Review: The 7½ Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle

The 7½ Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle by Stuart Turton
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Four and a half stars.

What a brilliant, baffling, weird, intriguing novel.

Imagine a mash-up of an English country house murder mystery set in the 1920s. But also an old murder mystery from 20 years ago. A man who has 24 hours to solve the murder but eight different bodies in which to solve the murder. A Plague Doctor, a murderous footman and different players who have their own agendas. Oh, and a houseful of the nastiest group of people you could think of: rapists; blackmailers; murderers; drug dealers; and more.

Aiden Bishop first comes to awareness in the woods around Blackheath House, searching for Anna. He has no idea how he got there, who he is or who Anna is. What follows is a complex murder mystery where Aiden Bishop inhabits eight different bodies at different times during the same day, doomed to repeat the cycle over and over again until he uncovers who killed Evelyn Hardcastle, the daughter of his hosts.

At first I found this heavy going, heck I downloaded this book five months ago, started it and put it aside. But I hate to leave a book that I have been given to review so I started again. Soon I was part intrigued and part put-off. Then I was just intrigued. Like an onion Aiden Bishop and Anna uncover plots within plots, murderers who are not murderers, secrets from all of the guests and the servants. Aiden shifts hosts when they fall unconscious, through sleep or less gentle reasons, he then jumps into another host, including those from previous iterations, so that the narrative bounces backwards and forwards from different viewpoints and in time, watch Aiden watch himself in another body, see him influenced by the characters of the bodies he inhabits. It's dark and mysterious and utterly beguiling. I am thrilled that I kept reading.

I received a free copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley in return for an honest review.

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