Finlay Donovan Rolls the Dice

The novel follows romantic suspense novelist and single mother Finlay Donovan and her children's nanny, Vero, as they travel to Atlantic City to rescue Vero's kidnapped childhood love, recover a stolen car tied to the Russian mob, and conceal a double homicide from the police, all while Finlay's new boyfriend, Detective Nick Anthony, closes in on a case that could expose their secrets.

The story opens in medias res on a highway shoulder, where Finlay watches her ex-husband Steven prepare to sprint across six lanes of traffic to retrieve their toddler Zach's beloved blanket, which flew out of the car window. A state trooper intervenes, and Finlay steers the group back to the car, privately cataloging the real mission ahead.

Nine hours earlier, Finlay and Vero arrive at Steven's Virginia farmhouse to collect Finlay's two young children, Delia and Zach, after a disastrous week at a citizen's police academy that ended with a fire, a shooting, and the escape of Russian mob boss Feliks Zhirov. Vero is consumed by a ransom note found on the van of Javi, her childhood crush: "You have seventy-two hours to pay back what you owe" (8). The note comes from Marco Toscano, a loan shark to whom Vero owes two hundred thousand dollars from a casino credit marker (a loan) she took over Thanksgiving. Marco's men have kidnapped Javi and stolen Finlay's Aston Martin Superleggera, a luxury sports car registered in Finlay's name but originally gifted to her by Feliks. Marco also wants his enforcer, Ike Grindley, returned, but Ike was accidentally killed in a salvage yard and his body was disposed of by the Russian mob at Finlay's request.

Finlay insists they travel to Atlantic City to negotiate Javi's release, bringing the children along because Steven was recently targeted by a contract killer called EasyClean. Steven refuses to let the kids leave the state without him, and Finlay's mother, Susan, insists on joining as well. The group departs in Susan's Buick, with Vero navigating a circuitous route to avoid Maryland, where Vero is wanted on a bogus theft charge. Before leaving, Finlay and Vero discover a mysterious leather ledger in Steven's nightstand filled with cryptic initials, dates, and large dollar amounts, hinting at secrets Steven has been keeping.

After arriving at the Royal Flush Casino Hotel, a run-down establishment near the boardwalk, Finlay and Vero sneak out to meet Marco through his nephew Ricky, a valet at the hotel. Marco confirms he is holding Javi and demands both Ike's return and two hundred thousand dollars. With no way to produce either, Finlay and Vero resolve to find Javi and the car on their own.

They trace a blue Audi belonging to Marco's associate Louis Delvecchio to the Villagio hotel. Disguised as housekeeping staff, they infiltrate Marco's suite and discover Marco strangled in his bathtub and Louis dead from a head wound on the bathroom floor. They also find Marco's dachshund, Kevin Bacon, locked in a second bathroom. Ruling out Javi as the killer due to the absence of signs of a violent struggle, they decide to conceal the murders to buy time. They extend Marco's hotel reservation, post a DO NOT DISTURB sign, and pack the tub with ice to slow decomposition. Vero stays behind to search the dead men's devices for clues about Javi and the car, finding texts from contacts labeled "G.G." and "S.H." that may point to whoever moved the Aston Martin.

Their plans unravel the next morning when Nick arrives at the Royal Flush with Finlay's sister Georgia, an officer recovering from an injury; IT specialist Detective Samara "Sam" Becker, Georgia's romantic interest; FBI Agent Garrett Stokes; and retired detective Charlie Cox. Nick explains that an anonymous tip suggests Feliks is returning to the U.S. on a flight landing in Newark, and a connection has been drawn between Feliks's organization and Ike's disappearance. Charlie is assigned to watch Finlay and Vero, which alarms Finlay: She knows Charlie secretly works as a "fixer" for Feliks and has previously threatened her into silence.

The situation grows more complicated when Cam, a seventeen-year-old hacker Finlay previously hired, contacts her. Cam reveals he stole a flash drive from Feliks's computer containing the key to fourteen million dollars in cryptocurrency and a spreadsheet listing everyone who has ever worked for Feliks, including corrupt cops like Charlie. Cam hid the drive in the Aston Martin before it was stolen and planted the fake anonymous tip to divert police to Newark. Finlay smuggles Cam into Marco's suite, where he and Vero reluctantly collaborate. They identify suspects from Louis's files and determine that Marco's physical ledger, listing all his clients' debts, is missing from the suite.

Over the next two days, Finlay juggles multiple crises. She accompanies Nick to interview Ike's wife, Trina, learning that Marco denied sending Ike to Virginia. She and Vero attract the attention of rival loan shark Enzo Russo, whose sister turns out to be Giada Toscano, Marco's estranged wife, connecting the "G.G." contact in Marco's phone to Giada. Enzo provides the address of a chop shop where cars with questionable titles are handled. When Nick and Garrett search Marco's suite at the Villagio, Finlay and Vero frantically drag the two bodies down the stairwell to Louis's room on a lower floor, narrowly avoiding detection. Meanwhile, Cam throws a raucous party in Marco's suite, deliberately contaminating the crime scene with guests' DNA and creating witnesses who confirm Marco was "alive" that night.

At the chop shop, Finlay and Vero infiltrate the building by posing as pizza delivery workers and find Javi bound and blindfolded in the back office. After locating the Aston Martin's key, Finlay drops from a ceiling beam onto the car's hood, starts the engine, and drives through the bay door as Javi and Vero leap inside. Vero shoots a hazardous waste barrel that explodes behind them, destroying the shop as they escape.

After the rescue, the group pieces together the Aston Martin's Bluetooth history and determines that Ricky was the second driver who delivered the car to the chop shop. More critically, Finlay discovers Charlie's suitcase in Nick's hotel room containing stacks of mob cash and Marco's stolen ledger, proving Charlie murdered Marco and Louis while searching for the thumb drive.

The climax unfolds at Ricky's house, where Charlie holds Cam and Ricky hostage at gunpoint. Finlay offers Charlie a dummy encrypted drive she created, executing a sleight of hand with Vero to swap the real Aston key into Vero's pocket while Charlie unknowingly takes the wrong key fob. Feliks arrives as Finlay anticipated, lured by his attorney Ekatarina "Kat" Rybakov as part of a deal Finlay brokered: Kat will scrub certain names from the spreadsheet in exchange for inheriting Feliks's operation. Finlay goads Charlie by narrating his strategy aloud. Charlie shoots Feliks and his bodyguard, then turns on the others, planning to kill everyone and claim credit as a hero. Before he can fire, Giada appears at the back door, lured by a photo Finlay texted from a burner phone showing Kevin Bacon near Charlie's car. Giada shoots Charlie dead.

Nick and the police arrive moments later. Witnesses confirm Charlie's confession, and evidence in his possession corroborates it. Finlay completes her deal with Kat on the hotel roof, handing over Cam's real thumb drive in exchange for Kat's assurance that the spreadsheet sent to police contains no record of Finlay, Vero, or Cam.

As the group prepares to leave Atlantic City, several threads resolve. Susan reconciles with her husband after confiding in Finlay about feeling unappreciated in her marriage. Vero and Javi, who drunkenly married in a hotel chapel, bicker about the legitimacy of their union but neither removes their ring. Steven apologizes for failing as a co-parent. Back in Virginia, Finlay agrees to pursue a TV deal for her novels, and Nick visits with a quiet warning: He holds up a stale Cheerio found in Charlie's suitcase, evidence suggesting Finlay had been in the room. She holds his gaze without confessing, and the tension dissolves. The novel's final scene upends the calm when police converge outside Finlay's house and escort her neighbor Mrs. Haggerty away after a body is discovered buried in her backyard, setting up the next installment.