Review of The 7 1/2 Lives of Evelyn Hardcastle

Have you ever played the people-I-would invite-to-a-dinner-party game? If you're like me, your guests change like the tides. I have a new person to add to my list- author Stuart Turton. I know next to nothing about Stuart but, after reading his novel The 7 1/2 Lives of Evelyn Hardcastle, I just want to have a conversation with the person who thought up such an amazing premise. So if you ever find yourself in Pennsylvania let me know, Stuart. I'll make lasagna with lemon blueberry poundcake for dessert.

More About The 7 1/2 Lives of Evelyn Hardcastle

A murder mystery novel inspired by Agatha Christie with a dash of Groundhog Day and a hint of Quantum Leap and Downton Abbey.

The Rules of Blackheath

Evelyn Hardcastle will be murdered at 11:00 p.m.

There are eight days, and eight witnesses for you to inhabit.

We will only let you escape once you tell us the name of the killer.

Understood? Then let's begin...

Aiden Bishop knows the rules. Evelyn Hardcastle will die every day until he can identify her killer and break the cycle. But every time the day begins again, Aiden wakes up in the body of a different guest at Blackheath Manor. And some of his hosts are more helpful than others.

The 7½ Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle is a breathlessly addictive locked-room mystery that follows one man's race against time to find a killer, with an astonishing time-turning twist that means nothing and no one are quite what they seem.

More About Stuart Turton

Stuart Turton is your friendly neighbourhood author, responsible for The Seven Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle, The Devil and the Dark Water, and The Last Murder at the End of the World - otherwise known as the 'not-a-trilogy' trilogy. His books have appeared on the Sunday Times and USA Today bestseller lists, and are known for fusing locked-room mysteries with literary fiction, sci-fi, fantasy, and horror. Stuart's books have been translated into forty languages and have sold over a million copies, which would be impressive if every author wasn't boasting about exactly the same thing.

Thoughts About The 7 1/2 Lives of Evelyn Hardcastle

I almost gave up on this book. What a fool I would have been! For the first 40 pages or so I was "Hmmm, nothing much is happening." But good things come to those who wait because when things start happening in The 7 1/2 Lives of Evelyn Hardcastle you'll find yourself breathless. Every day becomes a life and death battle for poor Aiden who can't decide who are his friends, enemies and valued informants.

This books gives you the impossible task of trying to uncover what's happening in a world where people are both boringly real and something beyond real. Instead of one unreliable narrator, everyone is unreliable. I had the feeling if I kept tilting this mystery and looking at it from different angles I would eventually understand what was happening.

When what was really happening finally began to take shape I was amazed at how clever and unique it was. And I proceeded to tell everyone I met to read this book. But I was very careful not to give anything away! So just trust me...read this book.