Finlay Donovan Is Killing It by Elle Cosimano Narrator: Angela Dawe
Series: Finlay Donovan #1
Published by Macmillan Audio on February 2, 2021
Source: Purchased
Genres: Mystery
Length: 9 hrs 59 mins
Pages: 368
Format: Audiobook
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"Getting the job done" for one single mom takes on a whole new meaning in Finlay Donovan is Killing It.
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.
I honestly thought I would enjoy Finlay Donovan Is Killing It. It’s supposed to be clever and funny and I’ve heard the narrator does a great job. She does, but aside from that I thought the book was silly. Finlay is a writer who doesn’t do much writing and the mother of two preschool children. Her house is a mess and her ex-husband just fired her nanny. So her life is running amok even before she’s mistaken for a contract killer and ends up with a dead body in her garage.
I think Finlay was supposed to be relatable and entertaining, but I found her mostly annoying. Yes, her cheating ex-husband was a jerk, but you have to take some responsibility for your own life. She made dumb decisions and yet everything worked out so well for her. And she has two attractive and intelligent men interested in her even though she seems to be permanently sticky and/or lying.
I’m probably just not the right audience for this one. “Funny” doesn’t always work well for me, whether it be books or movies. My sense of humor doesn’t always line up well with others’.
About Elle Cosimano
Elle Cosimano is a New York Times and USA Today bestselling author, an International Thriller Writers Award winner, and an Edgar Award nominee. Elle’s debut novel for adults, Finlay Donovan Is Killing It, kicked off a witty, fast-paced contemporary mystery series, which was a People magazine pick and was named one of New York Public Library’s Best Books of 2021. The third book in the series, Finlay Donovan Jumps the Gun, was an instant New York Times bestseller. A TV show based on the series is now in development by Tina Fey and Lang Fisher for Peacock. In addition to writing novels for teens and adults, her essays have appeared in HuffPost and Time. Cosimano lives with her husband and two sons in Virginia.
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