Anna and Fin are podcasters with a reputation for investigating and solving mysteries and problems. The book begins with them and their tangled families of exes, new partners and children of various couples on a misguided holiday in a lighthouse, where they are stuck with each other during a very bad storm. Denise Mina handles this part very well, with the tensions and relationships very convincingly drawn, and Anna’s secret past being brought to light realistically and with quiet shock value.
The trouble is, almost none of it has the slightest relevance to the subsequent splot, in which Fin and Anna become embroiled in a complex story of a missing vlogger and the possibly priceless and religiously vital object she has found and may have stolen. This takes them all over Europe in the company of a deeply dodgy man and his young son; there is threat and murder, a lot of who-can-you-trust?, plus a highly unconvincing Perilous Climax with what felt like a deus ex machina denouement. Frankly it all felt rather contrived and like one of those rather implausible thrillers you might read on holiday and then forget and leave behind.
I was disappointed. The really interesting character and relationship developments weren’t at all relevant and were almost a distraction and the plot didn’t do much for me either. Denise Mina is much better than this, I think. I’ll definitely read her next and hope for a return to form, but I can’t recommend Confidence.
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