Finlay Donovan Digs Her Own Grave

January 1, 2025

Cosimano's latest Finlay adventure (after Finlay Donovan Rolls the Dice) allows readers to learn more about the series' key players. Finlay and her sidekick, nanny Vero, are looking forward to a break from crime solving, but when a neighbor's pipes burst and a body is unearthed in her yard, they must solve this new case. Since Mrs. Haggerty's house is now a crime scene, she ends up staying at Finlay's, which creates chaos that might not be all bad. Cosimano uses Mrs. Haggerty's backstory to give greater depth to the current mysterious happenings and brings up topics worth a good book club discussion. Fans of the series will appreciate that this installment shows growth in Finlay and Nick's romance, creates space for newer characters to shine, and gives small moments of appreciation to the wider family connections. There are enough explanations of previous hijinks that new readers won't be lost but not so much that the story gets bogged down. VERDICT A great suggestion for fans of Janet Evanovich, Mary Kay Andrews, or Stephanie Bond.--Stacey Hayman

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January 6, 2025
Bestseller Cosimano provides an entertaining fifth investigation for mystery writer and divorced mom Finlay Donovan (after Finlay Donovan Rolls the Dice). At the outset, the citizens of South Riding, Va., are eagerly gossiping about the discovery of a body in the rose garden of Finlay’s nosy 81-year-old neighbor, Mrs. Haggerty. The dead man is Gilford Dupree, who went missing five years earlier, and South Riding’s rumor mill quickly settles on Finlay’s philandering ex-husband, Steven—who may have been having an affair with Mrs. Dupree—as the culprit. Unfortunately for Steven, detective Mike Tran latches onto the idea, forcing Finlay, as much as she resents it, to help keep the father of her children out of prison. To add to Finlay’s problems, Mrs. Haggerty’s son has dropped his abrasive mother off at Finlay’s home while he skedaddles to Florida, because her house has been declared an active crime scene. Finlay and her nanny, Vero, handle the case alongside handsome detective Nicholas Anthony, untangling the amusing if easy to solve mystery with panache. Series fans will enjoy the opportunity to get to know recurring character Mrs. Haggerty in greater detail. This is good fun.

January 15, 2025
A body discovered beneath a Virginia neighbor's yard plunges the irrepressible title character into another reprise of murder. Five years after he vanished, Ashburn mortgage broker Gilford Dupree has finally turned up, buried in the garden of 81-year-old neighborhood watch president Margaret Haggerty. By the time Maggie's released from police custody for lack of evidence, the power and water in her house have been shut off, so her politically minded grandson, Brendan, brings her over to Finlay's place, where she announces that she plans to stay until everything's set straight at her home. That may take a lot longer than the weekend Finlay originally envisions, because there's no sign of any contractors at Maggie's house, and because Brendan's taken a powder. Loudoun County Detective Mike Tran's arrest of Finlay's ex, developer Steven Donovan, for the murder throws Finlay's dream of having even one more peaceful night with her adorably self-assertive children and her latest beau, Fairfax County Detective Nicholas Anthony, into the trash can. As Finlay struggles to figure out how to deal with the lucrative offer Hollywood producer Randall Wolfe has made to turn the story of her earlier adventures (read: earlier crimes she's secretly been complicit in) into a TV series, ghosts from her past seem to confront her at every turn, eventually leading her to the truth. Less rollicking and more businesslike than the earlier installments, whose comedy of crime seems ever harder to sustain.

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