Stuart Turton is a freelance travel journalist who has previously worked in Shanghai and Dubai. The 7 1/2 Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle is his debut novel. He is the winner of the Brighton and Hove Short Story Prize and was longlisted for the BBC Radio 4 Opening Lines competition. He lives in West London with his wife and daughter. Find him on Twitter @Stu_Turton. You can find more of my reviews of Turton's works here.
Evelyn Hardcastle will die. Every day until Aiden Bishop can identify her killer and break the cycle. But every time the days begins again, Aiden wakes up in the body of a different guest. And some of his hosts are more helpful than others . . .
*This is a spoiler-free review!*
Turton is a really brilliant and talented writer. The 7 1/2 Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle has so many characters, and so many details, and it really takes a mastermind to string a story like this together. It's one of those novels you wish you could write, but know that you never could—only the author can. And Turton really does a fantastic job with this concept. The novel does build slowly, and it can sometimes be overwhelming to remember the names of the characters, but reading the twists at the end makes it all worth it. After a while, it does start to stick which character is which, and why certain things are happening—it is the same day and the same characters, eight days in a row, after all! The twisty reveals make the novel one that I hope to reread someday in the future, to see if I can track starting from the very beginning.
One of my favorite parts of the novel was something I was really surprised by—the way Aiden inhabits the other hosts. He basically bounces around into eight different people, lives in their bodies and with their skills, in order to help solve the mystery of this murder. Each of the characters is distinct, with a completely different body and set of skills. One man is a constable, one is a man who needs the help of a butler to get around, and the other is a painter. Each of these men provides a set of strengths, but also weaknesses. When Aiden was in Ravencourt's body, that is when this sense of inhabiting other people's bodies was most visceral for me. Turton does a great job writing this very strange feeling of inhabiting other people, and using their skills for personal gain. It's a very strange concept to begin with—the popping around and inhabiting other people's bodies to solve a murder—but Turton doesn't ignore it like other writers might, in favor of developing the plot of the mystery. Rather, Aiden's journey through these bodies and alongside his hosts better expands the story and opens up the power in the storytelling.
One element I wish had been expanded further was Aiden's and Anna's past shared history. It doesn't get revealed until later on that Anna and Aiden had a tumultuous shared history that involved someone else from Aiden's past life. And then, we don't get a whole lot of space to explore the intricacies of that relationship, and the past and how Aiden thinks it'll affect their future. I was a little thrown by this addition, to be honest, about Aiden's and Anna's lives outside of the mystery loop, and if the detail was going to be added, it needed expansion in order to be more fulfilling. Either way, I can appreciate the way this detail, and the decision Aiden makes at the end, leaves the ending open. The mystery is solved and that whole plot is wrapped up, but there's still interpretation for what the characters can do outside the loop.
Turton has another book, published two years ago, called The Devil and the Dark Water—another historical murder mystery that I really can't wait to get my hands on!
*This review can also be found on my Goodreads page*
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