Book Review: Six Wicked Reasons

Jo Spain's Six Wicked Reasons, at its heart, is about a dysfunctional household, one which uses the setting primarily as an escalation device, gathering little bubbles of tension into a steady drip of unease that climaxes in the murder of the family patriarch. He is survived by his three daughters and three sons, one of whom returns home suddenly after doing a vanishing act for 10 years. The reappearance only raises more questions than answers, and it becomes evident that the key to unlocking this dreadful crime lies in the past and that each of the six children hold their own wicked reason for wanting him dead. Seamlessly flitting back and forth between 2008 and 2018, the whodunnit has all the ingredients for a gripping and utterly engrossing mystery that carries echoes of Agatha Christie's works (Murder on the Orient Express anyone?), while also tackling head on themes such as entitlement and abuse, even as the family's secrets are laid bare and the carefully-plotted psychological thriller unravels in all its spectacular glory.