Finlay Donovan Knocks ’Em Dead, published in 2022, is the second book in Elle Cosimano’s Finlay Donovan Mysteries series, featuring the continuing adventures of mystery writer Finlay “Finn” Donovan. In the first book in the series, Finn discovered a mafia-linked online forum where contract killings are being bought and sold by people posing as ordinary moms—and now, Finn discovers that someone is plotting to kill her ex-husband, Steven. As she and her children’s nanny, Vero, race against the clock to find out who is trying to kill Steven, Finn keeps her chaotic household running and her children safe, all while getting her new book underway. The novel highlights The Irony and Absurdity of Life while emphasizing The Necessity of Resilience and Determination and the importance of Women’s Networks of Support.

Cosimano is also the author of the young adult mysteries Nearly Gone, Holding Smoke, Seasons of the Storm, and The Suffering Tree. Among her many awards and recognitions, Cosimano has been nominated for an Edgar Award, was a Bram Stoker Award finalist, and won an International Thriller Award in 2015.

This guide refers to the 2022 Minotaur Books paperback edition.

Content Warning: The source text and this guide discuss murder, violence (including gun violence), and a dismembered corpse.

Plot Summary

On Thanksgiving, Finlay “Finn” Donovan conducts an impromptu funeral for her children’s goldfish. Four-year-old Delia and her toddler brother, Zach, are devastated but recover quickly during the Thanksgiving celebrations at Finn’s parents’ house. Finn also invites her children’s nanny, Veronica “Vero” Ruiz, who has become a close friend, but she notices that Vero is distracted.

After dinner, Finn returns home alone: The children are staying with her parents for the weekend because Finn wants to keep them away from their father, Steven Donovan, temporarily. Recently, Finn and Vero discovered an online mom forum that is a front for illegal activity. On it, someone called “FedUp” posted a solicitation to have Steven murdered. No one has picked up the contract yet, and Finn wants to track down FedUp before this happens. Steven stops by, demanding to take the children on Sunday, and she reluctantly agrees.

On Sunday morning, Finn and Vero take the children Christmas shopping, and Vero reveals that she has invested Finn’s money. Steven picks the children up to take them to his sod farm; worried about their safety, Finn and Vero covertly follow. Steven is attacked and his phone is stolen, but Finn and Vero jump in to protect the children.

Finn’s literary agent, Sylvia, calls on Monday morning for an update on Finn’s new novel. Finn, desperate to give Sylvia something, makes up a plot loosely based on her current situation. She goes to the mall to write but ends up back on the online forum. When she sees that someone called “EasyClean” has accepted the contract on Steven, she panics and offers to take the contract for half the price. Her laptop and username are now tied to a contract killing.

Finn runs into Nick Anthony, a police detective with whom she has a romantic past, and accepts a dinner invitation from him. She also sees Aimee Reynolds, the best friend of Theresa Hall, with whom Steven was cheating on Finn. Aimee has a relationship with Delia and Zach and wants to see them. Finn agrees that she can come over on Saturday. That night, Finn and Vero meet a young computer expert, Cam, and Finn pays him to investigate FedUp’s identity.

Finn decides to break into Steven’s office trailer at his farm to look for clues. While she and Vero are there, someone firebombs the trailer. Later, they review Vero’s photos of Steven’s accounts, taken during their break-in, and discover that he pays for a storage unit. At the unit, they find a chest freezer containing the dismembered remains of Carl Westover, one of Steven’s business partners. They also find out that Theresa rented the unit, so they go to her house to confront her.

Theresa reveals that while she was engaged to Steven, she had an affair with Feliks Zhirov, a Russian mobster. Feliks killed Carl and made her dispose of the body. When Finn hears that Aimee helped Theresa move the body, she and Vero rush back to Finn’s house. The children are fine, but Aimee left in a rush, so Finn’s sister, Georgia, a police officer, is watching them. 

After Nick picks Finn up, he takes her to a restaurant owned by Feliks, and she meets Feliks’s attorney, Kat Rybakov. When Finn returns home, she finds a casino chip that she thinks might belong to Vero and snoops in Vero’s room. She finds some paperwork that gives Vero a different last name.

Finn meets with Irina Borovkov, a woman with ties to Feliks. She has discovered that Feliks is in control of the forum and asks Irina to ask Feliks to take the forum offline. Irina promises to think of a solution. When Finn gets home, her mother, Susan McDonnell, is there. Susan confides that Finn’s father recently downloaded a computer virus and that a computer technician came to their home.

On Monday morning, Finn hears a noise in her house and is ready to attack, but it turns out to be Nick, responding to a call about a suspicious person. He is worried because Cam and Theresa have both disappeared. Nick’s new partner, Joey, brings in an envelope that he found on the porch. After they leave, Finn and Vero open the envelope. Irina has sent Finn a black wig so that she can impersonate Feliks’s lawyer, Kat, and visit him in jail. Finn visits Feliks, disguised as Kat, and he agrees to take the forum offline.

Finn and Vero find Cam hiding out at the mall, and he steals Vero’s car. When they finally get home, Steven is in the garage. He grabs Finn, and Vero knocks him unconscious. They decide to take a photo of Steven and send it to FedUp, claiming that he is dead, so that they can discover FedUp’s identity. After they take the photo, they tie Steven up and leave him in a motel room. They see a notification on Steven’s phone inviting him to a meeting with his two former partners, Carl and Ted, at Carl’s house. 

At Carl’s house, Finn and Vero find Theresa, Aimee, and Mrs. Westover, Carl’s estranged wife. They learn that Mrs. Westover is Theresa’s mother and has been hiding Theresa and Aimee. Ted Fuller, Steven’s other former partner, arrives and reveals that his wife burned Steven’s trailer but hasn’t done anything else to harm him. 

Nick arrives, having tracked Aimee’s phone. Someone outside begins firing, and Nick is wounded but kills the attackers. Finn calls Steven, who has escaped from the motel. He used her van, however, and now it is broken down. Finn drives out and finds Steven. Another vehicle approaches, and its driver opens fire, but Finn and Steven escape uninjured. Finn leaves Steven at home and picks up Vero, who confesses that she lost Finn’s money gambling. Finn assures her that they will fix the situation. 

At Christmas Eve dinner with her parents, Finn discovers that her mother is FedUp. Susan learned about the online forum from their computer technician and was just venting her anger at Steven. That night, Finn and Vero discover a note from Feliks in Finn’s Christmas stocking: EasyClean is trying to blackmail him, and he wants Finn to discover EasyClean’s identity.