In my pregnancy I shifted my reading time to baby research and was not able to review what was on my shelf. I apologize as I know the number of copies you can give out is limited and would never have intentionally ignored this copy under normal circumstances. I am rating this as 5 stars as it is not the author or publishers fault I was not able to meet this timeline, and hope that you will give me another chance in the future to review as I am back into my regular reading schedule this year after adapting to the newborn life!

While I love most of Denise Mina's work, this one just didn't keep my attention. I kept having to force myself to go back to reading it, and that is never a good sign.. As such, it's possible that the full effect was long on me because of the extended reading period.

A failing family vacation is the smart starting point for this page-turning thriller. The stakes are high, if unknown, which helps propel the investigation into high gear as Ana and Fin pursue their MacGuffin. I enjoyed this book, while eagerly awaiting the next Alex Morrow novel, which provides a deeper and more thoughtful reading experience.

Read this and quickly realized it was a sequel. Therefore it fell pretty flat. I couldn't establish a strong connection without reading the first.

When given the chance to read this I missed the fact that it was book 2 in a series. Sometimes this isn’t an issue, but to understand the weird dynamics of the family/characters, book 1 would probably be helpful.

I ended up enjoying the story; it was a little more dramatic than a cozy but not quite as suspenseful as a thriller.

I received an advanced copy. All thoughts are my own.

I enjoyed the unique first installment of podcasters Anna and Fin, Conviction, but this was --- chaotic in a bad way. It started off strong but the plot went sideways quickly and it was hard to follow through to the conclusion. There were so many characters that added new layers to the story that intrigue led to confusion too often.

It was a very interesting read:
- true crime podcasters as sleuths
- urban explorers (omg i really need to visit some ghost town now)
- some strong Code Da Vinci vibes with religious artefacts etc

And just read through these paragraphs(last slide, no spoilers) what a delicious writing 😱 and it’s not just about food, you’d surprised how beautiful black mould could be 🖤

It was a very enjoyable read 💙

Warning for thriller lovers - not all questions were answered, it is kind of book which leaves things ambiguous.

I really really wanted to like this book because I’ve been a big fan of Denise Mina’s for years, and I liked the previous book with these characters. This one just felt rushed, and not up to her usual standards.

After reading the first in this series Conviction, I was excited to read the follow up. But sadly this book just never drew me in.
I struggled from the start. Even trying the audio version to see if that could pull me in. This could just be a case of ‘it’s just this reader’ as many others loved it.
I’ve enjoyed her books in the past and perhaps will try again one day.
Thank you to NetGalley and Mulholland Books.

I didn’t quite get through this novel- I lost interest several times which was disappointing since I did think the first book “ Conviction” was pretty good.
Overall, I would read another book from this author, but wouldn’t recommend this particular series.

I loved Conviction, Denise Mina’s first book to feature Anna McDonald and Fin Cohen so I was excited for the release of Confidence, set around a year after Anna and Fin raced around Europe while podcasting their journey to expose the murderer of an old friend and his children.

When the story opens, Anna, Fin, their respective ex-partners, Hamish and Estelle, Fin’s new girlfriend, Sofia, plus Anna and Hamish’s daughters, and Hamish and Estelle’s new baby, are holidaying together in a Scottish lighthouse. Anna, desperately trying to distract herself from the tense atmosphere, mostly caused by Sofia, is scrolling through messages from listeners to their now successful podcast when a cryptic tweet from a user called WBGrates catches her eye.

Lisa Lee didn’t take it. Please tell them.

Attached to the message are two links, one to a YouTube film of a young woman, Lisa Lee, exploring an abandoned French chateau in an undisclosed location, the other to a page in an auction catalogue displaying a small antique silver casket that is visible in Lee’s footage. Not understanding the connection, Anna searches online and learns the Voyniche Casket is expected to be the subject of a frenzied bidding war among groups that believe it contains proof of Christ’s resurrection, and that Lisa Lee has been reported missing.

Seizing the excuse to abandon the holiday Anna and Fin follow up, and are quickly drawn into the hunt for the missing girl, and the truth about the casket. The pair don’t seem to have a lot of agency in the plot though, their movements are mainly dictated by Bram Van Wyk, a wealthy former smuggler/con man, and his desperate bid to recover the casket. It sort of feels like Mina had an idea for a thriller about smuggling and fanaticism, but didn’t know what to do with it, so she wrote Anna and Fin into it. Unfortunately I think it was a poor fit, and everything suffered as a result. While I easily dismissed plot inconsistencies and absurdities in Conviction, here they were jarring, and the twists had little impact.

The story primarily unfolds from Anna’s first person perspective, alternating with short transcripts from their podcast that serve to fill in some information gaps. While Anna won me over in Conviction, I didn’t find her nearly as compelling or witty here, and Finn may as well have been totally absent.

The pace also suffered with the plot issues and a fair amount of superfluous description. The travel helped somewhat as Anna and Finn fly around Europe courtesy of private jets and helicopters.

I think it’s clear I am disappointed by Confidence, I was feeling a little more generous immediately after finishing it but in retrospect it’s flawed enough that I feel it’s just barely okay, and wouldn’t recommend it.

Ugh I loved Conviction but this one missed the mark for me. It started off strong but then it felt like it fell apart. There were so many disjointed parts. I DNF it at about 50%. I felt like the author's heart just wasn't in it...I'm not sure.

I'd never heard of Urbex before "Confidence", and I was interested to learn about the phenomenon. Mina is a great writer. Her smallest details are captivating and almost photographic. Anna and Fin are a enjoyable "not a couple" couple, and their capers as they criss-cross Europe with the complicated Bram Van Wyk and his snarky son are a fun read.

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Ana and Finn are back together and they are still a mess. Fortunately this entry was easier to follow than Conviction but the ending was a little predictable. I love the author's writing very clever and great storytelling.

Clearly these books are not for everyone, but I really loved Conviction, the first book in this series.

What about Confidence?

Anna and Fin are back to podcasting. Fin has a new girlfriend, Sofia, that Anna doesn't really like. Hamish has taken up with Fin's ex, Estelle and they have a new baby. (Was Estelle the one Hamish left Anna for? I can't remember...)

In any case, Anna and Fin are following the story of a young woman who does "UrbEx," or urban exploring, or breaking into houses and filming it for social media.

The woman, Lisa Lee, finds an antique Roman coffin and then vanishes. Did she steal it? Did something happen to her?

Anna and Fin start to dig into this whole situation, which involves a mysterious South African and his foul-mouthed tween son and a long description of the VERY fascinating heist at the Isabella Stewart Gardner museum (if this interests you, watch "This is a Robbery" on Netflix, which goes into the whole amazing story. The crime has never really been solved and the stolen art never found.

I can't say I liked this as much as Conviction. Denise Mina is great with the quirky characters though in this book they didn't charm me as much. I'm also not sure this needed to be a series. I would have loved just a standalone that had something to do with art thef

This one was a miss for me and I stopped reading halfway through.

Even though the writing was quirky and quick like her first book, everything else about this misses for me. The characters, main and side, are all unlikable and irritating. They are hard to connect with and root for. I missed the quirky bond between Anna and Fin.

The plot is slow paced making this hard to get into. I’m the first 50%, nothing of note happens making it hard for me to want to keep reading. The mystery seems to be a stretch and, something I didn’t fine relatable or realistic.

Overall this book just wasn’t for me.

I liked the mystery part of this book better than I did in Conviction. Though, it did start to feel very DaVinci Code at times with the inclusion of a religious artifact and many warring groups trying to obtain it and guesses as to what it may or may not reveal. But that is only after the reader is immersed in a rather intense extended family vacation that brings people who shouldn't be vacationing together together. That transition from one to the other and the tiny insertions from the vacation into the investigation felt odd to me. It was as though there were two stories to tell that didn't combine well. But if the reader ignores the family drama intruding into the mystery, the story of Anna and Finn trying to track down the artifact, track down the woman who found the artifact, and maybe have material for a podcast is enjoyable. The ending was also interesting and definitely pointed towards a third in the series, but I feel like it was missing a podcast episode at the end. It was as though the whole reason for the book had been forgotten.

A thrilling treasure hunt! Delighted to include this title in the July installment of Novel Encounters, my regular column highlighting the month’s most anticipated fiction for the Books section of Zoomer magazine. (see review at link)

Confidence brings back Anna and Fin in another adventure.

Anna and Fin are so quirky its hard not to like them.

Lisa a YouTuber is missing after emailing them from a French chateau that is quite creepy.

The story itself is a bit creepy with twists and turns and lots of activity.

At time you have to suspend belief but to me that's what makes a good story and what reading is all about.

Although I found it a bit slow at time Confidence is well worth the read and I eagerly await their next crazy adventure.

Thanks to NetGalley and Mullholland Books for the opportunity to read and review Confidence

I did not care for this one as much as the first, but it was fun and easy to follow. The ending was a big predictable for me.