Mystery Book Recommendation: Finlay Donovan Jumps the Gun

Posted On April 5, 2023

Hi Readers! As promised, I’m back with a book review or a mystery book recommendation if you will. This is the third book in the Finlay Donovan mystery book series.

~~GOODREADS DESCRIPTION~~

Author and single mom Finlay Donovan has been in messes before―after all, she’s a pro at removing bloodstains for various unexpected reasons―but none quite like this. When Finlay and her nanny/partner-in-crime Vero accidentally destroyed a luxury car that they had “borrowed” in the process of saving the life of Finlay’s ex-husband, the Russian mob did her a favor and bought the car for her. And now Finlay owes them.

Mob boss Feliks is still running the show from behind bars, and he has a task for Finlay: find and identify a contract killer before the cops do. The problem is, the killer might be an officer themself.

Luckily, hot cop Nick has just been tasked with starting up a citizen’s police academy, and combined pressure from Finlay’s looming book deadline and Feliks is enough to convince Finlay and Vero to get involved. Through firearm training and forensic classes (and some hands-on research with a tempting detective), Finlay and Vero use their time in police academy to sleuth out the real contract killer to free themselves from the mob’s clutches―all the while dodging spies, confronting Vero’s past, and juggling the daily trials of parenthood.

~~THOUGHTS~~

There are some mystery book series that become auto-buy. You don’t know how it starts, but when you know there’s a new book out, you are counting down the days till you read it. The irony is that you might not even have loved all the books in the series. But just being in that book universe brings you a certain type of thrill. For me, such mystery book universes include The Thursday Murder Club books, Seishi Yokomizo’s books and lately Finlay Donovan books!

I read the first book Finlay Donovan is Killing It because everyone on Goodreads was reading it. I loved that book. Then came Finlay Donovan Knocks ‘Em Dead which was a disappointing read. But even so, that didn’t stop me from reading Finlay Donovan Jumps the Gun! And I’m so glad I decided to read it because it was super fun!

What works with these novels is the amazing duo of Finlay and Vero, the crazy things that they do, the masterful plot, people ending up dead unintentionally and the unpredictable ending with a bit of a cliff hanger to reel you back in with the next book.

In the third book, we have the Russian mob boss Feliks Zhirov terrorising Finlay to find who EasyClean is. The only clue she has is that EasyClean is a cop. Then we have some more bad people chasing Vero because she owes them a lot of money. Add to this, Finlay’s ex-husband Steven who is always up to no good and whom I possibly hate more than the real crooks. So, what do Finlay and Veto do to get away from these people? They decide to go to a one-week civilian police camp! I absolutely loved the whole police camp setting. It was new, fun, and just perfect for a third book. Solving fake crimes in the form of competitions in disguise of trying to find the bad cop? Yes please!

The story was fast paced with a lot of incidents. There were fewer dead bodies but for once I didn’t mind. The ending was really good too. These characters have a standoffish charm to attract problems and I’m here for it. There are still a few lose ends in the big picture story. But I do hope that Book 4 is the last one. Too many books in a series can feel like it’s dragging. But anyway, here’s to more craziness in the Finlay Donovan universe! I have rated Finlay Donovan Jumps the Gun by Elle Cosimano at 4/5 stars!

If you want to pick this mystery book series, I suggest you read them in order. Here are the book reviews of the first two books:

Finlay Donovan is Killing It
Finlay Donovan Knocks ‘Em Dead

Just writing this review makes me want to read more mystery and crime novels. Maybe I’ll read one this month!

Until next time,