The 7 ½ Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle by Stuart Turton

So, this happened.

I had heard RAVE reviews of this book.  So I ordered the UK version from Book Depository cause I love a good paperback copy.  And it wasn’t bad.  But it definitely wasn’t on my RAVE list.  (FYI….the UK version takes out the 1/2, it’s just the Seven deaths).


The 7 ½ Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle by Stuart Turton

Basically, it’s an Agatha Christie murder with a supernatural twist.  Also, it felt a bit like “Shutter Island”….

Aiden Bishop (we don’t learn this until later) has seven “hosts” to solve the murder of Evelyn Hardcastle, the mysterious daughter of the household.  He learns of clues in various ways depending on the body he is in, and it’s all seemingly orchestrated by the “Plague” doctor in a mask.  We don’t know why he’s doing what he’s doing, why Evelyn is so important, and who the other players in the game are.  The goal is to solve the murder and deliver evidence to the doctor by a specific time each night.  If it doesn’t get solved, the game starts over and memories are wiped.  Aiden befriends a young woman named Anna, who may or not be on his side.  He enlists the help of others in the household, and tries to retain memories from each host to the next to solve the murder.

It was a mish mash of information, and I can’t say I loved the way the book jumped between “hosts”.  One chapter would be one day, and then it would jump to a previous day, and then back out to the future.  Also, the ending was “meh.”  I didn’t love it.  I thought it was bit too on the nose, but maybe that’s what the author wanted.

I guess it was a fun read, trying to figure out the motives of each individual and how they interacted with various characters, but it got a bit old quickly and then I just wanted to finish the book to find out how the murder happened.  And even that was a bit unsatisfactory.  Oh well.