https://superfluousreading.wordpress.com/2017/04/05/six-suspects-by-vikas-swarup

Vicky Rai, a rich, spoiled playboy industrialist gets away with murder one too many times and is murdered himself. The six suspects: an ignorant American, a Bollywood megastar, a bureaucrat possessed by the spirit of Gandhi, a mobile phone thief from the slums, a tribal from a remote Indian island, and Vicky’s own father, a corrupt politician, all have both motive and opportunity. “Six Suspects” is less a proper mystery and more a social satire of modern day India with a bit of the U.S thrown in for good measure. The characters are all broad stereotypes loosely connected by a spinning, tragicomic plot. An amusing read, but ultimately unsatisfying as a who-done-it.

I really, really, really wanted to like this book. I just can't. I have read books where the characters are not sympathetic, but they are still interesting and well-written. I have never read a book so full of corrupt, amoral, racist, consumerist, misogynistic men. I does not help that all the characters are broadly portrayed stereotypes, especially the lone American. (His character was just an insult to anyone's intelligence.) I know this was a murder mystery, but the characters in this book were so awful as human beings that I could have cared less if all six suspects rotted in jail for the rest of their life. OK, maybe not all six. They character of Eketi was the only saving grace. When you read the chapters about him, make sure you Google all the terms he uses. When you see photos of amazing dresses, architecture and nature, it really reminds you what a beautiful country India really is, full of rich culture and gorgeous landscapes. Unfortunately, the India Mr. Swarup writes about is seedy and corrupt and left a bad taste in my mouth.

Wow! I have to say, this is probably THE best book I've read in a while.... and I absolutely devoured it over the course of three days, reading whenever I could spare a minute.

There were a few laggy bits where the pace slowed, but I was absolutely engaged with each of the characters and their motives. I have to say, I didn't expect the ending at all. There were so many twists and turns that by the last page, I didn't know what to believe!

Dramatisation by Ayeesha Menon of the novel by Vikas Swarup, author of Q and A, which was filmed as Slumdog Millinaire. Vicky Rai, notorious son of a prominent Indian politician, shoots dead a waitress at a trendy Delhi restaurant. At a lavish society party to celebrate his acquittal, he is himself murdered. Who did it?

Suspect number one: the mobile phone thief with big dreams.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b006qy2s

selain rasa pahit yang tersesap akibat nasib eketi - satu2nya tokoh yg benar2 tulus di sepanjang cerita ini - ending novel ini benar2 dahsyat dan anehnya cukup manis. saat kusangka semua misteri telah terbuka, satu bab penutup, kembali menjungkirbalikkan semua prasangka dan dugaan..... dan pembaca semua menjadi saksi kelahiran seorang pembunuh berantai baru!!!

I liked the book and once I finally got more than 10 pages in, it kept me captivated. I didn't like the ending, though - it seemed like the author just tacked on different endings. So although it was creative, the last few chapters/entries seemed like after-thoughts.

I would like to applaud the publisher of this 400pp murder mystery for GIVING AWAY THE MURDERER ON THE BACK COVER OH MY GOD. (This is my pb edition, the Goodreads blurb has been altered as well you might hope. JFC.)

Ahem. Other than that.

Nice idea, patchy execution. The "India shown in a series of different lives of characters who turn out to intersect" thing isn't super original but there's plenty of space for good treatment of it. This wasn't really. In part because the stories all seemed to be from different books. There's a magical realist satire of a guy possessed by Gandhi, a gritty gangster type tale, a tragedy of dispossessed and discarded underclass, a Bollywood actress in a Bollywood plot, and a spectacularly poor effort at a caricature of the American Abroad. It didn't add up.

It didn't really work for me as satire or as realism because I found the tone too uneven--I'm here for tragicomedy but I think once it's caricature you do lose the emotional weight. And it didn't really work as a murder mystery because DID I MENTION THE BACK COVER FFFFF.