Finlay Donovan Rolls the Dice by Elle Cosimano
Publication Date: March 5, 2024
Summary from NetGalley:
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?
ARC provided by St Martin Press via NetGalley for an honest review.
Confession:
These books never fail to make me laugh. I just love all of the banter between the characters and the predicaments that Finlay and Vero find themselves in are just over the top hilarious. In this fourth installment the duo take a road trip to Atlantic City with children, ex husband and mother in tow, only to be joined by all of our favorite cops. Shenanigans shortly ensue and the bodies start to pile up as Finlay and Vero hunt down kidnappers and loan sharks.
Finlay continues to be a bit of a hot mess, and also makes many bad decisions that still somehow seems to keep her and Vero one step ahead of the russian mafia and the police. But she is showing a bit of growth in this one, as she at least starts to understand her strengths and uses them to her advantage. Her greatest strength is her friendship with Vero. Vero is the best friend everyone wants to have because she always has your back, and a shovel to help bury the body. I love Vero and her tenacity and sarcastic wit are always a delight to read.
All of the secondary characters that you have learned to love and hate, join Finlay and Vero on their road trip. Nick is there to of course bring some spicy sex to the story. Steven is also on the scene and at times I almost felt sorry for him because he was so out of his element. But then I remind myself how he is such a schmuck and it is okay to hate him again. We also get to see a lot more of Finlay’s mom, who was a great addition to the team. I just loved her! And a special shout out to Kevin Bacon, a weiner dog, whose name gives us such comedic relief that you have to love him.
The action is fast paced and never lets up from the first page. I must say the the plot of this one left me a little bit disappointed. Some of the decisions made by Finlay and Vero were so bad that it just made it real hard to suspend disbelief and sort of took me out of the story abit. But I did appreciate that most of the storylines from the previous books were neatly tied up by the end. But don’t worry, I am pretty sure there will be a fifth book after reading the epilogue!
This was a perfect addition to the series. It was full of all of the dead bodies, shenanigans, and witty banter that expect from these books. If you are looking for a fun cozy mystery thriller with some romance to get you through the long cold winter nights, than look no further than this series. It has it all.
If you are interested in reading my reviews for the other books in the series, just click on the titles below.
Confessions of a Serial Reader 