Reviewed for Goodreads under The Seven Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle as there was no option for 7 1/2.

Crackling with splendid dialogue, characters and conspiracies, this is a shoo-in for an audio book and a made for PBS Masterpiece Theatre on the order of Agatha Christie. How the author kept all the moving parts of this intricately tied plot strung together is beyond me. In all my reading, I don't think I have ever come across a novel such as this! Atmospheric in setting, the novel opens in England (time frame shifting between 1920's-30's)where the main character is set to attend a country estate party honoring Evelyn Hardcastle who has been in Paris for a long period of time. The party is dotted with a wide spectrum of upper class individuals as well as servants and laborers. What makes this story so unique is its "Groundhog Day" device whereby the central character embodies the life of a different individual in order to solve a 19 year old murder case of her youngest brother. However, because of so many characters and plot twists, it became very confusing at times. If I didn't read it straight through, I would imagine it would be even more baffling. It needs a chart with the characters and characteristics to help muddle through the morass. If you frustrate easily, this could indeed be a hindrance. However, I had such a keen appreciation for the author's skill, that this seemed a rather minor distraction.

I don't normally read mystery/thriller books, and while the premise of this book was very interesting and the main reason for wanting to read it, I struggled with staying interested.
I don't even watch Mystery/thriller movies.

The writing was very good, and the characters were great. I just kept getting a little bored. It's a case of "It's not you, it's me." I try so hard to read outside the Fantasy genre, but every time I do I am never able to stay interested in the book.

The 71/2 deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle has a twist at every turn. From the very beginning it throws up questions to be answered and it doesn't let up until every last one has been answered. This is an absolute powerhouse of a book - defying genre and expectations both with its sweeping grandiosity. If I had but one problem with the storytelling it is that, towards the end, much of the plot gets explained away very simply in one exposition-heavy bunch. Apart from that however, I absolutely loved this novel and will be recommending it to all and sundry,

This book is weird and unusual but very memorable. The premise is unlike anything I’ve ever read and draws you in to read more. A great whodunnit that I’d definitely recommend.

The 7 ½ Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle is one of the most unusual and memorable mysteries that I’ve read.  It is easy to compare it to Groundhog Day where the protagonist repeats the same day until he gets it right and Quantum Leap, where the protagonist inhabits the bodies of different people trying to make things right.  Both give you an idea of what to expect, but neither wholly encompasses the unique nature of The 7 ½ Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle. In this unusual murder mystery, you are trapped within a repeating scenario with one difference.  Each day you wake up as someone else. Your task is to uncover who killed Evelyn Hardcastle and how, but you are not alone - there are others also searching for the killer, competitors who do not have your best interests at heart.  The task is a dangerous one, your memories are fleeting and the lines between occupier and occupied are blurred as you seek out long hidden secrets and untangle the web of lies.


This novel is astounding, and if it was possible I would give it more than 5 stars.  It is definitely an unusual approach to the classic manor house mystery.


5 / 5


I received a copy of The 7 ½ Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle from the publisher and Netgalley.com in exchange for an honest review.


— Crittermom

Great whodunit book! Very Agatha Christie. I really enjoyed the twist and turns the book takes and I believe any one who reads this book will as well.

A twisty and unusual read with a compelling central dynamic--impossible to put down--The novel's premise reads like a free fall into time.

I am not quite sure what I just read. I wouldn't quite call it a mystery but yet it is one. A man wakes up every morning to find himself as a different person. Every night Evelyn Hardcastle commits suicide at 11pm. The only way this man can become untrapped from the revolving door of personalities is to figure out who murdered Evelyn Hardcastle. But wait, didn't she commit suicide? Someone made it look like a suicide? How many times has this man lived in these characters to come up short on an answer? I loved the concept and the story but felt some things may have been revealed too slowly.

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Summary:

This is a murder-mystery, with an excellent sci-fi angle to it. Set in shambling late-Victorian Blackheath House and its ill-kept grounds, deep and isolated in a forest, the narrator is charged with solving the murder of Evelyn Hardcastle. He does this over the period of 8 days, through inhabiting 8 “hosts” and seeing things from their perspectives, and remembering all the clues and deductions he has made in previous hosts. If he solves it, he is allowed go free from the house.

However, if he does not solve it (and he is always a he), the clock resets, and the day repeats, with the narrator having to start at the beginning again, and re-solve the puzzle.

To add extra motivational spice, there are two others who are also tasked with the same goal, and whoever solves it first is allowed to go, the others doomed to be caught forever in the House.

Main Characters:

Aiden Bishop: He only learns his real name part-way through the day, and as he goes on he questions/wonders about the man he was. We also see how he feels/reacts to the various hosts he inhabits, and each host gets stronger and harder to suppress as the day progresses.

Anna: A femme fatale? A loyal friend? Her evolving story retains great interest as the novel/mystery unfolds.

The Plague Doctor: Appears when the narrator is at a crucial juncture. He never directly offers advice, but acts more as a puppet-master. We are never truly sure which side he is on.

Minor Characters:

The various hosts Aiden inhabits throughout the day. Their part in the story ends when they fall asleep at the end of the day (and sleep past midnight), or more abruptly if they die.

Cunningham: Lord Ravencourt’s trusty valet.

The Footman: Mysterious malignant presence, whose sole desire is to kill off all of Aiden’s hosts before he can solve the mystery.

Plot:

7 1/2 Deaths opens with a man (our protagonist) running through a dark forest, a man who doesn’t remember his name, his personal history, nor where he is. He has just one name – Anna – and believes he has heard her being killed.

He soon meets the Plague Doctor, a masked figure who outlines his task. The narrator is told he has 8 days, and 8 hosts, to solve the murder of Evelyn Hardcastle, which happens at 11pm every night in this continuous time-loop (a “Groundhog Day” crime mystery). A complicating factor, is that the murder does not in fact appear to be a murder. The narrator must deliver the correct name of the killer to the Plague Doctor before day 8 ends, or else the narrator is doomed to repeat the sequence. He has two rivals, who have the same goal, but only one can be released from the time-loop. The narrator also finds out he is being pursued by the Footman, who wants to kill all his hosts.

He inhabits the 8 people (chronologically from his timeview), but this causes confusion with characters he interacts with as his hosts may not be running in the same time (could be earlier or later in time then when he was last in that host).

As the mystery unravels, we learn the Hardcastles have fallen on hard times, due to the father’s knack for bad investments. Evelyn and Michael are his adult children. Evelyn has recently returned from Paris, where she had a good social circle and was free of the House. We also learn there was a third child, Thomas, who was murdered by Charlie Carver on this night nineteen years ago, and it seems Lady Hardcastle wanted a macabre party for Evelyn, coinciding as it does with the anniversary of her brother’s death.

The cast ranges across the social classes of the time (circa 1920’s England), from the nobility to the servants. There is even a sinister Johnny-come-lately in the person of Ted Stanwin, former groundsman now suspiciously well-to-do. Aiden is unsure of whom to trust, and is also hindered/helped by the unique characteristics of each host.

There are numerous layers within this book, and it is fascinating to see how the characters relate to each other, and the narrator’s relationship to them and himself. Aiden does introspection well, and the author plays excellently on the narrator’s sense of dislocation and insecurity. Who does he trust? Is he trusting his life to someone who will betray him? Is he able to betray others when it comes to it?

What I Liked:

The originality of the plot device, combining the classic whodunit with science fiction.
The characters – well-drawn and believable, especially given the time the narrator was in them, and his non-PC personal reaction to them.
The intricacy of the plot, and the weaving and sundering of relationships and motivations.
What I Didn’t Like:

The aftermath of the reveal was a little flat.
While viewing multiple characters is interesting, you don’t really get to “like” them, or get engaged by them.
Overall:

7 1/2 Deaths is a book I really liked. It seriously engaged the brain, it was complex, and some parts required re-reading just to ensure you kept up with the developments. As is said in the book, all the characters can be viewed as playing out roles on the stage – you just need to figure out who is the villain of the piece. It will keep you up at night, as the suspense draws you forward and deeper in.

7 1/2 Deaths is a book you won’t read the same way again, because of the reveal - similar to how you won’t watch “The Sixth Sense” again - but that does not lessen how good this debut novel is.

You have to read it. The writing is compact and concise, the plot is complex and requires concentration to follow it, subtle clues and hints proliferate, yet the ending still comes as a big shock. It is original, cerebral and action-packed.

There are stories within stories (Aiden finding out about himself, about Anna, and about the various back-stories of his hosts, and the moral and ethical dilemmas he has to resolve when faced with a irrevocable decision (at least, in this particular day – Aiden thinks he has been re-enacting this day for nearly thirty years!)).

Aiden is also revisiting the murder of 19 years ago at the same time, showing up the effect it has had on each member of the Hardcastle family.

It can be confusing and complicated, and should not be read quickly as details/conversations/observations may be lost or overlooked, but is stunningly clever and extremely well thought-out and paced. The reveal is a thorough surprise (some of the “clues” mentioned above are red herrings, which most likely will throw you off the scent).

Acknowledgements:

My thanks to NetGalley and the author for providing a free copy of the book, in return for an honest and unbiased review.

I’ll start by saying that this is unlike any other book I’ve read. I’m not even sure I can categorise it, as the normal genres just won’t do it justice. If I said crime fiction then it would really only touch the surface. There’s certainly a strong element of whodunnit about this novel, but it’s delivered with a very large helping of something else – something I’m not willing to delve into here for fear of ruining the experience for future readers.

The crime fiction element is broken down and then stitched together in a fiendishly clever way. There’s an Agatha Christie style cast and, at heart, you could certainly say that it is an old fashioned murder mystery. The setting too – that of a country estate, now in a significant state of disrepair – could certainly fit one of Christie’s novels. But that’s pretty much where the similarities end. This tale is a deconstruction of a crime fiction novel, it’s mind bending and it’s amazing and it’s delivered with terrific aplomb.

After spending less than an hour with this book I was spellbound. The only thing that stopped me devouring the whole thing in one sitting was the fact that a good deal of detail is laid down in a short space of time and I needed a little time to assimilate it all (note: I tend to struggle to keep up with any book that has more than five main characters). But soon I’d gotten my head around how this story was to play out – but certainly not where it was eventually going to take me. And by then the cast of characters had become old friends.

It’s a fully satisfying twist on a murder mystery and I absolutely loved it. I’m full of admiration for the level of imagination needed to put book together and to keep track of the many twists. In some ways it reminds me of Audrey Niffenegger’s The Time Traveler's Wife in that it’s a one-off way of telling a story that just nails it. I believe both books would benefit from a second reading, if for no other reason than to admire, again, the skill of the author and to spot all the little tricks, links and clues missed the first time around.

A wonderful first novel from this stunningly gifted writer.

My first thought after finishing this book was how well thought out and intricate the plot of Stuart Turton’s murder mystery is. I am fairly sure there will be someone out there reading this book noting down all the times events and putting them in the right order. That person will not be me, but I could imagine it!

This read was definitely a bit of a rollercoaster ride. I went into it knowing hardly anything about the book, deliberately not reading the synopsis, and it immediately started surprising me, and then a bit more, and a bit more! I really enjoyed that aspect of it and also the reason why I will not go into the plot. I think it is best to go in blind.

The characters were written well, but the simple star of the show is the puzzle that the pages create and the dark atmosphere that the author manages to create throughout.

I am not sure I was quite that fond of the ending and some of the decisions the main character made, but overall it was a really good read.

I would definitely recommend The 7½ Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle to anyone who enjoys atmospheric writing or a murdery mystery set at a crumbling country house.

An excellent twisted whodunnit! The story style is innovative and makes the narrative go along at a pace whilst at the same time forcing the reader to make an effort to keep up. I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book. It's a really clever idea and I felt fully immersed into the setting and atmosphere. I would have liked a little more information at the end, but overall it's a really great book.

Evelyn Hardcastle will die tonight - again. She is murdered at 11 PM every day, in an eternal look inside of Blackheath. Aiden must find out who her murderer if he wants to be set free, and for that he is given eight hosts, each of whom has different strengths and weaknesses to help him solve the murder. If he fails, the cycle will begin again and again, as it has hundreds of times already.

This book is fantastic, the mystery is so complex and well done and the writing so atmospheric! I flew through this story, and only stopped reading at some point because I had to go to work the next day. I loved seeing the events through the eyes of the different hosts, and all the twists and turns. I absolutely recommend this book for any mystery fan! It's not your typical cozy mystery novel, it's much more complex than that, and yet it feel a bit classic - a touch of Agatha Christie and decadence. This was a great read and I can't wait to re-read and pay attention to the details I missed in the first read!

Ultimately I did enjoy this book, although I did find it utterly confusing at times. The premise is that a person relives the same day of Eveyln Hardcastle's death, each day waking up in a different person's body who is present, in order to solve who killed her. Each time this person wakes up they take on the characteristics of the person who's body they are 'borrowing' both their emotions and physical state.. It is really difficult to explain more without giving away spoilers. I have to confess because of the number of characters, I did have to keep referring back to understand who some of them were. Some of the ending I was not expecting and some of it I was however I really did enjoy this book and would recommend it.

I finished this book yesterday but i couldn't write the review straight away, i needed to collect my thoughts first.

So what can i say about a book that i definitely consider as amongst the top5 of this year?

I can just tell you how it will go if you choose to read it: you start it, you feel confused from the beginning, with each chapter you start finding some answers only to add more intriguing questions, you bravely continue despite the increasing confusion, at some point you abandon the idea of figuring out what's happening on your own and you just focus on getting the information in the correct order, you get to the end, you feel more or less chocked/surprised/confused, you close the book and then you just want to open it and read it all over again. At least that's what happened to me.

The Seven Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle is a rather unique or at least a very interesting approach for a thriller. How to solve a perfect crime and prevent a death that's already happened? Seeing the same day over and over again through different perspectives was fascinating, how each of the persons reacts differently to the same moment, how they perceive the same words and looks differently, it definitely says a lot about human nature.

I will not say much of the plot because i think this is one of those book that it's better to start reading without first seeing the plot summary, it spoils a lot of the fun that way. Knowing only the title, at the beginning the reader shares the same confusion as the characters and i think that's necessary to have a better experience with the book.

This was a fun read, and a bit of a brain twister, trying to figure out who the protagonist was, and where he would jump to next. Each new character was fun, and I liked that there was plenty of time travel sort of tricks played that can only be played when you are playing with at least one future yous. The note to the future body and their resulting discussions were fun. There is a real sense of menace throughout the book, and the Footman was lead up to brilliantly. I highly recommend this to mystery fans.

I really like these covers! The title is slightly different for the USA compared to the UK, so I wanted to show both. Also, I think the USA one might not be out yet, but I may be wrong about that. The cover is pretty simple but I like the colors they used and after reading the book the details make a lot of sense!

I was quite confused when I started reading this book, I didn't recognized the name of the main character and I couldn't really get into it. After I kept on reading I realized our main character doesn't know his own name, so while I get a name from the synopsis, our MC wasn't there yet. I really like being surprised so I don't think you need his name. You just have to go on that journey with him! What I really liked about this book is that every time the MC woke up in another body, he assumed part of their personality. And this got worse the more bodies he had inhabited. It was so interesting to read how he changed with that new body and how he had to 'fight' the actual inhabitant for complete control.

There are so many twists and turns in this book and while they flowed naturally I didn't see any of it coming haha. I kept guessing who did the murdering but; NO CLUE! And that was pretty frustrating to be honest haha. I do usually have a pretty good guess, but not this time. Lets just say, this was an amazing murder mystery!

Our MC experiences this day 8 different times, through 8 different eyes. And every time he gets a new body, he also gets a bit of a different personality. I really loved how the original person showed himself through our MC. This was so, so well done. It did make it a bit harder to find out what his own personality was like. I would say he's a stubborn person that just wants to do the right thing. Getting back to the different bodies, there was such a distinction between them! There were good characters, questionable characters, pretty bad characters, scared characters, smart characters, and so on. They all had their own impact on the story and it was so interesting seeing the same situation from different angles.

Apart from our MC we also have Anna, the Plague Doctor, the footman and Evelyn as our most important characters I would say. Other than them we have quite a lot of side characters as well and I think they're all really important to the story. They all bring something new to the story. Anna and the Plague Doctor were hard to read! I didn't know what to think of them and that was so enjoyable. The footman really scared me haha. And Evelyn was so interesting and mysterious. I really didn't know how all the parts fit together until 'the big finale'.

I was so engaged in this story and especially around the halfway mark I just couldn't put it down. If you love murder mystery with a little twist this is the book for you. I really hope the author writes a book in similar fashion. This book gets 4,5 stars from me! I might actually reread this one just so I can see the full story from all angles when I already know what's going on. Highly recommend this book!

I started this book 3 different times. My confusion never cleared up. I may try a 4th time. I am intrigued by the concept of this book, but ultimately too confusing to keep track of.

I love how original this book was to me. A great read to keep you guessing and on your toes trying to work out the mystery before the end....

This book is like a Downton Abbey murder mystery party, with a cool twist: one person plays a different character in the same scenes over and over until the murder is solved. Murder mystery parties are a lot of fun, especially if everyone gets into their character and if they're clever enough to follow along. Every interaction is a clue, and each person's view of the events can be different.

As I found out through this book, changing your perspective changes your experience. This book does an excellent job at illustrating the importance of perspective, and how different stories can arise with each individual person’s view on the same events. The first few times Aidan had a hard time with the body swapping. Change is often a complex and difficult process especially if it’s a bodily experience! Aidan’s inability to change had him stuck and unsatisfied until he adopted a new way of thinking. When he changed his perspective, he knew that what he was going through had a purpose, even if he did not understand it.

The book begins like a classic murder mystery party where there is very little background information and the reader has to figure out the context. It was a little confusing in the beginning because the narrator's identity isn't revealed until 25% into the book. However, the multiple perspectives are fascinating. The writing is very atmospheric, descriptive, and the setting and characters remind me of Downton Abbey’s charm, humor, and wit. It transported me into the 1920’s with British nobility, socialites, butlers, valets, maids, horses and carriages. The book is a little bit on the longer side, about 500 pages, so it's not a quick read. It’s not in my typical genre, but I enjoyed it and I think you will, too.

Hold on to your top hats, because this book is a wild ride with unique perspectives.