Six Suspects

In this outing, the author of Slumdog Millionaire offers us an Indian twist on a classic Agatha Christie conundrum: Who killed a wealthy playboy with many enemies? In this homicide, there are half a dozen gun-toting suspects. This splendidly mismatched lineup includes a Bollywood siren with a guilty secret, a corrupt bureaucrat, a would-be mobile-phone mogul, and a Stone Age tribesman on a quest for a magic stone. The diversity of motives and the idiosyncrasies of the suspects make the novel memorable and compelling, but they also offer a gaudy kaleidoscope of the incongruities of contemporary India.