Evelyn Hardcastle'in Yedi Ölümü

I heard about The 7 1/2 Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle because Stuart Turton has another mystery coming out this year that is on my book wishlist, and I thought I'd pick up an earlier book by him in the meantime.

The setup to this book is that Evelyn Hardcastle has been (and will be) murdered at 11pm, and the protagonist is living through the perspectives of various people at the manor house where it happens, and is tasked to figure out who is behind the murder. Oh, and there's also somebody trying to kill all of the various hosts he is seeing the world through.

It took me a little bit to get into this, as it's (understandably) a little bit disorienting with a lot of details. There were a number of "how did this weird thing happen" that got answered by "oh that was just ~time loop protagonist shenanigans", but in the end these felt like red herring decorations around other deeper, layered mysteries.

I had to suspend my disbelief a little bit about the meta plot here. Structurally, having the protagonist jump from person to person is a fascinating way tell a story, particularly a mystery. However, the mechanics behind and around this were not quite as satisfying to me as I wanted them to be. These feelings I don't think ruined the book, but in comparison everything else felt so intricately plotted that this didn't quite fit as neatly as I wanted.

Overall, a quite satisfying mystery with a novel hook.

Excuse the comparisons for a moment, but I think they might be the only way to describe this book. The Seven Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle is a cross between Quantum Leap and Groundhog Day if they were set during a murder mystery party, only it's not a game. Intrigued yet?

Aidan wakes up with no knowledge of who or where he is. He is in the woods outside Blackheath House, a place he will soon come to loathe. He assumes his memory loss is medical, but the very next day he awakes in a different body, and the day has been reset.

I think perhaps the joy of this book is not knowing too much about it before you start, so I won't go into too much detail. However Aidan learns he has eight hosts and eight days to solve the murder of Evelyn Hardcastle. I loved the puzzle and how it slowly fits into place. The footman adds an edge of fear to the proceedings. Just as you think you've got everything worked out, you see it from a different angle.

The characters are lacking a little depth, though arguably to keep it in the style of older murder mysteries. You've got all the stereotypes present, the butler, the artist, the detective, lord of the manor... the list goes on. Not many of them are particularly likeable either, but it doesn't get in the way of enjoying this book.

I did form a theory on what Blackheath was all about and I was happy to be right about that. I was worried it would never be explained (although, of course I am curious about what the world outside Blackheath is like). If you're looking for something a bit different from a murder mystery, you will certainly find it here.