Six Suspects [Hardcover]

I do not normally recommend crime novels more than 500 pages long, but I am making an exception with Vikas Swarup It's unusual, witty, quirkly, cleverly plotted, intelligent, and along the way it's an informative satire on Indian politics and values...a rollicking good read
--Marcel Berlins, Times

'Swarup has a redeeming eye for the disparites that define Indian society.'

'Much to enjoy...the solution in the final pages is particularly cunning.'

'Hypnotic.'

'A page-turner of a mystery.'

'Neat, clever and loads and loads of fun.'

There's a caste system even in murder.Seven years ago, Vivek 'Vicky' Rai, the playboy son of the Home Minister of Uttar Pradesh, murdered Ruby Gill at a trendy restaurant in New Delhi simply because she refused to serve him a drink. Now Vicky Rai is dead, killed at his farmhouse at a party he had thrown to celebrate his acquittal. The police search each and every guest. Six of them are discovered with guns in their possession. In this elaborate murder mystery we join Arun Advani, India's best-known investigative journalist, as the lives of these six suspects unravel before our eyes: a corrupt bureaucrat; an American tourist; a stone-age tribesman; a Bollywood sex symbol; a mobile phone thief; and an ambitious politician. Each is equally likely to have pulled the trigger. Inspired by actual events, Vikas Swarup's eagerly awaited second novel is both a riveting page turner and an insightful peek into the heart and soul of contemporary India.

There’s a caste system even in murder.
Seven years ago, Vivek ‘Vicky’ Rai, the playboy son of the Home Minister of Uttar Pradesh, murdered Ruby Gill at a trendy restaurant in New Delhi simply because she refused to serve him a drink.
Now Vicky Rai is dead, killed at his farmhouse at a party he had thrown to celebrate his acquittal.
The police cordon off the venue and search each and every guest. Six of them are discovered with guns in their possession and are taken in for questioning.
Who are these six suspects? And what were they doing in the farmhouse that night?
In this elaborate mystery we join Arun Advani, India’s best-known investigative journalist, as the lives of these six suspects unravel before our eyes: a corrupt bureaucrat who claims to have become Mahatma Gandhi overnight; an American tourist infatuated with an Indian actress; a stone-age tribesman on a quest to recover a sacred stone; a Bollywood sex-symbol with a guilty secret; a mobile-phone thief who dreams big; and an ambitious politician prepared to stoop low. Each is equally likely to have pulled the trigger.
Inspired by actual events, Vikas Swarup’s second offering is both a riveting page-turner and an insightful peek into the heart and soul of contemporary India. His kaleidoscopic imagination will delight the many fans of his acclaimed debut Q & A. Audaciously and astutely plotted, Six Suspects is the work of a master storyteller.

THERE'S A CASTE SYSTEM -- EVEN IN MURDER

Vicky Rai, the son of a high-profile Minister, has been shot dead by one of the guests at his own party. They are a glitzy bunch, but among them the police find six strange, displaced characters with a gun in their possession, each of them steaming with a secret motive.

India's wiliest investigative journalist, Arun Advani, makes it his mission to nail the murderer. In doing so, the amazing, tender and touching, techni-colour lives of six eccentric characters unravel before our eyes. But can we trust Advani? Or does he have another agenda in mind....

A dazzling mystery, a rivetting whodunnit, a kaleidoscopic portrait of modern India.

--This text refers to the Paperback edition.

Vikas Swarup is a member of the Indian Foreign Service and Q&A is his first novel. An international sensation, it has been translated into over forty languages, and was recently made into the multiple Oscar-winning film SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE. His new novel Six Suspects is also available as a Black Swan paperback.To find out more about Vikas Swarup, visit his website: www.vikasswarup.net