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Book Review
Reviewed: 08 February 2024

Finlay Donovan Rolls the Dice

by: Elle Cosimano

The Finlay Donovan Series - Book 4

  • Rating: full starfull starfull starfull starstar outline (4/5)

What a wild ride from beginning to end with secrets, kids, lost loves, and more. Vero and Finlay have a lot on their hands.

I’ve been looking forward to reading this one. Finlay’s life is stranger than the fiction that she writes. I love the dialogue, mostly from Vero which causes me to laugh out loud. “There is no way you are taking them out with Faberware, you need Le Creuset for that”.

At first I was scratching my head as to why Stephen would insist on going but as the story progressed, it was important for him to go along for the ride both to help with the kids as well as for him and Finlay to move on.

Finlay cannot help but mother those around her and it was a good thing as 17 year old Cam needed it. 

I worried a bit if Javi would ever be found as Vero and Finlay spent a lot of time on evading protection and moving dead bodies. 

I worry about Nick though, he is a bit shaken given what was uncovered and he doesn’t even know the half of what has happened. Charles’ comment about Nick finding out about Finlay, was on point. Nick is working through his feelings about is partner, Joey. Glad about it.

A few storylines were resolved which I was glad to see. The ladies save the day, as “No one and I mean no one threatens Kevin Bacon and lives to tell about it” - LOL!

There are still a couple of loose ends that could continue impact Finlay’s life especially with the upcoming publication of Finlay’s book. 

I didn’t expect the ending - oh my!

Thank you to #NetGalley  for the opportunity to do an early read and share my thoughts on the story. 

Happy Reading!

Release Date: 5-March-2024
Audiobook, Female Sleuth, NetGalley, Mystery

Plot Summary

Finlay Donovan and her nanny/partner-in-crime Vero are in sore need of a girls’ weekend away. They plan a trip to Atlantic City, but odds are―seeing as it’s actually a cover story to negotiate a deal with a dangerous loan shark, save Vero’s childhood crush Javi, and hunt down a stolen car―it won’t be all fun and games. When Finlay’s ex-husband Steven and her mother insist on tagging along too, Finlay and Vero suddenly have a few too many meddlesome passengers along for the ride.

Within hours of arriving in their seedy casino hotel, it becomes clear their rescue mission is going to be a bust. Javi’s kidnapper, Marco, refuses to negotiate, demanding payment in full in exchange for Javi’s life. But that’s not all―he insists on knowing the whereabouts of his missing nephew, Ike, who mysteriously disappeared. Unable to confess what really happened to Ike, Finlay and Vero are forced to come up with a new plan: sleuth out the location of Javi and the Aston Martin, then steal them both back.

But when they sneak into the loan shark’s suite to search for clues, they find more than they bargained for―Marco's already dead. They don’t have a clue who murdered him, only that they themselves have a very convincing motive. Then four members of the police department unexpectedly show up in town, also looking for Ike―and after Finlay's night with hot cop Nick at the police academy, he’s a little too eager to keep her close to his side.

If Finlay can juggle a jealous ex-husband, two precocious kids, her mother’s marital issues, a decomposing loan shark, and find Vero’s missing boyfriend, she might get out of Atlantic City in one piece. But will she fold under the pressure and come clean about the things she’s done, or be forced to double down?