If you know me at all, you know I am completely obsessed with the Finlay Donovan series by Elle Cosimano and is one of my favorites to recommend. These books check every box for me. They are lighthearted, fast-paced, silly, and so relatable, especially as a mom with young kids.
Finlay’s life is a total whirlwind in the best way. One minute she’s dealing with potty training meltdowns and trying to make her next writing deadline, and the next she’s wrapped up in mob messes, murder plots, and all kinds of crazy situations.
What I really love is that beneath all the wild and over-the-top moments, Finlay feels so real. She’s just trying to protect her kids, keep her head above water financially, figure out her career, and survive the daily chaos of mom life. The friendship with Vero is one of my favorite parts, and the little sparks of romance add just the right touch.
This series is the perfect mix of cozy mystery, comedy, and mom-life moments. These books are pure fun but still smart and twisty enough to keep me totally hooked.
Below, I included quick, summary for each book if you’re just browsing or thinking of starting the series. And at the bottom, there’s a detailed recap section with all the spoilers and key events, so you can jump right back in if you need a refresher before the next book – especially since she confirmed a book 6 is coming out next spring!
Finlay Donovan Is Killing It
A struggling single mom and novelist, Finlay, is mistaken for a hitwoman during a lunch meeting with her agent. One wild misunderstanding leads to real crime, real dead bodies, and a new “side hustle” she never saw coming.
Finlay Donovan Knocks ‘Em Dead
Finlay discovers someone wants her ex-husband dead. While trying to protect him (somehow), she gets tangled up in mobsters, shady online forums, and more parenting chaos than she signed up for.
Finlay Donovan Jumps the Gun
Finlay has to find and stop a mysterious contract killer (EasyClean) before a mob boss comes for her. She goes undercover at a police academy, and things spiral into new levels of absurdity and danger.
Finlay Donovan Rolls the Dice
Finlay and Vero head to Atlantic City to save Vero’s crush Javi and solve a tangled mess involving stolen cars, the mob, and undercover agents. There’s a surprise wedding, some new betrayals, and more trouble than ever.
Finlay Donovan Digs Her Own Grave
A body is discovered in a neighbor’s backyard, and Finlay is once again pulled into a murder investigation — all while hosting her nosy neighbor at home. Old secrets, suspicious book clubs, and plenty of humor.
Detailed summaries (spoilers) are listed below for each of the books.
Finlay Donovan, a struggling single mom and romantic suspense writer, is having a rough time: she’s behind on her book deadline, broke, and battling her sleazy ex-husband Steven, who’s engaged to their former real estate agent Theresa. At a lunch meeting with her agent Sylvia, a woman overhears their discussion about a book plot and mistakes Finlay for a hitwoman. She slips Finlay a note offering $50,000 to kill her husband, Harris.
Curiosity (and desperation) get the best of her. She tails Harris to a bar, disguised, and sees him drugging another woman. Finlay swaps the drinks, causing Harris to accidentally drug himself. She takes him home with plans to hand him over to her cop sister Georgia, but instead, Harris dies in her garage from carbon monoxide poisoning.
Vero, her ex-nanny and now roommate, finds her and offers to help dispose of the body for a 40% cut of the money. Together, they bury Harris on Steven’s sod farm. Patricia, Harris’s wife, pays Finlay, and then offers her another job via Irina to kill Irina’s mob-connected husband, Andrei.
Meanwhile, Finlay realizes she didn’t shut the garage door — meaning Harris might have been intentionally killed. She starts writing about everything that happened, turning it into a new novel draft. Her agent loves it and negotiates a big new book deal.
Things escalate: Patricia disappears, the Russian mob gets involved, and Finlay learns that Harris was extorting women he’d assaulted. Steven’s farm becomes a crime scene when the police discover multiple bodies. Finlay and Vero have to dig up Harris’s body to avoid getting caught, fight off Andrei (who dies accidentally in the process), and mislead the police to keep their involvement secret.
Patricia reappears, claims she went into hiding because she was threatened, and Irina continues to push Finlay for more hits. In the end, Finlay receives a note offering $100,000 to kill her ex-husband Steven — setting up the next book.
Finlay Donovan Knocks ‘Em Dead (Book 2)
After the chaos of Harris’s death, Finlay finds a new nightmare: someone on an underground mom forum has posted a hit on her ex-husband Steven. She and Vero try to figure out who “FedUp” is and stop the plan before Steven gets killed (even though she sometimes wants to strangle him herself).
They break into Steven’s farm trailer, which gets firebombed, and find a chest freezer with the dismembered remains of Steven’s business partner Carl. The trailer was rented by Theresa, who confesses she helped hide Carl’s body after he was killed by her lover Feliks (the Russian mob boss).
Meanwhile, Finlay’s romantic life is a mess. She’s drawn to Detective Nick but also keeps crossing paths with Julian, the bartender from Book 1.
Cam, a teen hacker, helps them track the forum. They discover that EasyClean, a mysterious assassin, has picked up the contract to kill Steven. Finlay poses as the buyer to stall, but her online footprint now makes her look like she wants him dead.
Steven is attacked and kidnapped temporarily, and Finlay and Vero end up tying him up and faking his death to expose who placed the hit. It all spirals into an explosive showdown at Carl’s old house, with various conspiracies revealed, gunfire exchanged, and Nick getting shot but surviving.
In a twist, Finlay learns that “FedUp” was actually her mom, venting online out of frustration with Steven. Meanwhile, Feliks wants EasyClean eliminated. The book ends with Feliks demanding that Finlay find and kill EasyClean, or else.
Finlay Donovan Jumps the Gun (Book 3)
Feliks, now in prison, demands that Finlay kill EasyClean — or he’ll come after her and Vero. Meanwhile, Vero reveals that she owes $200,000 to a loan shark named Marco, after trying to fix a sorority embezzlement situation and losing it gambling.
They try to sell Feliks’s Aston Martin to pay off Vero’s debt, but a thug named Ike shows up to collect. During a chaotic confrontation, Ike is killed accidentally when a car falls on him. Feliks’s lawyer Kat offers to pay off Vero’s debt and handle Ike’s body if Finlay eliminates EasyClean.
Finlay and Vero decide to go undercover at a citizen’s police academy run by Nick, hoping to sniff out EasyClean among the cops. They suspect it’s someone on the force, as Cam confirms.
During the academy, they gather clues, analyze a bullet from a past attack, and learn about police corruption. Feliks escapes from prison and crashes the academy, demanding that Finlay prove her loyalty by shooting Joey, Nick’s new partner (and Cam’s uncle). She does, but Joey is wearing a vest, and it’s revealed he’s actually working undercover for Internal Affairs, not the hitman.
The real EasyClean turns out to be Stu, the police psychologist, who escapes in the confusion. Meanwhile, Javi (Vero’s old friend and crush) is kidnapped, and the Aston Martin is stolen.
The book ends with Finlay and Vero realizing they still owe big money, the mob is after them, and they have to save Javi.
Finlay Donovan Rolls the Dice (Book 4)
Finlay and Vero head to Atlantic City to rescue Javi and get back the Aston Martin. Their cover story is a girls’ weekend, but Steven and Finlay’s mom tag along.
They meet Marco, who demands either the $200k plus the car, or the return of his missing nephew Ike (who is already dead). They break into Marco’s suite pretending to be housekeeping and find Marco and his PI dead — Marco is naked in a tub. They scramble to create fake alibis, but then the police and FBI arrive in town following a tip about Feliks.
Cam shows up to help, and chaos erupts. There’s a hilarious male strip club scene with Pokey, an attempted shooting by shady cop Charlie, and Cam throwing a wild hotel party to contaminate the crime scene with DNA.
Eventually, they locate and steal back the Aston Martin and rescue Javi. Vero and Javi drunkenly get married. In the final confrontation, Feliks shows up. Charlie shoots Feliks dead and is then killed himself by GG, Marco’s widow.
All the major threats (Feliks, Charlie, Marco) are dead. But in the epilogue, cops find a body in Finlay’s neighbor’s backyard, setting up the next mystery.
Finlay Donovan Digs Her Own Grave (Book 5)
A body is discovered buried in Mrs. Haggerty’s yard. Mrs. Haggerty temporarily moves in with Finlay while her house is a crime scene. The victim is Gilford Dupree.
Steven becomes a prime suspect when rumors surface about an affair with Gilford’s wife, Penny. Steven denies it, but Penny later admits to Finlay that they did have an affair. Finlay suspects Penny may have killed Gilford and is framing Steven.
Meanwhile, Finlay discovers that Mrs. Haggerty’s “book club” is actually a vigilante group that plots to kill abusive men. Patricia Mickler (from Book 1) is connected to this group.
Finlay and Vero try to expose the group, but they are captured and forced into a silence pact — keep quiet or everyone gets exposed. Penny then confesses to murdering Gilford, and Mrs. Haggerty admits to helping bury the body and turns herself in.
In a huge personal step, Finlay finally comes clean to Nick about all her past misadventures. He accepts her anyway, strengthening their relationship.
Mrs. Haggerty profits by selling her neighborhood watch journals to Finlay’s agent, which could become a book or a movie. The series wraps with no immediate cliffhanger, but plenty of room for future trouble.
