The 7 1/2 Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle (or The 7 Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle) by Stuart Turton is amazing an instant favorite for me. The book deserves a long slow clap for what it pulled off and accomplished. This book is an enigma wrapped in several riddles. The conclusion has four major twist that are all plausible and well thought out. The comparisons I’ve read about this book is Agatha Christie meets Groundhog Day, which is very fitting. The novel embodies Agatha Christie’s writing by making a grand murder, and having many compelling characters full of family secrets all with reasons to murder. I told a friend it’s a murder mystery where you get to play 8 of the characters, all at once. The 7 and a half Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle is so fresh and new in its approach to and old fashioned murder mystery. It was unlike anything I’ve read before. Thanks for all the bloggers who made this book a can’t miss, and lead up to the hype of the novel.

The Plot: Aiden Bishop wakes up not quite feeling like himself, but it’s because he’s not himself he’s Sebastian Bell a doctor who’s alone in the wood with cuts on his arm. He says the only thing he can remember “Anna”. He feels like she’s in trouble he she’s a woman being chased by and man and heads in the direction of them. He doesn’t know what’s going on. The Man creeps up behind him and Bell cowers before him not daring to look up the man gives him a compass and a direction, which leads him to Blackheath an old mansion. Aiden soon learns there’s a murder taking place there and it’s his job to solve it using 8 host on the day of the murder. If he sleeps, loses conscience, or is murdered he goes into another host until all eight are used up. The day is repeated 8 days and he’s a different person every time. He can use versions of himself to help him, but everything still has to fall in order, also there are two others like Aiden also trying to solve the mystery, and who know who he really is, but can he trust either of them?

What I Liked: This novel makes sense, not at first but you’re just as confused as the character, but once everything is explained, everything fits, and its a beautiful thing. The writing is really good, this is my favorite line from it. “Anger’s solid; it has weight,. You can beat your fist against it, but pity’s a fog to become lost within.” This novel has a lot of character, but they all have they’re own voices, secrets, and agendas which made it easy to differentiate from one another. The twist are jaw dropping, and there’s more than a few. The way the story is told makes it very memorable and really unique as you go forward and sometimes backwards yet on the the same day. This novel nails the ending, actually I was satisfied after the first two major twists, and there’s a point that it could’ve ended, but it keeps going and offers two more major twist for ultimate satisfaction. There’s mysteries on mysteries, but the main mystery is very strong and kept my interest throughout.

What I Disliked: I still have questions? I feel satisfied with the ending but still have a couple of questions about the character’s and about time. I did not like that we did not get a time period for the party at Blackheath.

Recommendations: I whole heartily recommend The 7 1/2 Deaths of Evelyn Hardcaslte, this novel is destined to be a classic. The only people I could not see enjoying this are distracted readers, there’s a lot of information and if you can’t remember it then you could get easily lost. The confusing beginning only last 3o pages and them it all makes sense. This novel is for murder mystery lovers with a fresh way of telling the story. Lovers of the Black Mirror and the Twilight Zone will have fun with the trippier elements of the story. This is a rock solid debut for Stuart Turton, and I can not wait to see what this guy dreams up next. I rated this novel 5 out of 5 stars.