Wow. What an intricate, amazing story - think "Groundhog Day" meets "Lost" (or any other show like "Lost," where neither you nor the characters know what kind of world they are in nor do they know why they are in it, and the whole ending depends on how much sense the writer made out of piecing every little detail of the plot together). That sounds so cheesy, but this is not a shallow or silly novel. It's a really clever murder mystery with a twist: an unsolved 1920's murder stuck in a dystopian time loop until it's solved. This is definitely a page-turner. You have to really pay attention to make sure you don't miss anything, but paying attention is easy - you become so engrossed in the story that you can't put it down. I'm not easily impressed, and I'm really impressed with this novel. It's so original, so clever.

A riveting, complex, spellbinding novel! The story took you through so many twists, turns, roadblocks and characters that you never knew which way it would continue until it was happening! A very inventive mystery thriller that engages you from page one! Absolutely marvellous storytelling! * I received a copy of this book from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review *

This is a review of an ARC from NetGalley.

Our protagonist wakes up running through the woods of a run-down country estate, with a name on his lips - "Anna." Why is he running? Who is Anna? Where is he? He doesn't know, and neither do we. The hero soon discovers he's been trapped in a loop - a murder will take place that night, and he needs to solve it. He'll be given eight tries, each in the body of a different host - a guest at the part - to look for clues and solve the crime, or be trapped there forever.

This at first seemed like a supernatural spin on the classic country house murder mystery. But it's really not that kind of book. About half way through I realized it's more a contemplation of fate, and guilt, and the nature of man. And I'm not sure which way to rate it. The two types of books - murder mysteries and philosophical debates - are almost diametrically opposed in what they give a reader. The classic country house mystery is appealing (at least to me) because it is a puzzle that gets neatly solved: clues found, questions answered, ends tied up with e neat bow (and a gold star if you got there first). A discussion of the nature of man...is not that. You don't get a firm answer on questions like "can people truly change their nature?" "what is guilt?" nor do you expect to. So while I can appreciate the second half of the book, it wasn't what I thought I was getting, and the lack of solutions (the book thinks it's given them but noooo - big gaping plot holes. It may be fashionable to deride Christie and her genre as fluff, and certainly not *literature* , but the woman is a genius, and what she did is HARD and you sir, did not come close) left me unsatisfied.

NetGalley Review

Prior to reading this book, I fell into a book slump. This book was exactly what I needed to pull me out of it. If you're looking for a page-turning book that keeps you up into the wee hours of the morning, then this is the perfect book for you.

A murder mystery with a twist. Aiden Bishop is tasked with solving Evelyn Hardcastle's murder within eight days. If he cannot solve it within the allotted eight days, Aiden must start from the very beginning, lost and memoryless.

The Seven Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle is a unique take on a murder mystery. I greatly admire Turton's flawless writing ability to address all of the moving parts within this novel. I found it incredibly helpful when Aiden himself reminded the readers of a specific clue or idea from an earlier host.

I loved the character development within Aiden throughout his journey. Though, in the beginning, we had no idea of who he was before he arrived at Blackheath, I enjoyed the contrast from one host to the other. Likewise, Aiden's struggle to keep himself from being smothered was very clever and exposed the readers to the piece of himself he felt before entering Blackheath.

Turton's lyrical writing sets the scene perfectly, describing every detail with poise and elegance. I hope to one day write as well as he does.

The Seven Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle will keep you on the edge of your seat. Be sure to have a pen in hand before diving head first into this book. There are so many twists and turns that appear out of nowhere. Get ready for a day full of murder and mystery. I highly recommend reading this book to anyone who can pinpoint the murderer within the first 20 minutes of any detective drama, like myself. The answer may surprise you when you reach the end.

Every day at 11pm, Evelyn Hardcastle is murdered at Blackheath, her family’s estate and her childhood home. Aiden Bishop has eight days to solve her murder. Eight of the same days. The day repeats on a loop, but each day for eight days, Aiden occupies a different body. His only escape from the never ending loop is to solve her murder.

Wow. This was a fantastic, kind of trippy thrill ride. The only thing I can really think to compare it to is The Magus by John Fowler, and that’s only in the sense that both you the reader and the main character really have absolutely no clue what is going on. Unlike The Magus, though, (almost) everything is revealed by the end of the book and it comes to a mostly satisfying conclusion.

Even if it were just a closed door murder mystery, it would still be good. The mystery itself was twisty enough to keep the reader constantly on their feet. I guessed one thing, but most of the elements of the mystery were a total surprise when they were revealed. It’s deliciously complex. The addition of the eight different perspectives along with the fact that everyone is unreliable really added to the story. Add to that the fact that someone is killing off Aiden’s hosts, and the book becomes nearly impossible to put down. I actually had to stop reading it before bed because I was staying up too late (I always wanted to read "just one more" chapter). There were a few world building things that were left frustratingly vague, but I think that was by intention, so I can’t complain.

This genre bending book will screw with your head in the best way possible. I’ve never read anything quite like it, and I really loved the reading experience. I think a lot of people will enjoy it – mystery lovers, those that enjoy high concepts and general fiction readers are going to love this one. I certainly did! 5 stars.

Thanks to Sourcebooks Landmark and Netgalley for the eARC, which I received for review consideration. The 7½ Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle will be available for purchase in the US on 18 September 2018. You can put your copy on hold today!

“Their memories crowd the edges of my mind, the weight of them almost too much to bear. I want everything they want. I feel their aches and am made timid by their fears. I’m no longer a man, I’m a chorus.”<

A Puzzle Like You’ve Never Seen

I must admit I’m not a frequent reader of mystery novels. Even though I love Agatha Christie of course, I haven’t read more than five modern mysteries, maybe not even that much. So, I’m not sure why I requested this ARC in the first place, or what drew me to it, and because of that I’ve been delaying this novel for months, and finally decided to get it off my chest recently – and I couldn’t be more glad that I did.

The Seven Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle is a puzzle. A puzzle you’re entirely drawn into, which you try to solve along with its main character, Aidan Bishop. The more you read, you can feel the clock ticking, as you’re running out of time to solve its big mystery. Overall, this novel reminded me of many things: Inception, Groundhog Day, Christie’s novels, even Alice in Wonderland, but mostly of a board game I used to play as a kid, called The Game of Witches. The pieces for all players were exactly same – black hollowed-out plastic ones, with an exception of the top, where an image of a witch in one of the four colors was placed. The trick of the game was this – when you start, and pull your pieces out of your starting position one by one, you have to flip them over, covering the color. This leads to all pieces being the same, black ones, and as the game advances you easily lose track of which pieces belong to you, and which ones to your opponents, leading to a confusion. Unknowingly, you may help your opponents by advancing their pieces, while thinking you’re playing with your own, all along racing to be the first one to reach the end.

“Nothing like a mask to reveal somebody’s true nature.”

That is what this novel essentially is. There are three players; a mystery to be solved, which is the murder of Evelyn Hardcastle as you might have guessed from the title; and various obstacles along the way, that may help you on your quest or turn against you. The first obstacle is that you have only eight days. The second one is that each day you will wake up as a different person – one of the guests of the party hosted by Lord and Lady Hardcastle. The third obstacle is a time-loop you’re trapped in. There are even more obstacles along the way, but I don’t want to ruin the experience for you, because as much as this novel is reminiscent of the movies and novels I mentioned, it is an entirely unique thing, standing firmly on its own bookish feet, and it is on you to explore it and solve it, if you can. The complexity of Evelyn Hardcastle may put you off, but it is in fact its strongest point. It is a masterfully constructed maze, spinning you in circles on every single turn.

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

Other than its unprecedented complexity and design, this novel brings up some important questions – are we truly what we look like on the surface? Are we defined by our tumultuous past or our present actions? Can we be redeemed for our crimes by changing our true selves? This novel masterfully plays with human nature, which is most notable is the eight hosts Aidan Bishop takes. Each one has his own agenda, his own cowardice, intelligence, urges and desires, and by the end of it, it becomes difficult to pick out the true Aidan, even for himself.

“I grit my teeth. For once, it would be a refreshing to find somebody in this place who was exactly what they appeared to be.”

Now I’ll try to shut my mouth and say nothing else, because every twist and turn in Evelyn Hardcastle is worth exploring and discovering on your own. If you love puzzles, games and mysteries like myself – then this novel is made for you. Even though I’m a huge fantasy lover, this mystery is the best novel I’ve read so far in the last couple of years. I’ll stop here and leave you with this little but significant quote:

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

: The 7½ Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle

AUTHOR: Stuart Turton

RELEASES: 04 Sept 2018 by Sourcebooks Landmark

GENRE: Mystery & Thrillers

"I'm a man in Purgatory, blind to the sins that chased me here."

I couldn't put this down at all once I started it. The level of detail and intrigue is unreal and unmatched by most other crime thrillers I've read previously. I would put this on par with the like of b.a.paris if I had to compare it to something. It doesn't just go into one category, though. There's the bit of sci-fi in it with the Plague Doctor that appears randomly and the fact that Adrian relives the same day 8 days in a row in various bodies. What even is this world?? I was so confused at first, as I didn't read the synopsis before I began. Once I caught up to what was happening, though, I was entirely hooked!

"Do you know how you can tell if a monster's fit to walk the world again, Mr. Bishop? If they're truly redeemed and not just telling you what you want to hear? You give them a day without​ consequences, and you watch to see what they do with it."

When Aiden's entire objective changes from finding the murderer to saving Evelyn from being murdered at all, there is a bit of push back from a few other characters. His moral compass is so interesting, but I found myself asking if I would be making similar choices. Or would I have only gone as far as to figure out who was murdering Evelyn? There were so many inconsistencies in the original story of Evelyn's homecoming and those closest to her, so it really made for a wonderful novel!! 

"How lost do you have to be to let the devil lead you home?"

If you're a fan of whodunit thriller novels, then you'll love this novel. The characters not only work on discovering who they are and what they value most, but are also in the middle of a murder mystery! This crime thriller will have you on the edge of your seat exploring every little nook and cranny in which potential evidence could be hiding!

Thank you so much to NetGalley and SOURCEBOOKS Landmark for providing me with an ARC. All quotes are taken from an ARC and may not match the final release.

This this wonderfully complicated murder mystery has been referred as Agatha Christie meets Groundhogs Day and that comp is spot on. A must buy for all library collections.

This book was a 5 star read up until the ending. Everything before the last few chapters was original, fast paced, and very fun moving from body to body trying to figure out who was Evelyn's killer. The author is a great writer and I love a good brilliant, complex plot. I will still be excited to read the author's next book.

The ending attempting to tie up all the loose ends dropped this amazing read down to three stars.

There was a little forced romance, mixed with a hapilly ever after, dashed with a small amount of the Black Mirror episode called White Bear. If you are going to give a White Bear ending, go all the way dark with a new twist. Romance and happily ever afters are not needed for this type of story.

I started this book three different times and just couldn’t stick with it. It’s very wordy, and the beginning is confusing, but not in a way that made me want to keep reading to figure out how the mystery unfolds.

Really interesting story! I found the plot engaging and the characters incredibly engaging and engrossing to follow throughout the plot of the book.

This was a confusing but intriguing novel involving the premise that the protagonist would spend 24 hours as a particular character to solve a murder. I read the entire book but, upon review, just felt tired at the end. The surprise ending was too convoluted and connived for my liking. I felt like this was a plot line already explored in the Black Mirror series with regards to punishment and the criminal justice system. This might of been ground breaking a decade ago but now it just tries too hard for the "AHA" moment.

A man awakes in a wood, with no memory of who he is or how he got there, and with only a single name on his lips. A figure is seen running, and soon after, a gunshot. What follows is a stately home murder mystery the like of which you’ve never seen before…

The Seven Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle is, to put it simply, one of the best books I’ve read in a long, long time. It’s fabulously mind-twistingly clever, with a high-concept plot, a host of splendid, characters and a delightfully Christie-esque setting. It’s a book which demands that you pay attention, and rewards you handsomely for doing so. You know who dies from the title itself, but unlike your common or garden whodunnit, you follow the course of a day many times over, from different viewpoints as our protagonist tries to solve the question of who killed Evelyn Hardcastle, and more importantly, why.

I’m in awe of the plotting at work here – multiple characters interwoven across a day and the rooms and grounds of Blackheath. It’s been compared to Agatha Christie meets Inception, but it’s so much more than that – throw in a dash of Quantum Leap, and a smidgeon of Cluedo, topped off with a light dusting of Groundhog Day. I can picture the author in a room with a large map and a ball of red string, laying out the timelines.

Look. It’s genius. Just go and order yourself a copy. The hardback comes with maps, and who doesn’t love a good map in a book? I’ve already got a copy on order so I can read it again and savour it. There’s not many books I get a chance to re-read, but I’m looking forward to re-reading this one again. And again. And again…

The Seven Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle is published in the UK by Raven Books in February 2018. Our US chums will have to wait until September 2018, unfortunately, but you get an extra half death, as over there it’s called The 7 1/2 Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle.

I am completely ready to cop to the fact that although I couldn't get with this book, it's actually pretty good. Other reviewers have mentioned that it's difficult to describe the genre, which will explain why I, who is not usually a fan of supernatural fiction, requested to review it via Netgalley, where the publisher kindly approved me.

What I liked: an beautifully rendered sense of place, time; dripping with atmosphere. Complex characters. Creative structure.

Not so much: Spirits inhabiting other bodies. Bewildering timeline. Tough to stick with.

Recommended for people who like demons, witches, that sort of thing (no spoilers here--I'm not saying any of these appear in the novel.)

Still trying to figure out how Evelyn had seven deaths in the UK and seven and a half in the US. Poor girl.

I thought this was fantastic. I've never read anything quite like it. I have no idea how the author managed to keep all the bits and pieces of this story straight in his head while writing. It's quite the feat, and I'm impressed. This book is tense from start to finish, and I loved it.

Thanks NetGalley for a free copy in exchange for an honest review!

First off, let’s get one thing clear: this review isn’t fair. It’s not fair because I feel that the only way to properly review this book is to do so only after a second, if not a third, close read.

The 7 1/2 Deaths is Evelyn Hardcastle is a complex murder mystery that will keep you guessing until the very last few pages. There’s just enough foreshadowing that you can see the ending coming, but at the same time, I doubt I could have guessed it correctly, which makes this book so valuable in my eyes.

I won’t lie, it’s hard to keep track of this story. It took me a long time to read it (I usually put a book away per week, but this one took me almost two months - and it wasn’t exceptionally long either) because I had to start it over at about the 20% mark just to make sure I had grasped what had happened in the first few chapters. I wish I had the time to read through this book again just so I can pick up on everything I’ve missed, as I did with my favourite book from Agatha Christie, And Then There Were None.

I would recommend this book to anyone looking for a complex “Who Dun It” type of mystery with a bit of a supernatural twist. It was really good, although it took me forever to go through it. Some reviewers said they couldn’t put it down, but I find its the type of book that you have to enjoy slowly to pick up on the nuances that made it such a deliciously elegant mystery.

I’d like to thank Sourcebooks Lanark, as well as Netgalley, for the free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I will start by saying whilst I thoroughly enjoyed this, I would hazard a guess that this would be best read as a physical book. A really interesting and well told story with wonderful writing. I found myself thinking about it when I was reading it and raced pack to pick it up. Packed with intrigue, a hyped book worth the hype,

The premise of this book was really original and I thought the book itself was well executed. I struggled a bit with the language, as I usually read more contemporary material, but the story itself kept me hooked. The ending was just as explosive as you would expect.

Holy wow, I loved this book! Like, really loved it. It was fast paced, interesting, unique and just all around GOOD. It has similarities to Agatha Christie novels, and reminded me a bit of Clue, with some Momento, Inception, and Groundhog Day thrown in. The whole premise is fascinating, I don’t even have words to describe it. I had no idea what I was getting into, but it was better than I imagined. The twists, the turns, the ending! The author astounds me with the world he’s built, because the whole story is so complex it must take a brilliant mind to create it. Although long in pages, it was a quick read that I couldn’t put down, and it was a very satisfying read. I’d recommend it anyone and everyone. Pick it up, read it, love it.

What would you do if you awoke in a new body every day, without any memories of the life you led before that moment? For Aiden, the difference between forgetfulness and remembering is a matter of life and death, and not just his own. As the days roll by, the plot thickens, as plots should. Race along with Aiden as he tries to hold onto a thin, strained thread of himself so he can solve a mystery, prevent a murder, and save a girl he doesn't really know. In the tradition of Agatha Christie, the suspects are many, and the clues are doled out just so.