Groundhog Day Meets Agatha Christie was all I needed to hear to be completely positively intrigued by this book. I had an absolute blast reading this and trying (and failing) to figure things out. Aiden Bishop wakes up in a body that is not his with no memory at all. He learns that he will wake up on this same day 8 times in 8 different hosts to solve a murder that will occur in the evening. We follow him chronologically (from his perspective), but everything is always happening at once. There are two others trying to solve the same murder and he will have to figure out who is on his side and who isn't. This is such a staggeringly brilliant premise that is then executed stunningly.

Stuart Turton juggles many moving parts in a way that makes it relatively easy for the reader to follow along. He has all his moving pieces coming together beautifully and effortlessly and I think this is the biggest strength of this very strong book: this could have been a confusing mess but never was. The different versions of Aiden Bishop feel distinct enough to be complete characters while there is also a piece of him that is always recognizable. I adored the ruminations on identity and responsiblity, with a strong emphasis on action rather than personality.

Aiden Bishop has an incredible disdain for his hosts, who to be fair are mostly unpleasant, but I sometimes found his descriptions unnecessarily cruel, especially regarding one of his host's overweight body. He went into detailed description of why this body was disgusting and this just did not sit well with me - especially when juxtaposed with his descriptions of another of his hosts (who is a rapist) who he also hates but not that viscerally. It makes sense from an in-book-perspective (his hosts' personalities influence his reactions and the rapist sees nothing wrong with his behaviour) but still did not work for me. But this was a slight issue I had in the grand scheme of this highly enjoyable book.

I found this extremely clever, very well-written, and exceptionally well-plotted. I cannot wait to hold a finished copy in my hands to reread parts of this to find the hidden clues that I might have missed in my rush to finish this and to know. I cannot wait what Stuart Turton writes next.

I thought the premise of this book sounded really interesting but didn’t connect the characters or storyline. I feel it may be a case of this book was not for me as there are a number of good reviews for it.
I struggled to 15% and then I found myself starting to skim, therefore I have decided to put it aside as a DNF

Stuart Turton has written an extraordinarily original, atmospheric, intelligent and fiendishly complex novel that I really loved! At one level it masquerades as an Agatha Christie style golden age classic crime, and indeed many of the tropes present in that genre are here such as the diverse range of characters at a country house party. It is no exaggeration to say it is so much more, including the presence of time leaps, and absolutely nothing is as it seems. Prior to the murder of Evelyn Hardcastle, there was another death 19 years ago where justice was not fully served. Aiden Bishop is a guest at the party where Evelyn is murdered, he is trapped in a nightmarish Groundhog Day, destined to relive that day until he solves the crime and identifies the murderer. Each day he takes on the body of a different character at the party, with all the consequent complications that ensue, such as the differing friend circles and enemies.

Turton gives us a heavily detailed, inventive and ambitious story with beautiful, and lyrical prose. Whilst I found it compulsive reading, it is not a book for everyone, I can see many finding it frustrating. The author is to be congratulated for penning a tale, which whilst occasionally exasperating, allows the reader to exercise their little grey cells! This is a book for those who enjoy being taken out of their comfort zone, enjoy intriguing puzzles and have a penchant for the curious and the strange. A brilliant and twisted read that is never less than enthralling. Many thanks to Bloomsbury for an ARC.

Well, my mind was officially blown by this one! Groundhog Day crossed with Gosford Park crossed with Source Code, The Seven Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle is ostensibly a 'golden age' murder mystery in the style of Agatha Christie - but the hero is not quite all he seems.

The story starts with Sebastian Bell standing in a forest in the rain, shouting the name 'Anna'. He has no memory of who he is or how he got there, but he knows someone is about to die and he has to save them. By the time he's found his way out of the forest we know he's a guest at a country house party/masquerade ball given by Lord and Lady Hardcastle, almost nineteen years to the day that their seven year old son Thomas was murdered. Oh, and he's not really Sebastian Bell at all but Aiden Bishop, forced to re-live this day over and over, inside the head of a different guest until he solves another murder due to happen before midnight tonight. Are these two deaths connected? Can he stop the second one from happening? And are there others like him, equally determined that he won't succeed?

The Seven Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle is an extremely clever, high-concept murder mystery. It's best read in big chunks to appreciate the author's skill and to avoid becoming too confused by the spider's web of a plot. Aiden spends a lot of time running around Blackheath House not knowing what is going on, which I liked - I love being dumped in the middle of the action and hate too much backstory. There are a lot of characters, who all have important roles to play, but there is a list of them at the front of the book to help you keep track. You'll need to concentrate because the twists come thick and fast, particularly towards the jaw-dropping end. I have to admit I gave up trying to work out who the murderer was and just enjoyed the ride!

Highly original, fiendishly clever and definitely recommended!


I was lucky enough to receive an advance copy of The Seven Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle, which will be published on 8th February 2018.

Thank you to Stuart Turton, Raven Books (Bloomsbury Publishing), and Netgalley for my copy of this book, which I received in exchange for an honest review.

A man awakes in a wood with no memory and has only one name on his lips, Anna. On finding a country house, he is recognised and cared for. However, as his day continues he finds himself at the centre of a murder mystery, he is challenged to discover the murderer, his day will repeat itself and he will experience it in a different host body everytime.

This twisting, turning, time travelling murder mystery demands its' readers full attention, as you don't know which host will appear next and the course of the day keeps being altered. A complex, ingenious plot which keeps your attention. Could see it working as a film.

I’ve stayed up late to finish The Seven Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle and I feel ever-so-slightly frazzled. It was a great read, but boy did it take a lot out of me keeping track of the time-travel, body swapping, characters, motives, murder scenes and various clues. The author creates disorientation and bewilderment for the reader which mirrors the way his protagonist feels as he awakes in a number of successive hosts. Original stuff

Such an ingenious plot and really well executed. I was riveted to it for days (it is rather long) and, along with some judicious and well-timed recaps of previous events throughout, I just about managed to keep up with the action to the end.

I liked the author’s style of writing, somehow simultaneously personal and impersonal, as one individual both shares in and observes others’ experiences. A couple of passages that struck me particularly are:

‘I can feel myself being slotted into place, a cog in a massive ticking clock, propelling a mechanism I’m too small to understand.’

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

Interesting insights, too, into behaviour viewed from different perspectives and, in a ‘Groundhog Day’ fashion, we see how altering one incident can have a huge impact on events leading from it.

An original and engaging whodunnit that I can thoroughly recommend.

This mind-bending body-hopping mystery is like the result of some unholy union between The Bone Clocks, The River of No Return and a Golden Age crime classic. It begins with a man finding himself running through a forest in evening dress, with no idea who or where he is. He remembers nothing but a name – Anna – and when he sees a girl being attacked in the woods, he assumes this is Anna and he must save her. He gives chase, but is intercepted by a stranger who gives him a compass and an instruction to head east. This leads him to a gathering at a grand, albeit faded, country pile: Blackheath, home to the Hardcastle family.

Piece by piece, our hero (if that's what he is) starts to put together what's going on, aided by the guidance of a mysterious costumed figure known as 'the Plague Doctor'. This particular day ends in tragedy, and it is doomed to repeat until the murder of Evelyn Hardcastle can be solved. Every time the narrator sleeps, he wakes up in the body of a different 'host' – but he is restricted to eight of these before time runs out and the whole thing resets, with his memory wiped again.

I can't even imagine how difficult it must have been to plan out the plot of something like this, orchestrating the interactions between a huge cast of characters when their actions are supposed to be repeating... and some of them are the same man in different bodies. It's mind-bogglingly intricate. However, it's also quite bloated and, despite there being a lot going on, the narrative frequently drags. At many points I found myself growing impatient, daydreaming about a heavily edited version of the book; it could've been slimmed down to half its length. And then there's the ending. When you actually think about it – how Aiden's connection to Anna is explained and resolved, and what that would mean outside Blackheath – it is insane and ludicrous and it falls apart within seconds.

But the genius of The Seven Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle is that it really makes you want to know what happens. Even when I was pretty bored, I could not give up without finding out whether the theory I developed circa page 29 was correct. (I think it was, but I'm still not entirely sure? Or maybe I just guessed something that was obvious anyway?) And the more I read, the more theories I came up with. There's always just enough to keep you hooked until the end of the next chapter, and the next, and so on.

All in all: a fabulous concept, ponderously executed. The story has some great moments, but I'm not sure I can truly recommend wading through 500 pages of it.

This review will appear on www.wherethebooksgo.wordpress.com and Goodreads on Saturday 3 February.

In brief ★★★★

In an incredibly creative fashion, Turton has written an un-put-down-able murder mystery, full of fear, violence, confusion and mystery. I devoured this in one evening, the taut writing propelling the narrative from one heart-stopping scene to another. The set-up sounds like something straight out of Agatha Christie, but the execution has a different, darker quality than your archetypal murder mystery. An impressive, compelling debut.

I received an advanced e-book copy from Bloomsbury via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

In depth

Plot: Despite having such a wide cast of characters, this is very much a plot-driven book. A man wakes up without any sense of where or who he is, with only the name "Anna" on his lips. From there, he is drawn into a series of tense events at the Hardcastle family's rural property, Blackheath, as he tries to undercover his identity while under threat from someone known only as "the footman". When he wakes the next day and runs right into the man he had been yesterday, the core premise is exposed, and the pace really picks up. Not only will the belle of the ball, Evelyn Hardcastle, be murdered, but old tragedies from almost two decades earlier will rear their heads, muddying the waters. Despite its length, this book is easy to read quickly and I found it impossible to put down. The twists and turns our protagonist faces are cleverly devised and with each passing day, both the stakes and pressure rise.

Characters: Our protagonist is eventually revealed to be a man named Aiden Bishop, but we only learn about his traits as they interact with the personalities of his various hosts each day. For example, we only appreciate his decency and courage in contrast to his first host, Doctor Sebastien Bell's, cowardice. Cleverly, each characterisation evolves as Aiden sees the events unfolding at Blackheath from different perspectives, leaving the reader with the same degree of mistrust Aiden experiences. However, this means you don't form the same connection with each of the host characters; you end up only interested in how they can help Aiden try to solve the mystery, rather than having an interest in them as people. While I ususally delve further into analysing various characters, I worry that any other commentary will give away too much, so please pick the book up for yourself!

Themes: As with any good murder mystery, the primary theme of this novel is justice - how it can be achieved, who deserves it and what exactly it should look like.

Writing: Turton shows himself to be a master of tension and pace in his debut novel. He gives evocative descriptions that add to, rather than detract from, the intensity of the plot. His attention to detail - where key objects and people are at any given time in the very complex timeline - is superb, but as a reader you do have to dive in without understanding much, and having faith that clarity will follow. Of course, this is exactly Aiden Bishop's experience, which is one of the many devices designed to bring you along on this wild ride with him.

Recommended if you liked: anything by Agatha Christie

Bonkers but brilliant. It's an Agatha Christie manor-house mystery – with a Black Mirror twist. Kept me engrossed and guessing throughout, and I still didn't figure it out.

This was a good book with a really interesting, unique premise. A guy wakes up in the woods of an estate called Blackheath on the eve of a huge party one morning with a case of complete amnesia. As the day unfolds he receives various clues as to who he really is (which is not who everyone says he is). When he wakes up the next day in a completely different body, the plot thickens until he discovers he is at Nlackheath to solve a murder.

The idea behind this is really unique and interesting - kind of a cross between Groundhog Day and an Agatha Christie novel. The plot kept twisting and turning and I never really knew who to trust. The first and last third of the book were really action-packed and the last pages had my head spinning. There were loads of characters and it took a little while to get my head around them all, although this was probably a me thing rather than a book thing.

The only thing I found a problem was that this book was probably 150 pages too long and in the middle section the pace slowed down a bit. It did pick up in the last third again.

All in all though I thought this was a really decent, unique book. Deffo recommended.

Nineteen years before the events in this novel, a young boy was killed by a groundskeeper at Blackheath House. Someone else was involved in the crime, but escaped detection. Now, Lord Peter and Lady Helena Hardcastle are opening up Blackheath House again and hosting a party for their daughter, Evelyn, on her return from Paris. However, all is not what it seems in this original, and ambitious, novel. For it was Evelyn’s young brother, Thomas, who was killed and all of the guests invited were at the house party when the tragedy occurred.

For those who imagine that this is a type of Golden Age mystery, you will find this is something rather different. The cast of characters may fit the casting – a Lord and Lady, family solicitors, a retired naval officer, a professional gambler, a banker and various other guests, most used to a life of leisure and weekends away… However, despite the many servants, it is obvious that this is not a usual house party. The house is in decline; unused, unopened until this weekend. It exudes an air of sadness, despair and neglect. Plus, as the novel continues, there is an atmosphere of a dream gone wrong and events cause one man in particular to tumble into a nightmare.

One guest finds himself caught up in this waking nightmare. For a murder will occur at the ball and he has to solve it, in order to escape. During this nightmarish week, he will continue to wake as a different character at the house and he needs to solve the murder in order to escape the cycle. This really is a dark novel, where events recur and our main character constantly has to relive the same day, while trying to discover what happened; not only at the ball, but all those years ago when the original murder occurred. This is an interesting read, which offers something different and has a really interesting idea at the core of the book. I received a copy of this book from the publisher, via NetGalley, for review.

The premise of this book caught my attention right away: someone repeats a day again and again in a different body each time, until he can solve a murder. And having read it over the past week, it's snuck in at the last minute to be one of my favourite books of the year. I'm already planning to buy copies for a couple of people when it comes out.

The tension kicks in on page one and barely lets up through the entire book. At first, Aidan has no idea what's going on. Gradually he's given instructions and starts trying to put everything together. Stuart Turton's fantastic plotting means that every little conversation you see has a significance, every detail or interaction is important. It's a long book, but it didn't feel like it dragged at any point - I was on the edge of my seat through the entire thing. There are so many twists and turns.

The story takes place at Blackheath House, a crumbling manor deep in the woods. It's the age where guests arrive in horse-drawn carriages, and when someone is offered the option of driving a car to the village, he's horrified at the idea of getting in the vehicle at first. It's a dark, atmospheric setting, and combined with the intricate murder investigation I was strongly reminded of Agatha Christie books.

I can't say much more about the plot without giving things away, but I don't think I need to: Aidan does his best to investigate the murder, talking to various characters and trying to piece together the puzzle of what's going on in the present day, and what happened nineteen years ago when Evelyn's younger brother was murdered. It's clear early on that there's a connection between them, and he hopes that by figuring out the truth of the first, he might untangle what's going to happen to Evelyn and why.

The Seven Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle is an incredible book. Stuart Turton has done a great job of keeping the tension high throughout the entire book. It's like The First Fifteen Lives of Harry August crossed with your favourite Agatha Christie novel. If you love a good mystery novel, I one hundred percent recommend it. Ten out of ten.

I loved this book. One of the best books I’ve read all year. Agatha Christie meets Quantum Leap

Wow, I can only imagine how much plotting went into the creation of this book. This is one hell of a psychological thriller. It is utterly unique with a cast of intriguing characters. This is going to be one of the most talked about books of 2018. Stuart Turton’s novel is a mind bending piece of work. It’s hard to believe that this is his debut!

As the novel opens, Dr Sebastian Bell finds himself in the grounds of Blackheath house with one word on his lips – Anna, he is screaming into the night. But he has no memory of what has befallen him before he arrived in this place. And as he becomes reacquainted with himself, he is presented with a task. Someone is going to be murdered in the house tonight the daughter of the owner, Evelyn Hardcastle. To escape the house and find out who he truly is our lead character must solve her murder, but he has eight rivals and only one of them will be freed. And until one of them can discover who kills her, the day will repeat itself over and over again.

Stuart opens the story with plenty of intrigue both for his main character and the reader; I found this a really interesting idea as his character is finding out information about himself the same time the reader is, it was fascinating to see his reactions to revelations about his own past. Our main character, Aiden Bishop, who has come to Blackheath to solve Evelyn’s murder, becomes attached to one particular character which proves tumultuous for his time at Blackheath.

When I first started reading this book I was worried that I was going to find the story hard to follow, particularly as the plot of the novel is so complex and Stuart packs a lot of information into this book about the characters and their murky pasts. But I really didn’t have any trouble at all in understanding the plot and I didn’t have any difficulty in keeping track with the character changes.

Stuart’s writing is utterly absorbing as he takes the reader into the heart of Blackheath. There is a race against the clock element to the story as Aiden races to solve the murder ahead of the others whom he is competing against; the difficulty here is that he does not know who he is up against so it isn’t a case where he can work out their weaknesses or even work out the strength of his own position.

The ending of this book has left me wondering if perhaps there is a sequel in the works. I would love to find out more about the characters and it would be fascinating to see how Stuart would choose to visit this world again if he decides to do so, I don’t think your mind will ever quite leave Blackheath once you have finished reading. Thank you to the publisher and to Netgalley for providing me with a copy of the book to read.

So if I was grading this on originality it would be a 5 star. The story was so complex and with so much detail that I have no idea how the author kept track of all the threads. While acknowledging the skill displayed I have to be honest and say that it was just too clever for me. I’m pretty sure I would have given up about half way through if this hadn’t been a review copy. I think this is a great book but that I just wasn’t the right reader for it.

It is unique, innovative and certainly a compelling piece of fiction, with an almost dystopian like plot.

Think Fallen (1998 with Denzel Washington) with the psychedelic feel of Clockwork Orange and crime element of a 24/7 days a week ongoing Groundhog Day meets Christie mystery.

‘Nothing here is arbitrary’ and that is exactly what readers have to keep in mind whilst reading this.

Aiden has, as far as he is aware, been summoned to Blackheath to solve the murder of Evelyn Hardcastle, and until he can do that he has to relive the same day over and over again. Initially it all sounds like a rather complex murder mystery weekend. Then things start to get a wee bit more sinister and violent.

Aiden awakens each day in the body of a different guest, which gives him the advantage of seeing the crime and clues from a variety of angles. There are also disadvantages to inhabiting a new host every day though. When there are two conscious minds in the same body only one can be in control, which means that might not always be Aiden.

He finds himself struggling to maintain control and to differentiate between friend and foe. There seem to be other players in this nefarious game, the question is whether they are working with him or against him.

I liked the concept in its entirety, especially the retribution angle of the plot. In fact log this as a potential future method for so-called rehabilitation a la Dante’s nine circles of hell. I will gladly plan very specific scenarios for certain people, just saying.

I am certain we will be reading more by Turton in the future, and I do hope he manages to maintain his ability to think outside of the box, which in turn gets readers grey cells twisting like tiny tornadoes. I do so like the occasional unpredictable storm in my head.

After reading all the praise for this book, I'm sorry to add a short review that isn't very good. When I saw this book on NG, I became interested because of the description. I love timetravel and such stuff. However, I just couldn't read the book past page 100 or so, and even reading some pages at the end didn't help. It is just so depressing all: the weather, the house, the state of the house, the people. The story...
It is very well written but even so, I don't want to become depressed by a book I'm reading.

When The Grumpy Scotsman and I were first married we had a favourite tv series that we were addicted to and that we never missed. It was called Quantum Leap and was about a scientist called Dr Sam Beckett who travelled in time ending up in different bodies and righting the wrongs in their lives before "leaping" into the next person.  He ended each episode looking at his new face in the mirror and saying "Oh boy.." And that's how I felt when I finished this book except replace "Oh boy" with OMFG!!! Honestly, my mind was completely blown by the unique and quirky premise here and I think I would probably now have to describe this book as Quantum Leap meets Doctor Who via Groundhog Day with a shot of Agatha Christie! But whatever you see this book compared to, you really do need to read it yourself because you have to experience one of the most unusual but amazing books you will have ever read.

I'm not even going to attempt to explain the plot here! There is no way I could convey in a few sentences what the author has obviously spent months planning with his complex timelines and interwoven plot threads. You just need to know that a murder is going to be committed and one of the houseguests at a countryhouse party is going to have to live each day again as one of the other guests until he solves the crime. So each evening he will watch Evelyn Hardcastle die and be unable to prevent her death. The only way to stop his nightmare is to work out who is responsible and why!

I would recommend reading this in huge chunks like I did as there is just so much information to take in initially that you really do need to get your head around the unique concept at the heart of this mystery. And it doesn't necessarily follow through in chronological order either so you need to keep your eye on the ball. But although it is a long book it never seems to drag as you quite quickly become immersed in the plot as you try to work out what is happening at the same time as the poor unsuspecting soul who has discovered that his role within the confines of his society is not what he was expecting. Much as this book was not what I expected either! It's a sumptuous tapestry, intricately woven so that up close it looks simple and one dimensional but as you draw your eyes away, the full picture starts to become clear. The Seven Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle is a vibrant and exciting debut that will surprise and delight it's readers with both its originality and its classy delivery. Well worth checking out!

I absolutely ADORED this Escher painting of a novel. I spent the whole of Sunday totally engrossed in its tangled world. It is a fabulous escape from reality that is crafted with love, ambition and a twist of mayhem. I have already decided who I'll be gifting it to as I know so many people who'll delight in its quixotic charm. I loved the suspense as I waited to see who'd be waking up each day.Seeing the house refracted through the perception of each successive character was fascinating and felt freshly inventive and a fab twist on a classic whodunnit - more like a who-is-it :) Stu Turton is definitely one to watch and is as engaging on social media as his novel is original and darkly inventive. Five stars and can't wait to see where Stu takes me next!