NetGalley Buddy Readers discussion

We will be buddy reading the newest book in the Finlay Donovan series, Finlay Donovan Digs Her Own Grave (Finlay Donovan #5). Everyone is welcome to join.



Finlay Donovan and her nanny/partner-in-crime Vero have not always gotten along with Finlay’s elderly neighbor, Mrs. Haggerty, the community busybody and president of the neighborhood watch. But when a simple call to a plumber turns into the discovery of a dead body in her backyard, Mrs. Haggerty needs their help.

The police take Mrs. Haggerty in for questioning and, though she swears she’s innocent, it’s clear to everyone she’s keeping a secret . . . but whose? With her house now an active crime scene, she’s released from custody with nowhere to go. Her concerned grandson, Brendan, an aspiring politician, doesn’t have room in his one-bedroom apartment for her and appeals to Finlay to let her stay at her place until the investigation is over.

Finlay and Vero have no interest in getting involved in another murder case—or sacrificing either of their bedrooms so they’d have to share. After all, they’ve dealt with enough murders over the last four months to last a lifetime and they both would much rather share their beds with someone else. But when the focus of the investigation widens to include Mrs. Haggerty’s neighbors, Finn and Vero are left with little choice but to uncover the woman’s secrets before the police start digging up theirs.

Desperate to clear his grandmother’s name before his upcoming campaign for local office, Brendan Haggerty makes Finlay and Vero an offer that seems too tempting to give their grandmother a place to stay under their watchful eyes and he’ll help Finlay and Vero find a killer. But who will solve the mystery first? And will the name Brendan turns over to the police exonerate or implicate them?

got the audio, I'm in for this one! yay!

I got the audio too! So I will read the one before this on the other buddy read page and then join for this one :)

I also got the audio of this one, which is great because I also listened to the audios of books #1-3 and was able to get #4 from the library.

oh i got #4 from the library too. 🤗

Hi all! We have a start date for FD Rolls the Dice of Feb 9th. Do you want to set a start date for this one too? Would mid month or so work for everyone? I'm thinking around the 18th? Or we can do it right after Rolls the Dice, if people would prefer to read them together. Not sure how long it will take everyone to read that one. Maybe around the 13th/14th or so? We can always touch base while reading Rolls the Dice to see how we're feeling about it.

I'm good with any/all those dates!!

I would prefer to knock these out back to back, but I can work with either option.

I like the back to back option too

Sounds good. I'll put it in the calendar for the 14th so it's right after Roll the Dice. We can always start a day or two early or late depending on where everyone's at.

I will have more time to read later but I just read the prologue…

Bahahaha. That is my very insightful comment.

I did the same thing, Marnie! lol (view spoiler)[ Finally one thing Vero and Steven can agree on! hahaha I hate that schools really do that though with blaming a child for reacting to a bully. I bet he won't pick on her again! (hide spoiler)] The prologue was great.

one day behind over here. should be starting tomorrow hopefully!

We'll be here, Shruti!

5 chapters / 25%

loving this one so far!
I really liked the audio but I don't love Vero's chosen voice/inflection from the narrator

(view spoiler)[ oooh, I love it! The neighbor's house has the body this time
and yikes, ex hubby is getting pulled in

but this old lady is shady as all get out. what was with the mailbox note about the book club? why is she watching the house. what does she know that she isn't saying

and that first chapter - I'm glad she gave that little boy something to think about! (hide spoiler)]

11 chapters / 52%

(view spoiler)[ oooh man, I didn't see that coming - the grandson who dropped grandma off is possibly the one that stashed the body? Yikes
and now where is he?

Love the new car, the cranky grandma and the drama romance with Vero's man (can she really be mad at him for being with people while she was gone?)

and I still really like Finally with the officer but that slipped I love you and their revealing secrets - all her dirty secrets - can they really be together? (hide spoiler)]

Through chapter 1 (8%)

I have company all weekend so my reading will be very slow. Unlike Finlay, my guests were expected (view spoiler)[ With all the crazy scenarios in these stories why am I rolling my eyes at Mrs Haggerty moving in? I would have said no so fast. I’m outraged for Finlay lol (hide spoiler)]

Arnold Schwarzenegger... lol

I love that she explained a lot of the backstory in this one, just little bits and pieces to keep you current.

Trisha - Have you listened to the previous books?

I just finished the first 2 chapters and I'm really enjoying this one too.

Marnie - I also (view spoiler)[ would have shown Mrs. Haggerty the door. Finlay's bedrooms were all in use. Haggerty's grandson could have slept on his couch and given his grandmother the bed instead of pawning her off on the neighbors. But, we did get the reminder that she saved them at the police academy, so I guess she sort of owed her. (hide spoiler)]

Up to chapter 3 (view spoiler)[ I thought Cam was so sweet with Mrs. Haggerty and he sounds like he takes good care of his grandmother too. I love that he got a chihuahua from a rescue and named it Arnold Schwarzenegger after Kevin Bacon. lol Too funny! I also love that he just popped by Finlay's for dinner. They have a cute relationship, even if he did take $100 from her account without asking. (hide spoiler)]

Kristie wrote: "Trisha - Have you listened to the previous books?
.."

my first audio for this series!

I hope you love it! I really enjoy the audios. I've gotten used to Vero's voice. I kind of like it now. lol

I listened to more than I expected to today, which is probably good since I don't usually listen too much on the weekends. I'm up to chapter 16 (67%) (view spoiler)[ It seems that Brendan may have had a good reason for dropping his grandmother off. Was he running from something? What does he know?

Side note - Nick is too good to be true. That man is adorable. And Javi is pretty great too. (hide spoiler)]

So far, I think this might be my favorite Finlay book yet. It's little less over the top with the slapstick type stuff (view spoiler)[ - no needing to drag dead guys around, hide bodies, and bury people. There's still plenty of silliness - wigs, crazy meetings, getting trapped on a balcony, etc. - but it just seems toned down a bit. Plus, I like that the mafia type stuff is done. (hide spoiler)] I'm really enjoying it.

Through chapter 5 (23%)

I like Vero’s voice too. I wish I was listening to this one.

(view spoiler)[ Nick sure did get a scare when Mrs Haggerty interrupted their make out session. She really does need to go.

Stephen is just being taken into custody and we are off and running on our mystery. (hide spoiler)]

I finished. I actually was surprised a bit by the resolution (view spoiler)[ I thought Mrs. Haggerty’s grandson was going to be implicated. (hide spoiler)]

Oh and the ending (view spoiler)[ Looks like Vera is going to face her Virginia problem. (hide spoiler)]

Still at 67% (view spoiler)[ I forgot to mention a couple things - I love that Nick accidentally said I love you. lol It just slipped right out.

I am not a fan of love triangles, so I'm glad that she didn't bring the lawyer back as a love interest. It seems they still care about each other, but hopefully Cosimano won't take it in that direction. I was happy when that ended even though I like the guy. Though I think Nick is a bit jealous of him, especially since Finlay called him instead of Nick to help Stephen.

I'm really glad Nick is helping Finlay investigate. (hide spoiler)]

I also finished a couple of days ago, but haven't written my review yet. I really enjoyed this one. I felt it was a little less slapstick than the previous books and there was some character growth as well. It just had a slightly different feel. Curious if that will continue to be the case in future installments.

How is everyone else doing with it? Trisha? Shruti?

Yes, I actually finished it today!
I got completely wrapped up in a Valentine weekend with hubby and wasn't on here much but I had a great weekend!

I loved this one!

(view spoiler)[ and I love that it was tied to a book club! lol
and I was so shocked! She told Nick some of her secrets. I was glad she did

and lol I loved the grandma's way with the son and daughter - and even the neighbors! she was such a good influence on the familyl!

and hopefully Finlay's ex is backing off now, getting that they are done and she's moved on

and YAY! We're definitely getting another one with Vero! (hide spoiler)]

this one was so fun! I agree, the humor was dead on, the banter between the characters was still so so good! I loved this one!
so glad I did audio too! It was great!

Trisha wrote: "Yes, I actually finished it today!
I got completely wrapped up in a Valentine weekend with hubby and wasn't on here much but I had a great weekend!

I loved this one!

and I love that it was tied ..."

That's wonderful, Trisha! I'm glad you had such a good time with your husband! :)

Trisha wrote: "Yes, I actually finished it today!
I got completely wrapped up in a Valentine weekend with hubby and wasn't on here much but I had a great weekend!

I loved this one! ..."

Aw, that's wonderful! Definitely something worth putting your book off for. Glad you had a great weekend!

45 %

Listened on a flight and forgot to take intérim notes! I've read all of these on audio, and I really enjoy the narration. Overall, I like this one so far. I do think the shenanigans aren't quite as wild and hilarious as book 1, but I'm not sure if that's novelty impact or they're actually just less funny.

I'm enjoying this one so far. I like the way the storyline around (view spoiler)[ her ex-husband is providing additional continuity across the books.

The neighbor lady is hilariously annoying. I'm picturing the MIL from Everybody Loves Raymond. I wonder if her son (grandson? can't quite remember) is the one who hid the body. Also the note in the mailbox - definitely more going on there.

I wonder how much longer it will go before she has to come clean. You can't date a policeman forever with a history like this and not have him find out right?

Honestly, I'm a bit confused by the storyline about the affair and the lady who dressed up like her ex-husband's ex-fiancée.

(hide spoiler)]

My review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

I read this last week, it's nice to be caught up on the series now. I enjoyed it more than some of the previous books but some parts got a little convoluted like Shruti mentioned above with Stephen's ex-fiancee's lookalike copycat. That was weird.

And then I just get an ad on the Kindle app for Finlay Donovan Crosses the Line preorder! lol. It publishes in March.

Of course it is... lol

I'm so excited for the next one!!

netgalley really needs alert settings! It would be so nice to put in alerts for favorite authors or series.

I didn't see it on Netgalley yet, but I agree. I would love that feature.

Oh yeah, it's not on NG yet, just being advertised on the Kindle app because I read the others. That would be an amazing feature!

Oh I didn’t see it either, I just meant it would be great because sometimes I forget to check for books later. Or they randomly make something Read Now temporarily and I miss it haha.

I'm the same, Shruti.