Confidence

Mina’s second “Anna and Fin” mystery (following Conviction) contains many elements, some more successful than others. There’s a fascinating segment about life under a totalitarian regime in Hungary; a raggedy chase after a possibly religious object; a rape survivor narrator teamed up with an anorexic (male) rock star; urban explorers; tedious auction scenes; and family dysfunction. Anna and Fin, true-crime podcasters whose exes are married to each other, escape an ill-conceived “family” vacation to chase after a missing urban explorer. Lisa Lee videoed her exploration of a crumbling chateau where she discovered a mysterious silver casket, rumored to have belonged to Pontius Pilate and to contain proof of Christ’s resurrection. But shortly after Lisa’s webcast, she disappeared, her website went dark, and the casket came on the market. Did she steal the object, a no-no for urban explorers? Anna and Fin are joined on their quest to find Lisa by Bram van Wyck, a shady character who flies and ferries them around Europe in search of her but seems more interested in claiming the casket at an auction in Paris.