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A review by mariel_fechik
The 7 1/2 Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle by Stuart Turton
5.0
I finished this book three days ago, and I'm still having trouble trying to formulate my thoughts. It's nearly impossible to believe that this book is Stuart Turton's debut novel, as it is one of the most intricately pieced together stories I've ever read.
The idea in itself is incredibly good: take a Christie-style murder mystery, peopled with all sorts of classic character archetypes, but give one man all of their perspectives to solve a murder. Was it the butler in the library? The wealthy young man with a pistol in the garden? Only Aidan, our narrator, has the opportunity to find out by reliving the same day over and over again as a different party guest. What makes this book amazing is the execution of this concept. It would have been terribly easy for Turton to fumble, even for his editors to have missed holes in his complicated timelines - and yet, I don't think there is one. Every time I thought that perhaps there was, I realized that I just wasn't getting it. And when I did, I was even more awed. There were so many elements of Doctor Who incorporated, but Turton didn't mess up like Moffatt did. Turton's excellent choices in what to show the reader and what to hide creates a read that is consistently surprising.
It's also a mystery that's full of emotional weight: Aidan's relationship with Anna, his fear of who he might be, and the thoughts and feelings of his chorus of hosts all give the story shape. Without them, the mystery would run cold, the twists and turns only serving the formula. But Turton's ability to imbue scenes of tension with more than just that make this book truly outstanding. It's a book about forgiveness, redemption, and the power of memory, and it could have easily flopped. But it didn't.
The idea in itself is incredibly good: take a Christie-style murder mystery, peopled with all sorts of classic character archetypes, but give one man all of their perspectives to solve a murder. Was it the butler in the library? The wealthy young man with a pistol in the garden? Only Aidan, our narrator, has the opportunity to find out by reliving the same day over and over again as a different party guest. What makes this book amazing is the execution of this concept. It would have been terribly easy for Turton to fumble, even for his editors to have missed holes in his complicated timelines - and yet, I don't think there is one. Every time I thought that perhaps there was, I realized that I just wasn't getting it. And when I did, I was even more awed. There were so many elements of Doctor Who incorporated, but Turton didn't mess up like Moffatt did. Turton's excellent choices in what to show the reader and what to hide creates a read that is consistently surprising.
It's also a mystery that's full of emotional weight: Aidan's relationship with Anna, his fear of who he might be, and the thoughts and feelings of his chorus of hosts all give the story shape. Without them, the mystery would run cold, the twists and turns only serving the formula. But Turton's ability to imbue scenes of tension with more than just that make this book truly outstanding. It's a book about forgiveness, redemption, and the power of memory, and it could have easily flopped. But it didn't.