Elle Cosimano, the Virginia-based mastermind behind the wildly popular Finlay Donovan thriller series, opens up about her writing style, her genre-bending approach, and upcoming collaborations. In this candid conversation, she reveals what drives her storytelling and how she hopes to remind readers why they fell in love with books in the first place. Read on for a glimpse into what makes this talented writer tick.
Gabriela Gonçalves: Your writing is addictive! Finlay’s narration is why my bedtime keeps getting later and later—I keep telling myself, “just one more chapter.” Can you tell me about your writing and creative process?
Elle Cosimano: I love hearing that! I am a discovery writer. We have this saying within the industry: “plotters” vs. “pantsers”—people who plot their books versus people who fly by the seat of their pants. Some of us are sort of in that sketchy in-between area. I like to know where my story is beginning, and roughly where my story is going to end—plus, at least four or five major plot points in the middle. I like to have a sense of some of those big moments in the book, and then I let myself discover them through the writing process.
GG: The fifth Finlay Donovan book came out in March. What do you want new readers to get out of the series?
EC: I want readers to remember why they love to read. I want them to find joy. There are a lot of laugh-out-loud, darkly comedic moments, more thoughtful, feel-good, thematic moments, and it digs deep into the characters. At their core, they’re fun mysteries that you can solve along with the protagonists.
GG: What’s next? Tell us about your future book plans.
EC: We’re under contract right now through book seven in the series. I’m also writing a new series with the wonderful author Hannah Morrissey. She’s based in Wisconsin, and we both write very different flavors of thrillers. Hannah had this great idea for a wonderful new series and invited me to write it with her. We’ve sold the first three books in that series, and the first one will release next year. That one’s also a genre-bending dark comedy, so it will appeal to fans of the Finlay universe.
GG: What’s that co-writing process like?
EC: It’s so much fun. It’s different than any writing I’ve ever done before. Writing can be a really lonely process. It’s you and your laptop at the end of the day. And co-writing is neat because for years you’ve been playing in your own sandbox with your own toys, and all of a sudden somebody shows up at your sandbox and they’re like, “Hey, can I play with you?”
GG: What are some of your favorite books? Do you have any that might have inspired Finlay?
EC: As a kid, I loved to read, and when I became more of an adolescent, I was a reluctant reader. I think the first book that I read on my own that grabbed me was The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton. I fell so hard in love with that book—I read it until the cover came off.
But in terms of inspiration for the Finlay books and the books I’m writing now, I took inspiration from these powerhouse women authors who have this incredible genre-bending skill, which is something we don’t often see in adult literature. It’s very common in young adult literature because all the YA books are shelved together as teen fiction. And it doesn’t really matter how you categorize those books, whether they’re mysteries or romance or thrillers or fantasy, paranormal, they’re all going on the same shelf.
Some of my favorites are Janet Evanovich and the Stephanie Plum series. These phenomenal genre-benders combine elements of mystery, thriller, comedy, and romance into a really fun, dynamic series. Charlaine Harris is another one who a lot of people know from the True Blood TV series, but that series was inspired by a series of books, which were the Sookie Stackhouse mysteries. Darynda Jones is another one who does it really well, as she takes wonderful comedic mysteries with strong romantic elements and one of her series has paranormal angles.
Holly Virginia Photography
GG: What are some other ways people can enjoy Finlay’s story?
EC: We’ve got a TV option with a major Hollywood studio. We can’t share who the studio is or who the producer and the showrunner are, but we’ve made great headway with that. We’re really, really hoping to have good news on that front soon. And the audiobooks have been super successful for this series. So, we have a massive audiobook and a growing audiobook fandom for the Finlay books—the narrator is phenomenal. So, people can enjoy them on their long commutes to work if they’re stuck on 95 or the beltway.
GG: How was the process of developing Finlay?
EC: I had been writing dark paranormal and fantasy for young audiences for six years before I started writing the Finlay books. I had the idea for this story. It came to me very suddenly. It completely captivated me. I wasn’t planning to write it, but I started writing it just as a passion project. These stories are exciting. They’re surprising. They’re twisty. They’re fun. And for me, I find that if I’m having fun while I’m writing, my readers are going to have fun when they’re reading. And I have a lot of fun discovering things along the way. When I surprise myself as I’m working through a scene, when something happens unexpectedly, that moment for me is really gratifying.
This article originally appeared in the August 2025 issue.
