Finlay Donovan anywhere."—Rachel Lynn Solomon, bestselling author of The Ex Talk
"Readers will be swept up in this wacky heroine’s attempts to just make it through her mishap-filled life and have a little romance along the way . . . A fun romp for bookclubs and for anyone who enjoys slapstick mysteries."—First Clue - Superstar Sleuths
Praise for Finlay Donovan is Killing It:
“A twisty delight.”—PEOPLE
“[Cosimano's] main character is so endearing it's easy to surrender...”—New York Times Book Review
“If you love thrillers, but wish the genre would lighten up a little then you absolutely must read Finlay Donovan Is Killing It.”—PopSugar
“Fast-paced, fresh, full of humor, and original.”—Jill Orr in St. Louis Magazine
“Part comedy of errors, part genuine thriller… Deftly balancing genre conventions with sly, tongue-in-cheek comments on motherhood and femininity, Cosimano crafts a deliciously twisted tale.”—Booklist
“Suspenseful, funny.... More, please.”—Kirkus Reviews
“Amusing… pleasingly absurd... [a] romp from a skilled comic writer.”—Publishers Weekly
Library Journal
09/01/2021
Having broken into the adult market with the attention-getting Finlay Donovan Is Killing It, multi-award-winning YA author Cosimano brings back her heroine for another round of zany mayhem in suburban Virginia. Single-mom suspense writer Finlay is again trying to complete a novel, supported by beloved live-in nanny Vero, when she learns that someone wants to do in her ex-husband. Russian mobsters? Gun-toting soccer mamas? All in a day's work for Finlay. With a 100,000-copy first printing.
MAY 2022 - AudioFile
Angela Dawe plays it appropriately straight in her narration of this mystery caper, which doesn’t need vocal help to achieve its intended level of zaniness. Dawe’s characters sound real even when they’re caught in crazy situations meant to make listeners smile, not believe. Someone has placed an ad for a hit person to kill Finlay’s ex, Steve, a not-so-great guy who is somewhat redeemed by being a good dad. The story involves Finlay’s two romantic interests, a cop and a law student; her writing career; family members; and her friend/nanny, Vero, who has secrets of her own. Dawe's performance is restrained yet good. Her character voices are great, and she brings emotions and tension to the plot. A fine effort. G.S. © AudioFile 2022, Portland, Maine
Kirkus Reviews
2021-10-27
Fresh from a debut in which she kept getting offered money to kill people who then fortuitously died, novelist Finlay Donovan goes another round with murder most absurd.
Somebody besides Finn must be unhappy with her ex, sod farmer Steven Donovan, because a message-board poster identifying herself only as FedUp broadly hints that she’d pay $100,000 to anyone who’d dispose of him. As Finn looks on in virtual horror, another poster, EasyClean, accepts the proposition. Run ragged as she already is by the usual domestic problems—caring for her two small children, juggling hot law student Julian Baker and Nicholas Anthony, the Fairfax County detective who’s still interested in her despite what she put him through in Finlay Donovan Is Killing It(2021), struggling to get started on her next suspense novel—Finn tries to rescue Steven, who deserves execration but not execution, by hiring a teenage network expert named Cam to identify EasyClean. When Cam comes up empty, the only other thing Finn can think of is to volunteer to do the hit herself for half the price. Unfortunately, she makes her cut-rate offer using a public Wi-Fi connection, exposing herself and her nanny/sidekick, endlessly resourceful accounting student Veronica Ruiz, to all manner of perils. The discovery that the message board is secretly owned by Feliks Zhirov, the mobster Finn’s last adventure ended up sending to prison, just increases the riotous complications. Long after everything has apparently spiraled out of control or even comprehension, the author springs one last revelation that, if it doesn’t pull everything together, goes a long way toward justifying the bumpy ride.
Given the challenge of matching her first novel’s gorgeous premise, Cosimano does a remarkable job. What next?
