10 Books to Read If You Liked Finlay Donovan

The Bodyguard by Katherine Center
Hannah looks like a mild-mannered kindergarten teacher, but she is actually a private bodyguard who could probably kill you with your wristwatch. Her firm gets hired by Jack Stapleton, who is a massive movie star, and dealing with a stalker problem. He needs some protection while he goes home to visit his mom undergoing cancer treatments and Hannah gets put on the job. The lines get a little blurred when Jack wants her to pretend to be his girlfriend to keep his parents from worrying about him. What could possibly go wrong in this situation!? Katherine Center writes the most snappy, laugh out loud dialogue. This book is just so fun!

The Party Crasher by Sophie Kinsella
Effie’s parents got divorced two years earlier and it’s been a rocky road for her since then. And now, things are getting worse because her dad is selling the beloved house she grew up in. Her dad’s new girlfriend is throwing a big party before the sale is closed and Effie refuses to go. Until she remembers a beloved treasure hidden in the house and she’s not going to let the house be sold before she retrieves it. The party is the perfect cover for her to break in and grab it, but as she sneaks around, she’ll find out more about her family than she ever bargained for. This one is a perfect mix of Sophie Kinsella’s trademark laugh-out-loud humor and deeper more thoughtful themes about growing up and moving on. (Full review here)

The Maid by Nita Prose
Molly Gray is a maid in a very upscale hotel – a job she loves because it’s orderly and predictable and she doesn’t have to interact too much with other people, which is a struggle for her. But things start getting chaotic when she goes to clean the room of a wealthy and well-known guest and finds him dead in his bed. And . . . she’s the primary suspect! Molly is going to have to find the real killer if she is to clear her name and she’ll need help to do it, if she can figure out how to ask for it.

A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder by Holly Jackson
High school senior Andie Bell was murdered by her boyfriend, Sal Singh, who then killed himself five years ago. It was a huge story, but Pip, now a senior herself, feels like something is wrong about the well-known story. And she’s going to be the one to find out what REALLY happened. I listened to the first two books in the A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder series (the audio is terrific – it’s a full-cast production and really brings the story to life. Highly recommend!).

Vera Wong’s Unsolicited Guide to Murders by Jesse Q. Sutanto
Vera owns a tea shop in San Francisco’s Chinatown. There is nothing she loves more than tea…but after she finds a dead body in her tea shop and steals a piece of evidence, she thinks she can use her detective skills to solve the murder. After buttering up suspects with tea and home-cooked meals, will Vera find out what secrets they are hiding and pin the murderer once and for all?

The Agathas by Kathleen Glasgow and Liz Lawson
Last summer, Alice disappeared for five days after her basketball-star boyfriend dumped her…mysterious much? Now her ex–best friend (and his current girlfriend) is missing too, and it’s starting to look like small-town Castle Cove has a real murder mystery on its hands. With a whole stack of Agatha Christie novels as their guide, Alice and her reluctant tutor-turned-sidekick, team up to uncover the truth…AND hopefully don’t get killed in the process.

Dial A for Aunties by Jesse Q. Sutanto
Sometimes you’re just in the mood for something totally off-the-wall and WOW did Dial A for Aunties deliver. I had read and loved Vera Wong’s Unsolicited Advice for Murderers by the same author a few years ago and I liked this one even MORE. Funny, unexpected, and a little bit romantic, it reminded me of Sophie Kinsella’s standalone novels in the best way (and, like Kinsella’s books, there is some swearing and a tiny bit of sex).

The Matchmaker by Aisha Saeed
This one was so much fun – I love a romance and mystery in one! Weddings are Nura Khan’s business – until someone starts sabotaging them, turning her dream job into a nightmare. With her fake fiancé (who might not be so fake), she sets out to catch the culprit before her career, and her family’s safety, go up in flames.

The Blonde Identity by Ally Carter
I loved this funny spy romantic comedy with a dose of action packed adventure. Zoe wakes up in Paris with zero memory, but when she is mistaken for her spy twin sister, there are a lot of people who want her dead. This one has dual narrators (there are two narrators on the audiobook, which was extra fun) and I just loved every second of this book.

The Bandit Queens by Parini Shroff
This one definitely gives Finlay Donovan vibes! Five years ago, Geeta’s husband walked out and never came back. And her village is convinced she killed him, and honestly? She’s fine letting them think that. Being a “self-made widow” has its perks: freedom, respect, and booming jewelry sales. But when other women start asking (and demanding) her help getting rid of their husbands, things spiral fast.

The Chemist by Stephanie Meyer
This basically feels like a Jason Bourne movie in audiobooks form, with a female interrogation officer for one of the U.S. government agencies. She’s known as The Chemist because she uses chemical cocktails to get information out of her subjects, but now she’s less worried about her job and more worried about her life because the agency is now trying to kill her. This was just a FUN listen with lots of laugh-out-loud moments – say what you will about Stephenie Meyer, but she can write some SNAPPY dialogue. (Full review here)

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