Review | Six Stories by Matt Wesolowski

Scott King, the host of the Six Stories podcast sets out to examine a case from 1997 where a teen was found dead at an outward bound centre. He interviews six people to get their side of the story and maybe find out what really happened. As each interview is broadcasted, the mystery deepens and old secrets surface, leading to a shocking reveal.

𝑺𝒉𝒐𝒖𝒍𝒅 𝑰 𝒉𝒂𝒗𝒆 𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒏 𝒂𝒈𝒓𝒆𝒆𝒅 𝒕𝒐 𝒃𝒆 𝒊𝒏𝒕𝒆𝒓𝒗𝒊𝒆𝒘𝒆𝒅 𝒂𝒕 𝒂𝒍𝒍? 𝑺𝒉𝒐𝒖𝒍𝒅 𝑰 𝒉𝒂𝒗𝒆 𝒂𝒈𝒓𝒆𝒆𝒅 𝒕𝒐 𝒘𝒂𝒌𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒅𝒆𝒂𝒅?

Six Stories is written in the form of a true crime podcast and I just love the concept! I listen to podcasts all the time though they’re mostly horror than true crime. I thought the framing of the mystery in the form of podcast interviews lends a raw, chaotic feeling to the story.

This book is clearly inspired by the podcast Serial (which gets a mention) and King asks his subjects difficult questions. While I guessed correctly several plot points I thought the mystery is well constructed so that you get more clues in each interview. The characters have distinct voices and the dialogue is believable. I loved the atmospheric setting of Scarclaw Fell and the spooky old folktales mentioned throughout.

What I didn’t really enjoy is the teenage drama that occupies the mystery, since the characters were teens back then. I also wish we get an epilogue of sorts. But overall it’s an inventive, chilling, tragic story and now I’m keen to read the rest of the Six Stories series!

About the author: Matt Wesolowski

Photo by Lena Derevianko