Nine Lives: 'I loved this.' Ann Cleeves

Nine Lives is the eighth novel by award-winning American author, Peter Swanson. Nine individuals of diverse background, race and social standing receive an envelope that contains only a list of nine names, including their own. Puzzlement is the general response; some show or mention the list to others; some dismiss it, set it aside, discard it; one uses it as inspiration for writing a song; another ignores the chill it gives her sixth sense; for some it later becomes the basis of a relationship. With her list, Special Agent Jessica Winslow does what comes naturally to any FBI agent: she handles it carefully, treats it like evidence, an action that is vindicated when, the following day, she learns that someone on the list has been murdered. She immediately sets to work trying to find those on the list, with limited success. One name triggers a vague childhood recollection, and Jessica develops a theory that she shares with her supervisor. But two more murders in quick succession, by different means, see her going into hiding to avoid that fate. The story has an intriguing premise that Swanson develops with skill and flair. There are several references made to Agatha Christie’s “And Then There Were None” that offer a clue; there are red herrings and twists and surprises that keep the pages turning and the reader guessing. Even those astute readers who settle on a perpetrator early will be compelled to read on for the how and the why. Unputdownable crime fiction. This unbiased review is from an uncorrected proof copy provided by NetGalley and Faber & Faber.

Nine Lives is an engrossing and entertaining read, successfully employing a multi-narrator format to tell a twisty and intriguing tale. With references to classic crime fiction of the "golden age", principally Agatha Christie's And Then There Were None (and its earlier iterations) and The A.B.C. Murders, sprinkled through the narrative, Peter Swanson utilises a well-known but always fascinating trope - that of the "murder list". Nine apparently unconnected individuals across the USA receive a mysterious item in the post in mid-September - a relatively unremarkable envelope containing only a printed list of nine names, including their own. Their reactions range from dismissive to perturbed, but without having any links to each other, there's little they can do. Then one of their number is found dead, apparently forcibly drowned in a tidal pool on the Maine coast... We follow the remaining characters from the list with a rising sense of inevitability as, one by one, they're murdered by an unseen assassin. Meanwhile, FBI Agent Jessica Winslow, whose name also appears on the list, tries desperately to find the link between those targeted, facing the realisation that the answer may lie in the distant past. There are fleeting clues and red herrings sprinkled through the various narrative threads, but I didn't pick the twist until it was upon me, and while the book seemed to wrap up very quickly, it was a satisfying conclusion. The effective employment of ten separate but interlinked narrative threads, including Maine-based Detective Sam Hamilton, who investigates the first crime then works doggedly in the background to put the pieces together, is a challenging proposition. However, through the use of short, punchy chapters and well differentiated characters, I feel Peter Swanson has pulled it off admirably. Not all of the potential victims are particularly likeable, but they're well-developed and three-dimensional, even the few who are killed off quite early on. I found Nine Lives a quick and entertaining read, and not overly dark in spite of the subject matter - it's a well-executed modern interpretation of the "golden age" style. I'd recommend it to any reader who enjoys twisty plot-driven mystery-thrillers.