Sebastian Bell is running through the forest with no recollection of who he is, where he is, nothing, except for the name Anna on his lips...

So begins the story of a man, not only Sebastian Bell, but many other men all living the same day over from the same mind. As the one mind attempts to solve the murder of Evelyn Hardcastle before time runs out, he finds out that there are much more sinister and complicated forces working for and against him.

This is the kind of book that, if you could, you would read in one sitting. The writing is much more sophisticated than YA books that you can read in one sitting. It’s incredibly unique, fun, complicated, thought-provoking, creepy, unpredictable...

Read this book! Don’t even try to figure out the end or the inner workings of how this world works. Just read it and enjoy!

The premise of this book is what drew me to it.  Aiden, has eight days to figure out who murders Evelyn Hardcastle.  He is a different person each day, and the same day repeats. So, he gets different perspectives and clues each day.  I admit, it was a bit confusing at times with all the jumping between characters but I trusted that the author had the timeline right and I kept going.  There were many, many characters but they were all so wonderfully written and unique that it was worth trying to keep track of them.  A couple twists at the end made this mystery/thriller worth the read.

(4.5*) This is a very original and clever story - I just could not put it down.
The less you know about this book coming in to it the better, but ultimately this gave me Downton abbey meets Groundhog day vibes and i am here for it.
I found the story to be utterly engrossing and i stayed up well past my bed time trying to finish it. Highly recommend this read.

This would have been a 5* read, if i didn't have so many questions left unanswered!

Thank you to Sourcebooks Landmark and NetGalley for the free eARC of this book to read and review.

This book follows the Hardcastle family. One evening the family is hosting a masquerade at their family home. During the masquerade their daughter Evelyn will die. How did Evelyn die? Is someone responsible for her death? Who is it?

Evelyn will continue to die every day until the circumstances surrounding her death re revealed. Aiden Bishop has to determine what happened that fateful night. Aiden is tasked with uncovering the truth and identifying the killer. Until he can solve Evelyn’s murder, each day he will wake up to that one day over and over again to the date of the masquerade. Evelyn will continue to die. However, each day Aiden will wake up in a different body of some of the guests at the masquerade until he can solve the mystery of her death. Will Aiden be able to solve the mystery and stop the cycle?

This book was very interesting and it had me intrigued from the very beginning. Once I began reading it was hard to out this book down. I wanted to know what would happen next and see if Aiden would be able to uncover what really happened that night.

It was very interesting to see Aiden wake up each day in the body of the different guests. To play the day over and over again from the different points of view of the various guests.

A must read to add to your TBR list if you haven’t read it already.

Disclaimer: I received an e-ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.
An amazing book that is novel - as in new. While a murder is about to occur, there is one who will stop it. If not now, then the next time. Think Agatha Christie at her best with Groundhog Day.

What's a fellow to do when he has to solve a murder, but he wakes up in a different "host" every day? How does he keep his facts straight, his reactions and reasoning intact and-most importantly-who can he trust? This intricately plotted time-shifting mystery compares with Agatha Christie--if the grand dame of mystery got into Quantum Leap, that is. Fascinating, weird, suspenseful to the end; highly recommended!

“Thirty seconds,” I mutter. That’s how long I hesitated when I first spotted her, and that’s how far away I was when she was murdered. Thirty seconds of indecision…thirty seconds to abandon somebody completely.”

Part Groundhog Day, part body swap, and all of the mystery!

Starting off with a warning: this is not a book you can just sit and mindlessly read. It takes a bit of concentration to be able to keep up with the who’s who and what’s what from chapter to chapter.

Our main character, Aiden, wakes up in the woods outside of Hardcastle not know his name, where he was, or why he was there. He eventually learns that he is stuck in Hardcastle on a time-loop, and he can’t escape until he solves the mystery of Evelyn Hardcastle’s murder during a ball. He comes to figure out that’s not the only secret within the walls of Hardcastle; a tragedy from years ago still haunts the family and everyone in Hardcastle is keeping secrets.

Aiden gets eight days (and eight bodies) to figure out who is the murderer before everything resets itself and he starts all over again. It’s amusing and a bit annoying because he doesn’t know which body he’ll jump into next. He interacts with his past or future self without him knowing that he’s talking to… himself. Confusing? Yes. And of course there’s the mysterious guy in the Plauge Mask that says he’s trying to help Aiden, The Footman who is trying to kill him, and the mysterious Anna that you don’t really know what to think of. Can you keep up? No? Good.

As Aiden hops from body to body, he can get a little tedious. Sometimes you see the same event from a different perspective, other times you’re just reading about the same event over and over. It can get long winded and a little boring with the repeats, but it can also hold a important clue for latter.

The ending left me feeling a little cheated. All the mystery surrounding Blackheath, all the anticipation, and we’re left with a rather mellow conclusion. Honestly I think this book would have been great with open-ending.

A repeating day. Aiden wakes up in a different body everyday, but the result is always the same… Evelyn Hardcastle dies. The only way for Aiden to get free of the repeating day is to solve the mystery behind Evelyn’s death.

This novel is a murder mystery, but with a dash of science fiction and a smidgen of historical fiction. The repeating day and body hopping is very sci-fi, the setting and characters read like a period piece, and the atmosphere has a very Gothic feel.

Aiden is in a different body each day, but the story isn’t told in a linear fashion. The body hopping combined with time hopping made for a confusing read. Some of the bodies Aiden inhabits are very similar to one another, and I had trouble keeping up with which guy he was each day. I realize the hopping around adds to the story and makes it more complex. After all, Aiden himself is confused about what is going on. In that respect, it is like you’re in the mind of Aiden and his perplexing situation.

Clever and complex, but confusing. A unique and imaginative debut novel.

I received a free eARC of this book from the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for providing me with an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

Now that was a rockin' debut novel! While the first half was a little slow, once you get deeper into it, it's compelling enough to be hard to put down. It's such an interesting concept - Agatha Christie meets Quantum Leap - that you just have to know what's going on!

I have to say, I figured out the first part of the mystery (as in who killed Evelyn) but then there was still 20% left of the book! Twist after twist after twist, and another one of my suspicions was correct.

Turton laid out the clues like a master, just like Christie, all the while hiding them in plain sight, in the middle of paragraphs where they fade into ordinary and don't stand out, but then when you get to the end and see the solution, you start to remember all those little things that were right there in front of you.

I'd definitely recommend this book as a great read with a really interesting take on a murder mystery scenario. I'll also absolutely be following the author to see if his sophomore book goes slump or champ!

First of all, thanks to our friends at Net Galley for the advance reader copy here in the good Old U.S.A., well, you know what I mean.. I read the version The 7 ½ Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle since I live in the states. As you can see at the top of the page under questions, Mr. Turton assures us we are getting the same amount of murder for our money! This novel is described by some as “Ground Hog Day meets Agatha Christie. I would describe it more a cross between “Being John Malkovich” and Agatha Christie? Not matter what you call this novel, just don’t call yourself late to reading it! The term “unputdownable” is thrown around all the time in book reviews, but this story and mystery was the definition of the word! Great atmosphere and intelligence! So I will not insult your intelligence and tell you any more about the story, trust me, it is worth going into without too much backstory. Great characters, riddles, and mystery, what more can we ask from a novel? Thanks for reading, now get to reading!

Wow this was so different, which is why I loved it so much. Reminded me of a puzzle to solve more so than the usual "Whodunnit"

In case you’re as confused as I was, this is the same book as The Seven Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle. An extra ½ death was added into the title for the US publication, for reasons I can only speculate. Perhaps the discrepancy is due to the similarity of another recently-published book, The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo. Regardless, that extra ½ death is just one more reason you may need an aspirin and a glass of wine after reading this book.

Our main character is trapped on an estate with numerous guests all planning to attend a party that evening where a murder will happen at exactly 11pm. Our protagonist (giving away his name is almost a spoiler) inhabits 8 people, or “hosts”, during this one day in an attempt to solve the murder. Honestly, giving away any more information will inhibit your reading experience. Nothing is linear, time is relative, and the mystery is never straightforward.

This book is “Quantum Leap” + Memento + “Sherlock”, a triumph of complexity. Like the author mentioned in the Q&A at the end of the book, there are fourteen things happening at 1:42 pm and you have to keep it all together. If you can’t, don’t worry. The author leads you through the muddle and you never get so lost that you’re floundering. A little confusion and some mental staggering only make the story more interesting.
I couldn’t stay away from this book. Even though I may not have followed every detail in the mystery and despite being perplexed multiple times, I enjoyed this immensely. I looked forward to reading it every chance I could. It is a whirlwind of clues and twists and red herrings. Seldom do I read a book that captivates my attention from beginning to end. The 7 ½ Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle had quite a strong grip on me, and kudos to the author for keeping everything straight.

Many thanks to Netgalley and Sourcebooks for the advance copy in exchange for my review.

I absolutely loved this book. It was AMAZING. I was always on the edge of my seat and even when I was confused I was SO INTO IT. I would highly recommend it to fans of mystery, thriller, fantastical elements, and you know, A DAMN GOOD TIME.

When I first heard about this book I knew that I had to read it. I am a big fan of murder mysteries and this was such a unique twist on the regular story. Happy to report that was not at all disappointed. It was an intense but different story.

Every night at 11pm Evelyn Hardcastle will be killed. Aiden Bishop is stuck at Blackheath until he can find out who kills her. Only everyday he is in a different body - or host. There is a big party being held tonight and each day he will be a different guest of the party. Hard too say too much more without giving it away - but what a fantastic twist at the end. Groundhog Day eat your heart out!

Thank you to Sourcebooks Landmark and Netgalley for the advanced copy of this book to read. All opinions are my own and are in no way biased.

I'm sorry I just can't get into this book...I am about 20% through and have decided not to finish it because there are too many other books on my list and so many that I have enjoyed this summer. I guess this one is just not for me!! I just can't get into the switching body idea and don't really know enough about the victim initially to care about the story.

Feeling like the odd man out with the 3.5 star rating... maybe I was in a weird mood? "Groundhog Day" meets "Life After Life" with a dash of body swapping, giving total Agatha Christie vibes. The concept is totally genius and the creativity of the storyline is definitely 5-stars. I was immediately intrigued by the cover art and the book synopsis/teaser.

Aiden Bishop is trying to solve a murder. The Hardcastle family is hosting a macabre party at their estate, on the anniversary of their youngest son Thomas' murder. At 11pm, their daughter Evelyn Hardcastle will be murdered. She will be murdered every night for 8 nights until Aiden can figure out who the killer is. Every morning, he wakes up in the body of a different "witness" in a race against time and the two others trying to solve the mystery at the same time. Only one of them can escape. Is this purgatory? A game? You'll have to wait and see.

I felt like I was in the dark for most of the story and then the last few chapters were a flood of information. Some of the twists and twists on twists seemed a bit melodramatic, but then again, that might just be a genre thing. It was an enjoyable read and is obviously going to be a huge hit, so it's absolutely worth the read... just not one of my favorite books.

Before starting The 7 ½ Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle, prepare yourself: this is a book that requires at least two read-throughs. Stuart Turton writes carefully; events at Blackheath are not so much confusing as they are complex, a subtle but important distinction. In your first reading it's difficult enough to keep pace with the rapidly expanding cast of characters and the delicate layers of Aiden Bishop's repeating day. Unless you keep notes as meticulous as the author's surely were, by the novel's conclusion there are simply too many threads to keep a firm grip on all of them simultaneously.

Certain recurring details will surprise you: not because you missed them the first time, but simply because of the sheer number of developments that followed in their wake. Aiden's revelations about the murder are a pleasant blend of the expected and the shocking. Turton, after all, plays fair. Unlike the supernaturally gifted Holmes or Poirot, whose solutions sometimes come with the benefit of facts undisclosed to the reader, every clue and sign that Aiden uses to solve Evelyn Hardcastle's murder are laid out fairly before the reader too.

As the main character and only POV, Aiden is quite singular. His individual personality hovers beneath that of his host for the day, so that we come to know him not just through certain actions, but also how he registers and passes judgement on the natural reactions and resistance of whomever he's occupying. It's a unique trick: Aiden developing and becoming more familiar, even as his ability to override the inclinations of his hosts diminishes with each passing day. Impressively, Turton sticks the landing, molding Aiden into a distinct and sympathetic protagonist without allowing the various house guests he possesses to fade into an indistinguishable blur as a result.

The supernatural elements at play in his imprisonment remain subtle and suitably unexplained. Though we're provided enough information regarding the rules and boundaries of Blackheath, the tedious technicalities are kept vague, giving readers just enough of a foundation to fully immerse themselves in the mystery at hand.

And what a mystery it is! Rarely does a solution come completely out of left field; even more rarely does that unexpected revelation fit in perfectly with the events that preceded it, rather than feeling tacked on and cheap. Turton's plotting is intricate and precise, laying the groundwork for an excellent reveal while burying some of the most important clues in passing moments or mundane actions. This is where the second reading becomes necessary: after discovering how events carefully lay atop one another to finally culminate in a criminal's unmasking, returning to the beginning and retracing one's steps should prove most satisfactory.

The 7 ½ Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle should gratify both long-time mystery fans and newcomers to the genre. Turton never tries too hard to impress or obfuscate: he's clearly laid out a puzzle meant to be solved. But he is also a master of the genre—and this is his debut! Casual mystery readers won't feel frustrated that they're playing against loaded dice, while more jaded connoisseurs can expect plenty of welcome twists and surprises regrettably absent from the cookie cutter marquee releases. Don't expect to speed through such a deliberately plotted tale, though. A methodical approach is necessary if you hope to solve the murder. But don't fret if you can't manage it the first time through—you have seven more chances to get it right!

I can't lie, I found this insufferably dull. But, I also am not a fan of Agatha Christie and I tried to read Life After Life earlier this year and found it unbearably confusing and the writing style just... ugh. I'm not sure why I thought that I would enjoy this novel. There was a lot that I liked about it, and maybe I would have liked it if I had just powered through, but I made it almost 20% of the way in and the main character (Apparently it's supposed to be someone named Aiden, not Dr Bell, whoever that is) had not even been introduced. I do wholeheartedly agree that someone that likes Agatha Christie and Kate Atkinson would enjoy this novel (and I would recommend it to those people)... however I did not.

“If this isn’t hell, the devil is surely taking notes.”


Couldn’t have said it better myself. If, after reading the first few chapters, you find yourself feeling a bit discombobulated don’t worry. You’re in good company. Even the MC doesn’t know what the hell is going on.

Imagine you’re playing a real life game of Clue. You wake up one day as Col. Mustard & find yourself sequestered in a decaying old manor full of strangers. All you’ve been told is tonight someone will murder Miss Scarlet & your job is to identify the killer. Oh, and you have 24 hours. Because if you fail, tomorrow the whole day will play out again in exactly the same sequence. Except this time you’ll be Prof. Plum. Fail again & you’ll relive the same day as Mr. Green.

Now take this scenario & transfer it to Blackheath, home of the Hardcastles who’ve invited a throng of bickering, scheming guests for a special occasion. The plot & structure of the story is too complex to be reduced to a few sentences here. In this mash-up of Agatha Christie & Groundhog Day, the story centres around daughter Evelyn. And yes, she does die…a lot.

Our narrator & MC is Aiden Bishop although it takes a while before he (and we) know his true identity. There is a deliberate lack of the kind of information that gives a story context such as date & location that leaves you feeling uneasy & slightly uncomfortable. This bonds the reader with Aiden as we both struggle to make sense of his predicament. But eventually the reality of his situation is revealed & it’s a doozy. HIs first task each day is to figure out who he is & then continue his investigation. Luckily, he retains his memories as he jumps from one character to the next. This enables him to slowly put together the pieces as he sees the same events through different eyes. But it’s complicated by a wealth of suspects. With few exceptions, these are despicable people who have cornered the market on lying, cheating, stealing & blackmail. They don’t even seem to like each other & it’s not ’til the end that we understand why they ended up here.

This is not a lazy beach read. It’s a book that requires patience & attention to detail if you want to nail the killer. Hang in there, the payoff comes at the end when all is revealed & the true scope of the story takes shape.

It’s a clever, ambitious mind bender of a story that will test your memory skills. Hats off to the author, I truly don’t know how he managed to keep it all straight & avoid errors in continuity (I can’t help but picture him writing this in a room wallpapered with spreadsheets connected by strings). Ingenious, tense, mystical & haunting…this is a book you’ll think about long after you’ve finished.

(This full review will appear on my blog (http://bookstehthing.com) on 8/21/18. The slightly edited version posted on Goodreads today.)

I didn't even read the synopsis first when I saw this book available to request on NetGalley. The title was enough for me, so I had no idea what I was getting into when I started reading. I really love the blurb now that I have read it, and it would have enticed me to read the book, but going into chapter one with no idea was quite the trip-down-the-rabbit-hole. I'm not sorry I got to experience it blindly!

This novel is unlike anything I have read before. Each time I thought I was starting to get it, it would change on me just enough to get me guessing again. The characters are each unique and vibrant individuals, no small task considering the same man was inhabiting several of them, and even without the elements of mystery, I would have been hooked. It's a story I can't say too much about without giving things away, but I can say that it was the best thing I've read in ages.

One last note - if you go looking for this book on Amazon or Goodreads, know that you will find it listed as both The 7 1/2 Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle (the American title) and The 7 Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle. Same book. Whatever the title is where you are, pick up a copy and read it!