Review: The Seven Deaths Of Evelyn Hardcastle

‘Too little information and you’re blind, too much and you’re blinded.

You may have seen me mention The Seven Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle (titled The Seven ½ Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle in the US) oh only about 5236 times so far this year. Nothing I write here will do this book the justice I think it deserves, it’s definitely my favourite book of the year so far and I’m pretty confident it will keep my number one spot.

If you haven’t heard of The Seven Deaths yet take a look at the synopsis below:

*****

‘Somebody’s going to be murdered at the ball tonight. It won’t appear to be a murder and so the murderer won’t be caught. Rectify that injustice and I’ll show you the way out.’

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…

*****

Day one begins with a mystery, someone is dead, someone is fleeing the scene and we don’t have even the slightest inkling of where or who we are, our name is Aiden.

Each day Aiden wakes up in the body of someone else with only the knowledge he has gained since day one. Aiden controls the body of his host but, though he is able to feel each hosts emotional response to the characters he encounters, has no access to their memories.

Aiden has 7 hosts and 7 days to unravel the mysterious death of Evelyn Hardcastle, if he fails to do so all memories will be lost again and the investigation will start anew.

But why? Who is doing this? How? And who is Aiden really?

Stuart Turton has created a true masterpiece with Seven Deaths, it compares to nothing I have ever read before, this unique form of storytelling had me enthralled from start to finish. The plot is intricate and requires a certain level of investment that -I promise- is totally worth the pay off.

The Seven Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle is a dark, intelligent spin on a ‘whodunnit’ mystery beautifully blended with a fantasy theme set in a historical era. Turton kept me spinning and guessing right up til the very end, if I can convince you to buy just one book this year, please let it be this! Easily the best debut I have ever read, I cannot wait to see what Turton gives us next.

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Author: Roxanne Michelle

Dramatic, curly-haired wannabe writer from a nowhere town in Somerset. Stop-starter of all projects great and small. Here to talk books, film, mental health and lifestyle. View all posts by Roxanne Michelle