Finlay Donovan Digs her Own Grave by Elle Cosimano

Synopsis

From New York Times bestseller and Edgar-Award nominee Elle Cosimano, comes Finlay Donovan Digs Her Own Grave—the hugely anticipated next installment in the fan-favorite Finlay Donovan series.

Finlay Donovan may have skeletons in her closet . . . but at least there’s not a body in her backyard.

Finlay Donovan and her nanny/partner-in-crime, Vero, have not always gotten along with Finlay’s elderly neighbor, Mrs. Haggerty, the community busybody and president of the neighborhood watch. But when a dead body is discovered in her backyard, Mrs. Haggerty needs their help. At first a suspect, Mrs. Haggerty is cleared by the police, but her house remains an active crime scene. She has nowhere to go . . . except Finlay’s house, right across the street.

Finlay and Vero have no interest in getting involved in another murder case—or sacrificing either of their bedrooms. After all, they’ve dealt with enough murders over the last four months to last a lifetime and they both would much rather share their beds with someone else.

Audiobook Review

4,5 stars

Format of the book : audiobook

• Genre : crime/mystery
• Subgenre : cozy/funny crime mystery
• The plot in a nutshell

In this fourth book, a body is found in Mrs Haggerty’s garden. After briefly suspecting Finlay’s old and nosy neighbor of committing the crime, an anonymous tips leads to the arrest of Findlay’s ex husband Steven on the allegation that he had an affair with the wife’s deceased. Steven might be a cheater but Finlay knows he didn’t kill the guy. With Vero’s help, and despite Mrs Haggerty’s unexpected and unwanted stay at Finlays, they go on private investigator mode to prove Steven’s innocence.

• The mood : light and intriguing with funny moments
• Tropes : best friends against the world ; single mom with a village to raise their kids ; little girl power ; potty training ; surrogate grandma with an iron will and shrewd tactics to potty train.

• POV : single. Finlay’s

• Character driven or plot driven ? A bit of both

• Main female character was…

Finlay and Vero can be considered both as main characters at this point of the series even if the book says Finlay. Finlay is a quick thinker, adapts to stressful situations where Vero lands her a hand albeit a crazy one. They form a magic duo that solves crimes in a very unconventional way often resulting in a Vaudeville situation.

• Main male character was…

Nick alias hot cop. We see more of him but I still consider him a side character even if he is an important one. He is completely smitten with Finlay and is the epitome of a good and smart cop in a hot bod who smells good (very important lol)

• Side characters what they added

Aside from Nick we have Finlay’s flamboyant and terrifying agent Sylvia whose boobs are fatal weapons (nearly smothering rookie cops). Mrs Haggerty was the crotchety and shrewd neighbor with eagle eyes doing her neighborhood watch ! She was a drill sergeant with the kids and yet surprisingly supportive in her own way. Cam our young techie with his obsession for tuning Mrs Haggertyy’s vintage car in a dazzling eggplant on wheel was funny yet adorable.

All these side characters were the oil to the mayonnaise: essentials to have everything run smoothly.

• Writing

Straightforward, smart, funny and efficient.

• Made me feel… Very entertained

• I’d recommend for

Fans of the series and people who want a fast and very entertaining read

• Conclusion

Finlay Donovan Digs her Own Grave was lighthearted and funny to read. What it sometime missed in banter between Vero and Finlay (compared to the previous books)  it made up in fun with the kids, especially Delia ! The narration is perfect for the series .

Thanks for reading.

Sophie