Whenever there is a murder in Northern Virginia, Finlay Donovan will be there. Will she need to be there? No, absolutely not. But she will anyway. On the off chance that she’s busy with her kids that night, she will certainly find the body later.
Finlay Donovan is a divorced mother of two, a novelist, and on occasion gets hired as a contract killer. The first book, Finlay Donovan is Killing It, is a lighthearted, funny murder mystery with a criminally likable protagonist. The second book is more of the same, for better and for worse.
The second book takes place just about a month after the events of the first one. The Russian Mob is at it again (they always are) and someone is trying hire a hitman to kill her dirtbag ex-husband. Despite my protestations of “oh, just let them,” Finlay is intent on stopping the contract killer and writing a followup to her next book before her agent contract kills her.
Vero is still helping with the kids as a live-in babysitter, is still getting into constant car trouble, usually involving dead bodies and still is the funniest character in these books.
If you liked the first one you will probably also like this one; it’s more of the same. The sense of humor is the same, the plot is very similar and there are some absolutely hilarious one liners (my favorite involves the interior of a sports car being compared to Darth Vader’s bathroom). That said, I found myself thinking that she really did not need to be involved in most of the stuff she gets into. She keeps justifying her involvement by trying to cover up what happened in book one. But in doing so, she gets herself involved in all new crimes and makes it much more likely that she’ll be found out.
The sheer number of dumb choices just absolutely skyrockets. I spent way more time screaming at Finlay in this book than I did in the first one and her likability suffered a little. The most egregious doesn’t even have to do with murder. Very early on in the book, Vero, ostensibly her accountant, says they don’t have money repeatedly when they should. Its blindingly obvious that something happened and Vero lost at least a chunk of their money. Finlay completely ignores these warnings multiple times and just doesn’t seem to care for most of the book? Which is wild since money problems were what got her into this mess in the last book. You think she’d ask some follow up questions sooner than 80% into the novel.
Now, I did read these back to back so this might not be a problem for you if you’ve had more time in between. I think this is not a series you binge; it benefits from time between books.
I do have a couple of annoyances that reading them farther apart would not solve. I think I’m supposed to be rooting for Finlay to end up with Nick the cop. Nick the cop strikes me as a creep. I think I am supposed to think he’s sweet and stable and good for her, but he also has some really piss poor judgement (Finlay has enough of that on her own) and the book makes it clear he’s constantly looking at her boobs. There’s one point where the cops get called for a break in at Finlay’s house. She just stepped out of the shower and is wearing only a towel. Nick responds to the break in call and is roaming around her house with his gun drawn and finds Finlay, who is completely unaware of the potential break-in. He looks her up and down in the towel before going “oh right, I have my gun out and am supposed to be figuring out if there’s a murderer in here.” She got out of the bathroom and was confronted by police in her apartment with weapons drawn. Is this really the time? It just doesn’t sit right with me.
Also with the sheer number of murders and police matters she inserts herself into, it’s hard not to think of Finlay as the epitome of white privilege, something I’m certain this series does not want to tackle.
I also should warn people (no spoilers, don’t worry) that the ending of this book does not tie up neatly: they’re really gunning to set up book three. You don’t find out everything about the mystery of who’s trying to kill her ex-husband and what we do find out is…underwhelming. If that annoys you, maybe wait for book 3.
I got this as an audiobook and I think that’s a great format for this story. The narrator is great (the kids voices are so realistic I wondered if they used actual children) and it’s the kind of story where if you miss a little, you’ll catch up really quickly.
Note: I got this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.
Who is this for: Stressed out moms, cozy mystery enthusiasts people who want a little murder with their romance.
Pairs well with: A glass of cheap Chardonnay and a true crime documentary.
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