six suspects, by vikas swarup
mystery, thriller | teen audiences | 5 stars

this is a gripping murder mystery set in contemporary india, with six suspects and one investigative journalist who we also follow during the investigation. and the murder victim is a terrible person so you’re ultimately rooting for the murderer.

but, back to the beginning - seven years before the novel starts, vivek ‘vicky’ rai, the son of the home minister of uttar pradesh, murders ruby gill in a new delhi restaurant just because she refused to serve him a drink. fast forward seven years later, vicky rai is found dead at his farmhouse where he was having a party celebrating his acquittal.

six people were at the house and had a gun, so one of them must’ve been the murderer. a bureaucrat, a tourist, a tribesman, a sex symbol, a politician and a thief.

it’s a fascinating mystery that you’ll love reading for the sake of mystery and wanting to congratulate the person who murdered vicky rai for obvious reasons. but what i also really really loved about this book was actually reading about india and the people, the culture and customs. usually, at least for me, a lot of media consumption i’d had prior to reading this book was mostly about the poor side of india, and while this book does touch on poverty, it’s not about poverty. it’s a riveting tale that does happen in india and is about indian people and their culture, because obviously, it has to be, but it’s like, not just about that if it makes sense? (all of vikas swarup’s books that i’ve read are like that, and i’d highly rec them all) it’s about corruption and the judicial system, and celebrities but i feel like it’s more than that, a way to explore different characters and how they grow, or they find themselves in the wrong place at the wrong time...

the story writing was also really well done - swarup divides the book into six “stories” about the six suspects and how each of them relates to vicky and why they might’ve murdered him. the focus of the novel isn’t truly on the crime and the murder victim, but on the people, the suspects who could’ve done it and what can drive a person to murder another person. while you’re reading the stories of these six suspects you’ll find yourself wondering how the hell they end up murder suspects but swarup ties the plot nice and tightly together that when the ultimate reveal comes, you feel very satisfied by the ending. there are so many details and connections, it’s thrilling to unweave them while reading.

this was a powerful, interesting and damn fun read that kept me guessing all the time - like literally every time i thought i guessed something, there’d be another thing to sort of mix my thoughts up and keep me on the edge of my seat. a wonderful whodunnit.