Breakaway Books

Authored by Elle Cosimano; Published February 2021; Mystery

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ / 🏖️🏖️🏖️

Finlay Donovan Is Killing It is, in my mind, the very definition of a romp. Disconnected from reality, for sure, but a great way to take a few hours off from real life. 

I don’t have any kids, but I can imagine that any mom who’s ever been in a sticky sitution with their toddlers will empathize with Finlay right from the start. Recently divorced, Finlay is struggling to provide for her children financially by authoring her next book when a case of mistaken identity offers her a different path: hired assassin. Constantly (and comically) pulled ten thousand different ways, Finlay might have been crafted differently to elicit pity–but instead, I found her to be plucky and strong, if constantly flying by the seat of her pants. 

Finlay’s nanny turned accountant turned co-conspirator, Vero, has to be my favorite element of the novel. Instead of spending this first book of the series setting Finlay up with her true love on the heels of her divorce, the connection that she forms with Veri is much more encouraging: a young student who supports Finlay in all of her endeavors, encourages her when things aren’t looking good, and literally hides a body for her. Vero’s personality is a great contrast for Finlay, far more driven and organized, and I love the balance that the two of them strike. 

The hijinks start almost immediately in the novel, and if you’re not one for completely kooky plot set-ups that strain credulity, you might not enjoy this one. But, if you’re able to put aside your disbelief for a few hours, you’ll find a lot to love in Finlay’s unwilling and accidental transformation into a hitwoman. Her personality carries a lot of the weight of this book, but the plot was interesting enough that I found myself unwilling to put it down for just about anything. I was intensely curious to know how Finlay could possibly get out of her predicament scot-free.

While some of the secondary characters lean stereotypical (see: evil stepmother), I didn’t find them too distracting. I hope the author chooses to lean further away from stereotypes with Finlay’s ex-husband in future novels, because I loved the way she chose to portray Finlay’s sister, a cop.

This is definitely a series that I’ll be picking up again when I need something light and fun. I was thriled to discover that there are already four in the series, with more on the way!