Nine Lives
By Peter Swanson
Faber and Faber, UK
ISBN: 9780571358557
320pp.

A piece of paper arrives in the post for nine people. There is nothing written on it except for a list of names, one of which belongs to the recipient. Jessica is a detective, Alison is seeing a married man, Ethan is a songwriter and Caroline a professor. Jay is an actor, Arthur a nurse, Matthew a dad of three, Jack is an author and Frank owns a beachside resort. None of the baffled recipients recognise any of the other eight names.

Old Frank, the resort-owner, is the first one to be killed — an intentional drowning. The police investigating the death go into high alert when they find, clutched in his hand, the list of names. Elevating their efforts, they deduce that the other eight names are also targets of some kind and immediately set about trying to figure out the what, why and who is behind it all.

Such is the premise of bestselling American author Peter Swanson’s latest novel Nine Lives. Inspired by British murder-mystery doyenne Agatha Christie’s And Then There Were None, it takes readers on a journey similar to the 1939 whodunit.

One also finds a resemblance to American author E. Lockhart’s 2014 Young Adult psychological thriller We Were Liars. But whereas Lockhart’s book is somewhat more complex, Swanson’s readers might appreciate the latter’s uncomplicated and rather predictable plot.

Bestselling American author Peter Swanson’s latest novel is a fast-paced murder mystery in the style of Agatha Christie

At first, it appears that the names on the mysterious list are thrown together in a purely random manner. But Swanson takes us on an express ride through the characters’ backstories, not losing any page space to pause and reflect, to show how they are all connected, with the list making a brief appearance in each player’s day.

One has to appreciate the diversity of the novel’s cast, from their age, gender, ethnicity and career, to their location and sexual orientation. Swanson does this skilfully and eruditely, showing his comfort as both a writer and a researcher. It is also interesting to observe the wide range of reactions from the targets; some are scared to see their name on the list, others do not perceive the threat to be serious.

The author lavishes his attention on the minor players, too — the detective Sam Hamilton, Margaret and her ghastly husband Eric, and Caroline’s mother among others. Although their appearances are brief, each is well-sketched with plenty of attention to detail. All serve a purpose and the more attentive readers will enjoy the exercise of figuring out just how one is connected to the other.

While she recounted a more detailed version of how she and Eric had met in college, Jack wondered why good women end up with bad men. It wasn’t life’s greatest mystery, but it certainly was one of them. Eric, of course, would be exactly what he seemed on first impression. An insecure bully who lorded over those he felt superior to, and grovelled to those who he believed had more power than him. And he would beat this poor woman until she either left him or had a nervous breakdown. Jack knew he was making a lot of assumptions about a man he’d spent less than 10 minutes with, but he was sure he was right. — Excerpt from the book

However, giving us so many personalities to choose to love, or loathe, or be wary of, is a risky move. With the very title itself, Swanson breaks the first rule of creating an ensemble cast: do not exceed six main characters. Each person is given a distinct voice, but it can be a struggle to keep up with them all.

At times, it feels as if there’s no reason to care about, or invest in them. This might cause some readers’ attention to flag, and it also goes against the plot, which is built entirely on the idea that readers will care about the names on the murder list.

Still, the plot moves along rather quickly, as if the author wanted to cover the entire story in as few words as possible. Perhaps he didn’t want readers to lose interest too soon and one can appreciate the sense of the urgency created by the brief length of the chapters — a feat not easy to achieve. There’s a good balance of inner monologue, foreshadowing and backstory and the cliff-hangers do a good job of keeping the reader wondering ‘what next?’.

Some might say Swanson has been a little too ambitious here, but for the skill with which he crafts the story, I’d call him ‘adroit’. With the expertise of a race car driver in full control of their vehicle, he leads us into figuring out why these nine people are on the list to begin with, weaving a passage through their connections with each other.

The story is not 100 percent original in terms of premise and a careful reader will be able to pick up enough clues halfway in to solve the puzzle before the investigators, but it presents a clever twist to a recognisable trope.

With seven mysteries/ thrillers to his credit already (if only this had been his ninth book instead of eighth!) Swanson writes Nine Lives clearly, without hiccups and without any superfluous adjectives. It’s difficult to give an exact verdict on whether it deserves to be on the bestsellers’ lists, but it is an enjoyable read and with the cinematic flavour of its pacey script, nobody should be surprised if it is commissioned for television or even a film.

The reviewer is a novelist and founder of Reverie Publishers. She tweets @reveriepublishers and her Instagram is @safinah.danishelahi

Published in Dawn, Books & Authors, May 7th, 2023