7 ½ Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle by Stuart Turton

No Spoiler Book Review

To say this book is complicated is a massive understatement. Paperback mysteries are complicated. This is Agatha Christie on Groundhog Day with body-swapping.

It made my brains fall out.

7 ½ Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle is set at a crumbling, remote estate in 1920s England. The house is full of guests and servants that would rather be anywhere else, with anyone else. The story takes place on an eight-day, eight-body loop that has repeated an indeterminate number of times.
​

---

Escaping the loop is simple, solve the murder of Evelyn Hardcastle and earn your freedom.

I listened to this on audio, it was a great production, nicely performed. However, this is a HARD book to do on audio. You really have to be able to pay close attention and it would be nice to be able to easily refer back. Imagine a book with post-its sticking out like stegosaurus plates, that’s what you need to keep up with this book.

I still loved this book, but I stopped trying to solve it about halfway through because I lost track of everything. I began just letting the clues wash over me as I waited for the final wrap-up.

If you like to solve mysteries, get the print version. And a notebook. And a wall covered in pictures and red string.

This is the ultimate historical-fiction-magical-realism-mystery. Or maybe it’s the only??? I cannot imagine anyone not liking this book, but fans of the aforementioned genres will adore it! This is a book that requires a lot of attention, so make sure that you are in the mood for a challenge.

You may also like this No Spoiler Book Review of Study in Scarlet Women.
​
For more Can't Wait Book Lists, No Spoiler Book Reviews and Articles from the Library Life, subscribe below!

Check back on Thursday for a No Spoiler Book Review of Oona Out of Order, Plus Giveaway!
​

Goodreads Summary

"Gosford Park" meets "Groundhog Day" by way of Agatha Christie – the most inventive story you'll read this year.

Tonight, Evelyn Hardcastle will be killed... again.

It is meant to be a celebration but it ends in tragedy. As fireworks explode overhead, Evelyn Hardcastle, the young and beautiful daughter of the house, is killed.

But Evelyn will not die just once. Until Aiden – one of the guests summoned to Blackheath for the party – can solve her murder, the day will repeat itself, over and over again. Every time ending with the fateful pistol shot.

The only way to break this cycle is to identify the killer. But each time the day begins again, Aiden wakes in the body of a different guest. And someone is determined to prevent him ever escaping Blackheath...

SELECTED AS A BOOK OF THE YEAR BY THE GUARDIAN, I PAPER, FINANCIAL TIMES AND DAILY TELEGRAPH.

---