Finlay Donovan Rolls the Dice by Elle Cosimano Series: Finlay Donovan, #4, #4
Published by St. Martin's Publishing Group on March 5, 2024
Genres: Fiction / Mystery & Detective / Women Sleuths
Pages: 320
Format: ARC, eBook
Source: NetGalley
From New York Times bestseller Elle Cosimano comes Finlay Donovan Rolls the Dice—the fiercely anticipated next installment in the beloved Finlay Donovan series.
"Finlay Donovan is irresistible!"—Janet Evanovich
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?
My Review
I want first to thank St. Martin’s Press, Minotaur Books, and Netgalley for the ARC of Finlay Donovan Rolls The Dice by Elle Cosimano in return for an honest review. I was excited to see Elle Cosimano on Netgalley and even more pumped to see she had a new book coming out. I have read every book in the FInlay Donovan Series, and I have enjoyed each so much. When I say the excitement for this book was real, I mean it was REAL for me. I am eager to see where Book Five and Beyond will take us.
Finlay Donovan Rolls The Dice is book four in a series, which makes it challenging to write about without giving away any spoilers from the previous books, but I will do my best. I highly recommend starting from book one in this series, though, because each book builds upon itself, and trust me when I say that the other books are worth the read. So, onto book four in the series. The story picks up right where book three left off, with Finlay and Vero returning home from the police academy. After the events during that week-long stent, they decided they needed to take the kids and have a girls’ weekend away. Keep in mind, though, that this is Finlay and Vero we are talking about, so the weekend away will not be rest and relaxation; instead, it will be hunting for Vero’s crush, Javi, and looking for a stolen car that is linked to Finlay in the worst possible of ways.
The road trip from the start does not go as smoothly as one would hope when Finlay’s mother decides that the girls need someone to watch the kids while they go off and hit the spas and casinos. I mean, come on, they are going to Atlantic City after all. Finlay and Vero obviously can not disclose the real reason for the trip to Finlay’s mom, so they agree to let her come along. The truly frustrating thing, though, is that Finlay is not able to take the kids across the State lines without her ex-husband’s permission, which he refuses to give. He does, however, suggest that he makes that trip with them, and unfortunately for Finlay, she has to agree. This is just a recipe for disaster because how are they going to go sleuthing with her ex around? Oh, I forgot to mention that Vero and Steven are mortal enemies.
After some hiccups along the way, they finally make it to Atlantic City, where they take up residence in two rooms at a cheap casino hotel. The challenges for Finlay and Vero begin now because they need to figure out how to get time alone to track down Marco and plead with him for Javi’s return. Is Javi even still alive? Vero is beside herself, not knowing where or how he is, which leads the reader to discover some of Vero’s backstory and her relationship with Javi throughout the years. I really felt for her once I got to learn more about her and the things that she had been through.
Finlay and Vero are finally able to track down Marco and let’s just say things do not go smoothly. He refuses to negotiate with them. What are a couple of girls to do? Well, of course, they decide to break into Marco’s suite to get clues as to Javi’s whereabouts and the Aston Martin. What they discover, however, is something that makes them look beyond guilty. I found the steps they took to try and hide the crime scene to be completely hilarious. One thing is for certain these two chicks have some cojones.
Things only intensify for Finlay and Vero when they get back to their room and discover that a few cops from their hometown, including Nick and Georgia, show up in search of a missing man named Ike (from the previous book). So much for that girl’s weekend that they were counting on to do some sleuthing and a rescue mission. Now, it is also about trying to keep their cool and escaping the group without being noticed, which has become even harder since there always seems to be a cop assigned to watching and protecting them (this will make more sense if you have read the previous books). All in all, I really enjoyed this book, and I am eager to see what happens in the next book because, man, Elle Cosimano really ended it with a cliffhanger.
If you are looking for a fun, cozy mystery-type series with an awesome group of characters and two kick-butt female leads, then please give this book series a go. If you enjoy books like The Stephanie Plum Series by Janet Evanovich, then I really think you will love The Finlay Donovan Series. They are laugh-out-loud funny, fast-paced, and full of mishaps and adventure. Again, I want to give a shout-out to St. Martin’s Press, Minotaur Books, and Netgalley for the ARC of Finlay Donovan Rolls The Dice by Elle Cosimano in return for an honest review. Reader, have you read any of the books in this series? If so, which ones and did you like them? If you pick this one up then please let me know your thoughts down below because I am truly interested in what you have to say. Until next time, Reader, Happy Reading.
Trigger Warnings:
- Murder
- Kidnapping
- Gambling