Blog Tour & Review: Six Stories by Matt Wesolowski

The novel appears to have been inspired by the hugely successful podcast “Serial”, of which I was a huge fan. Of a similar format was the popular Netflix TV series “The Making of a Murderer”. Both programmes explored cold cases, re-examining evidence and witness testimony, enabling the listeners/viewers to reach their own conclusions about the guilt of the accused party.

SIX STORIES is therefore a very current and relevant take on the usual crime/thriller genre. It tells of a similar format whereby a mysterious masked host, Scott King, produces a podcast in the case to be investigated is that of a boy who went missing 20 years earlier in Scarclaw Fell.

The format of the book is original and worked very well. The novel is set across the six episodes of the podcast and is interspersed with thoughts from Henry Saint Clement-Ramsey, who discovered the victim’s body. It took me a few chapters to fully get to grips with the layout and I found that I had to concentrate whilst reading – I certainly couldn’t skim-read the chapters! The format allows the story to be told from a number of different viewpoints, as the witnesses are re-interviewed. This gives the reader the opportunity to hear the witnesses’ evidence and to consider which of the witnesses, if any, are reliable and what secrets they may be withholding from the listener.

The narrative is truly gripping and after the first few pages, I really struggled to put the book down. The writing is very well-executed and Wesolowski certainly knows how to create atmosphere! There is an eeriness to the tale which really did make my spine-tingle, especially in the last third of the book. The way the story is broken up into chunks allows the intrigue and suspense to continue building as the layers are slowly peeled back.

The plot is unpredictable. I was never sure exactly where the tale was heading and there were certainly some unexpected revelations as the story progressed. Whilst the tale is essentially a crime thriller, it does dip its toe ever so slightly into the horror genre and having read Wesolowski’s bio this should not come as a huge surprise. He manages to walk a fine line between the two genres and, as a result, presents the reader with a gripping and chilling tale.

With regards to the characters, we do not hear the thoughts of the witnesses and therefore we only learn what they want us to know or what their former friends are willing to tell us. The exception is that of the boy who discovered the body. It is unusual to have a book based largely on narrative rather than internal monologue. Of particular interest to me was the dynamics between the characters, the majority of whom were teenagers at the time the events took place. It drew my mind back to my own high school years and the politics that is played out between different social groups both inside and outside of the school gates.

SIX STORIES is a clever, original and captivating debut from gifted storyteller Wesolowski. If you are looking for a book that is suspenseful, eerie and a little bit unique, I would certainly recommend SIX STORIES. I will most certainly keeping an eye out for this author in the future.