Book Review – Six Stories

Hello hello, and welcome or welcome back to my little bookish corner of the internet. Today I’m sharing with you my review of Six Stories by Matt Wesolowski. This is the first book in a series that are done in a podcast style, which works so well as an audiobook, my chosen way of reading this particular book.

Synopsis
1997. Scarclaw Fell. The body of teenager Tom Jeffries is found at an Outward Bound center. Verdict? Misadventure. But not everyone is convinced. And the truth of what happened in the beautiful but eerie fell is locked in the memories of the tight-knit group of friends who embarked on that fateful trip, and the flimsy testimony of those living nearby.

2017. Enter elusive investigative journalist Scott King, whose podcast examinations of complicated cases have rivaled the success of Serial, with his concealed identity making him a cult internet figure. In a series of six interviews, King attempts to work out how the dynamics of a group of idle teenagers conspired with the sinister legends surrounding the fell to result in Jeffries’ mysterious death. As every interview unveils a new revelation, you’ll be forced to work out for yourself how Tom Jeffries died, and who is telling the truth.

Review
Told in a series of episodes for a podcast, this first introduction into the world of Scott King’s – fictional – true crime explorations is the very best of crime fiction. Taking inspiration from the successful rise of true crime podcasts, Six Stories starts as all murder mysteries must: with the discovery of a body, and in this case, talking to the person who discovered it.

From there, we are introduced to the other members of the cast of characters that make up the backdrop of the story, either as they tell their own part or are mentioned throughout. Each person gives us an insight, allowing us to piece together the case bit by bit like squirrels hoarding away for winter.

Each part is narrated with a clearly defined voice and character behind it, allowing us to be fully immersed in the story. At times it was easy to forget that this was, in fact, a fictional case, as so much energy had been put into allowing this to be such an absorbing story.

Although I’m sure this would work well as a paperback or ebook, it lends itself particularly well to the audiobook genre, as it is designed to mimic a podcast. I’ll be keen to listen to the rest of the series to see where this fictional journalist goes next.

So there you have it, my review of this brilliant crime fiction read. If the idea of working with a podcast for a basis is what you’re looking for, maybe check out Sadie, another crime fiction novel, or The Girls Are Never Gone, a supernatural investigation where the lead character faces more than one type of ghost…

Come back again soon for daily blog with a real mixture of content!