The 7 ½ Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle
by Stuart Turton
Evelyn Hardcastle will be murdered at 11:00 p.m. There are eight days, and eight witnesses for you to inhabit. We will only let you escape once you tell us the name of the killer. Understood? Then let's begin. Imagine the movie Groundhog Day as a riveting page-turner of a murder mystery. Evelyn Hardcastle will die every day until Aiden Bishop can identify her killer and break the cycle. But every time the day begins anew, Aiden wakes up in a deteriorating manor house, as a different person, and must work out who he is and how he relates to everyone else at the party commemorating the long ago death of a child. If he can't solve the murder that occurs at the party, he is doomed to continue the loop every eight days. The most inventive debut of the year twists together a mystery of such unexpected creativity it will leave readers guessing until the very last page.
The review
What a gem. The 7 1/2 Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle hooked me quickly because the premise is so deliciously strange: Evelyn Hardcastle will die again and again until Aiden can solve her murder, but each loop drops him into the body of a different guest at Blackheath. That setup could have collapsed into chaos; instead, Stuart Turton turns it into an elaborate puzzle box with a very sharp sense of control. The fun is in watching the same day refract through new bodies, motives, and partial truths, and the third act rewards the effort with twist after twist without giving away the whole game too early. That said, this is not a passive thriller. There are a lot of moving pieces, and trying to keep every event, identity, and timeline straight can get disorienting. I had the best experience reading it with only short breaks between sessions; stretching it out too long would have made the manor feel less haunted and more like a filing cabinet. Still, the ambition here is impressive. Even when I had to pause and mentally rearrange the evidence board, I admired the construction and wanted to keep going. For readers who like their mysteries clever, strange, and a little demanding, this is a fun, memorable ride. Final rating: 4/5.
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