Surreal, the main characters make podcasts and are looking into the disappearance of a young urbex , Lisa. . The location starts in a lighthouse on the Scottish coast and moves via North Berwick, to Rome and Paris. there are private planes, helicopters , expensive yachts and North sea ferries. Art disappears, is auctioned and or stolen and there are quite a lot of characters , which means you have to concentrate on who is who.
The story does come together , though it raises a lot more questions . I did not find this an easy read , but it did keep my interest for most of the book
Thanks to Net Galley for the ARC in exchange for anhonest review

An urbexer goes missing after discovering an ancient casket in a chateau in France! Fin and Anna, podcasters themselves,, go in search of her and the casket! They meet up with the enigmatic Bram and his young son who really don’t like each other but then none of the characters really liked each other. The story was constantly interrupted by pages in italic usually taking us back into someone’s past which tended to spoil the flow. Could this casket be a religious relic containing evidence of the death of Christ or just a worthless wooden box? I’m afraid after halfway through I really didn’t care! Sorry!

Thank you to the author, publisher and NetGalley for providing an ARC of this book.

This one didn’t work quite as well as the last one for me. I love the characters of Anna and Fin but there were bits of the story that seemed too much of a leap. There also wasn’t quite enough scene setting for those who hadn’t read the previous book or needed their rubbish memory jogging. I did enjoy it though!

I did not realise that this is the second book about Anna and Fin until I looked up other Denise Mina books. I did not feel that I was missing anything from not reading the first which is a bonus. I am not sure if I enjoyed this book or not which sounds strange. I felt when reading it I was not taking in the relevant parts as I got confused a little. The story is about Lisa who disappears after posting a video on line of her and two others going into a run down Chateau. This starts the realisation that something is missing and other people come into the equation to be still in the house, the family having left in a hurry years previously. Why did they not come back for their treasures when safe to do so and I felt it was all a little far fetched in many places and disjointed. Anna and Fin are on holiday and they get embroiled in finding Lisa and the dramas that lead to their investigations and to dodgy people. I did not take to any of the characters particularly and almost gave up on the book a couple of times. I did finish it but would not read it again even if it would help in understanding the characters better

I've only read a few book by Denise Mina and I wasn't sure what quite to expect when I started this book, especially as this is the second book in the series. The story follows Podcasters, Anna and Fin, as they begin a hunt for missing documentary maker, Lisa Lee. Lisa is a girl with a very peculiar style of production, quite a matter of fact manner, direct and lacking the stylish flow that many of her peers employ. Focusing her attention on filming abandoned houses, she disappears soon after making a rather surprising discovery at an abandoned chateau, uncovering an relic of legend that has a very dark past. What the connection is between that last, fateful, broadcast and the artifact that has now appeared at an exclusive auction in Paris remains to be seen, and is a puzzle that Anna and Fin are all to keen to investigate.

I actually really liked Anna and Fin, being drawn to their characters very quickly. In spite of having missed their back story with not having read Conviction, Denise Mina provides enough information to establish all of the relationships, and is very adept in detailing characteristics through speech and actions so I felt like I knew them both quite quickly. With the story told largely from Anna's point of view, it was certainly easy to fall in step with her and whilst she is a complex character and her relationships are challenging, I liked her a lot which made it easier to settle into the story.

Lisa Lee is not necessarily the most sympathetic or easy of characters to be concerned for. There is something aloof about her which kept me slightly separate from her plight, but there was no denying the mystery that surrounded her and the artifact and chateau that she uncovers. Denise Mina slowly drip feeds the history of the box, the Voyniche Casket, into the story, the legend of its existence and of its supposed contents and the pains taken to keep them sacred and secure, and it really adds to the mystery and the aura surrounding the whole case. There are religious links - always a source of trouble in my opinion - not quite of Holy Grail or Ark of the Covenant status, but close enough. It's something that people are willing to pay large sums of money for. Even to kill for, which adds another layer of tension and conflict into the investigation into Lisa's disappearance.

The story is packed with suspect characters and an underlying sense of threat. Bram Van Wyk was a fine example of someone I felt you always needed to watch. Although his motives seemed clear, it was never quite that straightforward, and the complications of his own personal life, from his ex-wife to his son, escalated the mystery surrounding him. Add into the mix the conflict within Anna's personal life and the story is one that intrigued and engaged me from start to finish.

Whilst set in the world of podcast investigation, this isn't your traditional podcast framed novel. It is slightly episodic in nature, but the journalistic element takes second place to our voyeuristic turn following Anna and Fin as they try to get to the truth. Whether they will ever get to the root cause of what happened to Lisa Lee, you will have to see for yourself. Taking readers from Scotland, to Greece and to Paris, it is a slow creeping, atmospheric kind of mystery, told mainly in a first person narrative which really fit the story. It's certainly made me curious to read book one in the series. Recommended.

We meet true-crime podcasters and friends Anna and Fin on a terrible family holiday that only improves when they learn of a potential murder, giving them an opportunity to leave. The missing woman is an UrbEx YouTuber, who disappeared after uncovering a mysterious silver casket in a secret room within an abandoned French chateau.

As Anna and Fin investigate further they learn that the casket is rumoured to be “cursed”, with more than one death attached to its history. They also meet various characters along the way who also want, for one reason or another, to uncover the location of the missing woman, the casket, or both…

What follows is a rip-roaring adventure through Scotland, France, Italy and the UK as the pair try to solve the case of the missing woman. The characters are all good fun to read about and the plot is an interesting one, which licks along at a nice pace before leading to a satisfying conclusion. It is a great bit of escapism, and I would certainly read more by this author.

My thanks to the author, NetGalley, and the publisher for the arc to review.

So, this is the second book featuring Anna and Fin, something I didn’t realise until I was well into it, I personally feel that reading the first book is a necessity as there are a lot of references to the backstory, and this may be why I found the book confusing in places.

There are also several sub-plots and a lot of additional characters, which makes it difficult to keep track of what’s going on. I liked the authors style of writing and, personally, would have preferred a tale with one or two subplots that were thoroughly developed.

This is the sequel to Denise Mina's Conviction, featuring the return of true crime podcasters, Anna McDonald with her traumatic personal history and Fin Cohen with his eating issues. Anna's lighthouse getaway organised for her blended family that includes her 2 daughters, Jess and Liz, Hamish and Estelle is not turning out well, largely due to the presence of the ghastly Sofia. Desperate to leave, Fin joins her as she escapes intending to look into a young vulnerable YouTube vlogger, Lisa Lee, who has gone missing, the vlogger has contacted them in the past. Lisa is part of UrbEx, she has recently posted a video of an abandoned French Chateau where she discovered various items, including a 'cursed' silver casket, discovered in Hungary, with a sinister history of death attached to it.

The casket, a priceless religious artefact, is now listed for sale at a Paris auction house, attracting a frenzy of interest from those desperate to acquire it, one of whom is Paul Hammersmith, a Christian billionaire. Did Lisa steal the casket? The narrative is related from Anna's perspective with insertions from the podcast. Upon arriving home, Anna and Fin encounter the wealthy Bram Van Wyk, with his precocious 13 year old son, Marcos, whom he has only just recently met. Bram insists on joining them on their visit to see Bob Lee, Lisa's father at his home in North Berwick where she went missing. Before long, they are flying in Bram's private plan on a madcap European adventure, staying in top exclusive, luxurious hotels, eating the most fabulous food. However, it soon becomes clear that Bram has a different agenda from Anna and Fin in this outrageously twisty story of art heists, murder, priests, missing art, forgeries and more, where the missing Lisa turns out to be a small part of a much bigger picture.

There is plenty of fun and dark humour in this complex and entertaining sequel from the talented Mina, a series that is markedly different from her usual writing fare. As a result, some of her legions of fans might not find this as appealing, but I enjoyed reading this, I think it illustrates her writing versatility, I particularly the appreciated the bonkers finale. You will need to suspend your sense of disbelief to get the most out of this colourful and offbeat novel with its large cast of larger than life characters. A terrific read. Many thanks to the publisher for an ARC.

I have followed some Urbex photographers and been amazed at the incredible places that lie abandoned, often fully furnished - the inhabitants absence unexplained and baffling. This book starts with Scottish Urban Explorer Lisa Lee who posts on YouTube but then disappears, which is a fascinating hook for the reader at the start of the book. What follows is a series of events and coincidences as two Podcasters try to follow Lisa's steps. A story so incredible that it seems quite plausible, crossing the lines between Urbex and the closed and corrupt world of art. Absolutely mind bending.

This was my first read of a Denise Mina book and I was impressed with the story line. It revolves around a priceless silver casket and all the various characters that are involved in trying to own it, authenticate it or steal it. Anna and Fin are the two main characters tasked with trying to solve the mystery of the casket, sending them in a frantic race around Europe in pursuit of the truth. This was a very interesting fast paced story that I would certainly recommend.

A fast paced story that gripped me from the start. I literally could not put this book down. A real page Turner. Highly recommended.

Pure escapism. I absolutely loved the crazy ride the first book took me on and couldn’t wait to read this one. Honestly, it didn’t grab me as quickly as the first, but once they start their quest, I was strapped in for the ride.

Don’t read this for a dose of realism, or deep character study. This is a 21st century crime caper with a huge cast and a completely unrealistic plot. If you can suspend your disbelief, then go for it. If you can’t I suggest you head back to your comfort zone. This book is a treat that’s released just in time for you to read it on your summer holiday.

Thank you for the ARC.

This is the second book featuring Anna and Fin and I would recommend reading that one first as it explains quite a bit about relationships and revelations in this book. The disappearance of a girl called Lisa rings a bell and they realise that she has contacted their podcast previously. They decide to look for her and another mad (suspend your disbelief) chase across Europe ensues involving a priceless religious artefact and some very dodgy characters. This is great fun and nonsense. I liked Marcus and his relationship with his father and I enjoyed the historical sweep to things, Thanks to Netgalley for an ARC.

I enjoyed catching up with podcasters Anna and Fin again, although I didn't find Confidence quite as compelling as the first book Conviction. Perhaps the jeopardy was lower because the central mystery didn't relate so closely to the narrator, or perhaps I don't find art theft that exciting?

I think you need to read Conviction before Confidence, if only to understand the complex interpersonal relationship between Anna and Fin. I'll be looking out for the next in the series and hoping the crime interests me more.

Thanks to the author, publisher and NetGalley for providing a review copy in exchange for honest feedback.

Thanks to NetGalley for an ARC of this title. Confidence is the sequel to Conviction and also features Anna and Fin, though the main protagonist is a young film maker / youtuber Lisa Lee. Lisa disappears after posting a video taken in an abandoned chateau in France. This sets off a chain of events including a mysterious box and religious artifacts., cumulating in an auction attended by billionaires who will stop at nothing to get their hands on the box. A gripping well-written novel which flirts with Dan Brown themes but manages to avoid straying into cliche - recommended.

I found this book a bit confusing and had to go back quite often. Maybe I'll check the first volume and then give this one another read later on. Overall I did find it was an interesting read, just think that maybe there were too many things going on for me. Thanks for the opportunity to read this ARC.

Packing three different settings, an amateur investigation by two podcasters into a missing girl, social media influencers, art smuggling and the back stories of two characters with complex blended families all into one novel was always going to be tall order. Did the novel Confidence achieve it? Not entirely, I would say. I know this is the second instalment featuring the main characters Anna and Fin, but with so many subplots and a huge cast of additional characters, however marginal their role was to be, I felt I never really got to know them, and the insertion of the podcasts jarred the narrative. After a while, following up on all of the novel’s threads became a little tedious. I would have preferred exploring only one or two of the many subplots in a novel with deeper character development.

Nevertheless, I would like to thank the publishers and NetGalley for the free ebook ARC that allowed me to produce this book review.

I really wanted to like this book, but I spent too many chunks of it trying to figure out if I’d accidentally skipped chapters that would explain what was going on.

It is a sequel (which I only found out after I finished), so it may make more sense if you read the first one, but I had the impression that this confusion of not knowing quite what was going on was what the author intended. We see the action from the perspective of Anna, a podcaster who, with her co-presenter Fin, ends up falling into the search for a missing YouTuber largely as an excuse to escape a painfully awkward family holiday.

The search for the YouTuber is mixed up in the discovery and sale of a religious relic which may contain proof that Jesus was a real person and confirm Pontious Pilate’s involvement with his death.

Anna and Fin are apparently going to out this all together as a podcast and early on there are some research sections which sound line they’re intended as context for a podcast. But, in the same way as the missing YouTubers random approach to editing and commentary makes it sound like a very unappealing watch, I don't get the sense that Anna and Fin’s podcast would ever actually work as they don’t seem to have a clear idea of what they’re looking for from anyone they speak to.

There are a lot of references to backstory that never quite seem to become fully relevant. And at the same time backstory that seems to be missing to explain what happens and why it’s taken as logical by Anna. It left me feeling as if I’d read an Indiana Jones script edited by some arthouse movie maker. As I said that backstory might appear in the first book, but there were no clues in the story that there was a first book and absolutely nothing that would entice me tk now go back and read the first one.

Maybe I’m just too used to books where backstory provides clues to the resolution. This is much more like the messier intertwining of real life where the last doesn’t always reflect the present. Unfortunately the result is neither as satisfying as a nearly wrapped up fiction nor as grounded as real life.

I'm a huge fan of Mina's and was delighted to read her latest novel, with an international feel. The story moves across Europe with two people trying to find missing woman Lisa Lee. I don't want to give the plot away with spoilers but needless to say it has a Dan Brown feel (but, dare I say it, far better written).

The idea of podcasters following a true crime lead was really interesting, like a modern day Da Vinci Code, but it just didn’t live up to what it could have been for me. I found the plot quite confusing at times, I wondered if it was hard to follow because I hadn’t read the first instalment of Anna and Fin’s story but I just couldn’t keep up with the journey around Europe and who all the players were! I really liked Marcos, and would love to find out more about his mystery mum and would pick up another book to see if the story follows the podcasters with that threat.