The Anna and Fin Series

A series you can pass on.

Conviction and Confidence by Denise Mina is part of the series with Anna McDonald and Fin Cohen as the leading characters. When I started reading Conviction I didn't know it was the first book in a series and had no interest in reading the second one until I saw that it was on sale and decided to complete the series.

While I wasn't crazy about either book and gave each one three stars let's look at the series.

In the first book, Anna who narrates both books has a tie to the mystery the unlikely pair are trying to solve and Fin gets dragged into the chase of finding answers by default, both characters watch their marriages crumble in front of them as their spouses have left them for each other. I found both Anna and Fin unrelatable, but the mystery aspect of the book kept me interested and invested in the story.

At the beginning of the second book, you learn more about Anna and Fin and find them more relatable but that soon changes as they dive into a new mystery to solve for their podcast. This mystery is confusing with several characters and is hard to keep track of all of them. As a reader, my like for the character's growth changes as the story goes on and you learn less and less about them and it is all jumbled into the confusing mystery they are working on.

Overall I had mixed feelings about the entire series from beginning to end. I never felt I connected with any of the characters but there were pieces during the second book that allowed me to enjoy them a bit more.

While the mysteries Anna and Fin were uncovering and recording along the way were unrelated in each book. The one in Conviction was more interesting and easier to follow and get into. I was disappointed that the mystery in Confidence had no commonalities from the first book and was hard to follow and confusing.

I had a hard time getting through both books and found them to be slow. I think one book about Anna and Fin would have been enough and the second book didn't add anything to the first book.

Conviction and Confidence by Denise Mina would not be my top recommendation. If you like mysteries I would save them for a time when you don't have a lot of other books you want to read.