The story is as atmospheric as the fog that surrounds our island setting. We’re immersed in post-apocalyptic commune where the members all have roles and live in what appears to be harmony supporting each other in a small community and working really hard to survive. However, cracks are forming. The three leaders are practically gods to the community, unquestioned and respected by their power over the community, then one is murdered and the secrets of the years start to unravel. It’s a layered mystery that slowly, methodically chips away at what is real and what is manufactured history. Love the science fiction and the family/human nature dynamics.

The Last Murder at the End of the World

A Novel

By: Stuart Turton

Publish Date: 21 May 2024

Publisher: Sourcebooks Landmark/Sourcebooks Landmarks

General Fiction (adult), Mystery and thrillers, sci-fi and Fantasy

100 Book Reviews Professional Reader

I would like to thank both NetGalley and Sourcebooks Landmark for allowing me to read and review this book.

Book Review:

I really enjoyed this book, and I gave it 4 stars. This book had me on the edge of my seat as I was reading it. I really enjoyed the family aspect and the friendships that were represented in the book. I couldn’t figure out who did it until it was reviled to me.

This book is about survival on an isolated island. The deadly fog is being held at bay for now, but it could come closer if the barrier fails. So far everything is going well and the people on the island are working together to survive. There are three elders who are in charge and run everything on this island. Then one day the oldest elder is found dead. She has been stabbed and 13 others are dead also. Who would do such a thing since the people don’t know anything about murder. One is bond to find answers and she needs to do so quickly because with the death of this elder the barrier is now down, and the fog is moving in. Can she solve the murder before they are all killed? You will have to read the book to find out.

Stuart Turton is an author that is amazing at taking something that seems relatively simple and giving it so much more meaning and this one is no different. This is not your typical dystopian fiction - it's a study in what makes a person human and how even the best intentions can fall short.

It doesn't take long to get attached to the characters in this book, which makes some revelations later on even harder to take. We witness classic family dynamics - parents and children with years of misunderstanding between them - but also things like close friendships where secrets are harbored and longstanding grudges dictate interactions (or lack thereof). But there's a lot going on in this book - it seems like a simple setup at first as far as solving a murder goes, but there's so much more going on behind the scenes, and small things that occur early on seem like curious afterthoughts only to discover they mean much more later on. Everything has importance, so it's worth paying close attention to everything that's said, done, and observed by all the characters. Even so, it's unlikely you'll see all the twists coming, which is a good thing.

This novel definitely keeps the suspense ratcheting up - after all, the characters have a looming deadline and the tension of it nearing is palpable throughout. It only grows more intense as the book goes on until the conclusion is right around the corner. There are reveals throughout that help to settle some pieces, but this is not going to be a title where everything is explained in one monologue at the end and I very much appreciate that. This book ensures you get caught up in caring about the characters but also wondering just what is going on and how it can all be repaired before it's too late.

Read this book if you:
- like dystopian sci-fi books
- don’t mind untangling a complex puzzle
- might find yourself playing a game of Clue during the end of the world

I have found I really enjoy a lot of dystopian reads, but this one was fairly complex and hard to follow at times. This felt a little too literary fiction for my taste. The premise is interesting, and the cover is BEAUTIFUL, but I had higher expectations for this book.

The narration was stellar. It was one I could easily listen to and I enjoyed the narrator’s voice.

If you like dystopian plots, literally fiction, and a complicated puzzle to try to solve - this is for you! I did enjoy the reveal of this one, but it dragged too much for my taste personally. But the concept was interesting and I am glad I read it.

4.5/5

CW: cruelty to animals, references to suicide/rape/child abuse, some gore, some others.

Read via NetGalley. “The Last Murder at the End of the World” is available now.

I don’t really know how you classify this sort of book, but at a guess I’d call it a locked room dystopian sci-fi murder mystery. It’s weird, it’s unique, and you’re either going to love it or hate it.

90 years ago, a great fog began rolling over the earth, killing every living thing in its path. A call went out, summoning all who could get there to a tiny island where they would be safe from the fog. Now, the last remnants of humanity live on this island. The villagers go about their daily routine, happy and content and safe. Until, one day, a murder occurs. The fog begins closing in, everyone’s memory of the night before has been wiped, and the race is on to solve the mystery and save humanity.

Full disclosure—if I hadn’t read (and loved) “The 7 ½ Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle” first, I would have been incredibly confused by this book, and I don’t know if I would have liked it as much. I did, however, read the aforementioned book, so I was at least a little bit prepared for this one to be…unusual. Which it was, but it was also a lot of fun.

Let me start by saying that this book is absolutely not one you can read while only paying half attention. It’s not a bedtime, almost-asleep, partial context will do sort of thing. This is what I affectionately have termed a “thinky” sort of book. A “whole brain” book. In case it isn’t clear—you’re going to have to pay attention or, if you’re anything like me, you’ll get horribly lost somewhere in the middle and have to read the whole page over again. Sometimes twice. That being said, it’s an incredibly enjoyable adventure, and I found that I didn’t mind reading some things twice because I got to see even more information on the second go, which was very fun. The author is genius at weaving complex, detailed stories that all come together in such a way that you never saw it coming, but you probably could have if you’d been just a little smarter (it doesn’t matter how smart you are; you’re going to have missed at least 30% of the important bits because you didn’t know yet that they were important).

The thing I probably loved the most about this particular story is the delivery. We’re watching things unfold from the perspective of a narrator who is somehow both involved in and outside of the actual events. Better yet, that narration consists of a lot of twisted, morbid, eery statements delivered in a dry, matter of fact tone that’s so disconcerting as to be amusing. Using that narration, we also get to see enough of the setting, in vibrant and solid detail, to know what the setting looks and feels like to our characters without the action being upstaged by the world building. It’s the perfect balance of information, and it makes it that much easier to sink into the story as it unfolds.

This is the sort of book that sinks its teeth into you and won’t let go until you have all the answers. It was a little slow to kick off, and yet I couldn’t put it down. The whole thing is just one riveting occurrence after another, all snowballing up to a frantic, deliciously complex, “I’m so stressed about this I couldn’t possibly stop reading even if you pried this book out of my hands,” remarkably satisfactory ending. And if that wasn’t enough, scattered throughout the story are some of the most beautiful, understated, brain-altering turns of phrase that I’ve had the pleasure of reading. This man makes excellence look easy, and if he ever decides to stop writing and try to conquer the world, we’re in trouble.

Obviously, I loved this book. I did find it a little slower to get into than “7 ½ Deaths,” but I think that’s mostly to do with the background of this one being much more ‘dystopian fiction,’ which is a little out of my usual wheelhouse. At the end of the day, though, this is a locked room mystery with all the intrigue and moving parts that I so love in that sort of thing. Despite the obvious time differences, the book gives off the same sort of vibe as Agatha Christie’s “And Then There Were None,” and I can’t think of a higher compliment than a comparison to the queen of mysteries herself. The story makes a lot of statements— about humanity, about nature, even about those things that are given value and weight. I’ll be honest, it was a hard read at times; those statements were brutal, and they weren’t always flattering. But if you can get past how incredibly oddly specific the setting is, those statements are housed in one of the most enjoyable murder mysteries I’ve ever read.

I would like to thank NetGalley and Sourcebooks Landmark for allowing me to read an ARC of this book.

I LOVED 7 1/2 Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle, and to a slightly lesser extent The Devil and the Dark Water, so was therefore very excited to jump into the latest by Stuart Turton.

The Last Murder at the End of the World takes place on a small unnamed Greek Island, which is the last such place on Earth due to a deadly black fog having destroyed the rest of humanity 90 years ago. There are 122 villagers and 3 elders on the island, which sits atop an advanced scientific research facility that has unfortunately been sealed off due to the fog.

Except that the villagers are controlled by the elders and by "Abi', an AI voice in everyone's head that acts as a conscience and can wipe their memories. She also puts them to sleep at a specific time every night and wakes them at a specific time every morning. None of the villagers know what happens during those hours. Additionally, every villager dies at age 60 (regardless of whether they are healthy or not) and are replaced with a new 8-yr old child. So, it's weird. And it gets weirder as the story goes on.

Then one of the elders, Niema, gets murdered. This triggers the barriers that keep out the fog to lower, and a countdown clock to begin. One of the villagers, Emory, who has a penchant for asking questions, must solve the murder in order to save the island and all of the villagers from the impending fog. She uncovers a lot of hidden truths and secrets along the way.

The book is very twisty and turny, and just when you think you have the murder solved -- BAM -- you don't. The "killer" is not who you would suspect! It definitely keeps you on the edge of your seat all the way until the end. While '7 1/2 Deaths' is still my favorite, this book is a close second, and I would definitely recommend it for fans of dystopian thrillers and murder mysteries.

A murder mystery wrapped in dystopian fiction, I got a little lost in the specifics of the dystopia and how everything operated/came to be, but I liked the mystery, and thought it was thought provoking in a fun way without becoming heavy handed.

It's the end of the world. A man-eating fog lingers just on the edge of an island that holds the last shreds of humanity, a haven for a small village and the three scientists ("elders") who manage the place. The fog is kept at bay, the village is peaceful and runs smoothly thanks to the myriad of rules and curfews set by the elders, until...murder.

There was a ton of creative world building in this novel. And it was very difficult to follow. By design? Just like it was for the villagers? Despite the imagination and puzzle-ness I found the plot to be a mess. A lot didn't make sense, given the premise (I'll leave it at that, no spoilers here).

For the one villager investigating the murder: "But there's only chaos in her mind now. Facts, suspicions, and half-remembered things are swirling inside a crackling fog, clumsily trying to graft themselves to each other". That's how I felt reading it.

My thanks to NetGalley and Sourcebooks Landmark for the ARC.

It always makes me sad to be reminded that even the best writers are not immune to the pitfalls of a bad plot.

Unfortunately that’s the case here with Murder at the End of the World. I really loved Turton’s first two books, so though the premise for this one sounded a bit rough and also not to my taste, I assumed I would enjoy it anyway. I’ll put a caveat on all this to say that if you like dystopias (I don’t) you’ll probably enjoy this more than I did, but the real problems with it are more about structure and trite themes.

Though I don’t love dystopia, I’m not totally opposed to trying one if the premise feels fresh and unique. I was hoping that would be the case here since Turton is so creative in his work, but this is actually very tropey and leans heavily on the same themes that show up over and over in dystopian fiction.

I probably could have lived with this had the mystery itself not also fallen victim to tropey, formula-driven stuff. To an extent you sign up for a certain amount of that with anything labeled a puzzle mystery, but some are better than others at both cutting down on the subgenre issue of convolutedness and avoiding the tendency to do something cutesy and contrived in an attempt to surprise with the solve. This book unfortunately fell victim to both of these pitfalls.

I also didn’t love the world building, though again I would place a caveat on this that if you like dystopias, this issue probably won’t affect your reader experience.

Turton’s writing is still very good, and it almost rescues the book with clever turns of phrase and solidly done tone and pacing. Almost. I’ll continue to read whatever Turton publishes in the future, but this one felt like a miss.

This book is so strange and disjointed. The plot was all over the place and I didn't feel like you got any character development at all. I know he is a popular author, and I was excited to try this, but the good cover and interesting title were the only things I liked about this book. Now I know Stuart Turton is not for me.

The premise of the story is interesting but the story is executed in a way that is all over the place and hard to follow at times. It made it incredibly hard to stay engaged and into the story. That being said I do admire the creativity that went into creating this world.

I wanted to love this so much more than i actually did…brilliant concept and Turton builds this post-apocalyptic world so well. but what brought this down for me sadly was the actual murder mystery - I honestly just didn’t find the whodunit that interesting because I never felt connected enough to these characters to really care about the culprit. it IS done in an interesting way, I just wish I cared a bit more to make this a more memorable read.

The Last Murder at the End of the World presents a world full of contradictions: far enough in the future that human lifespans can extend to hundreds of years, but the last three elders live among peaceful island villagers surviving in a crude society subsisting on fishing and farming. The only real sign of advanced technology is Abi, the artificial intelligence that speaks and listens directly within their minds. These villagers (unlike the comparatively ancient elders) all die peacefully and willingly at the age of 60 after having been born, seemingly at the advanced age of 8.

A deadly fog has covered most of the planet with the sole exception of this island, a last refuge for humanity with its small community. The fog is held at bay by an unseen barrier that ensures the villagers' continued survival. Until one of the three elders is murdered, and the deadly fog begins to advance on the island. Per Abi, only the revelation, confession, and execution of the murderer will stop the fog and save everyone.

Emory, the one apparent misfit among the villagers is tasked with solving the murder. At this point, the story turns into a murder mystery, and the stakes couldn't be higher: the very survival of the human race. Emory's work is cut out for her, because on the night of the murder, everyone on the island was subjected to a memory wipe by Abi, at the instruction of the murder victim herself.

If you're a fan of unreliable narrators, this is the book for you, because it is filled with them, either by way of the memory wipe or through the willful withholding of information. The ticking clock on the extinction of humanity is a cool suspense hook that could have been played up even more, though it factors heavily into the final moments of the story. When the ticking clock is most felt, the story is most effective.

At times it's hard to relate to the unusual behavior of the villagers. For instance, Emory's natural curiosity is anything but natural in the eyes of her docile peers. In general, they seem removed from the everyday expectations of human behavior. Meanwhile, the elders keep themselves at a distance, so the connection there is not as strong as it could have been either. Finally, everything seems filtered through Abi, along with Abi's motives, which aren't always clear, sometimes pointedly and purposefully so. But Turton sticks the landing in a startling and satisfying way, ending the tale on a simultaneously sober yet hopeful note.

'The Last Murder at the End of the World’ by Stuart Turton
Publisher: Sourcebooks
Publication: May 21, 2024
Special thanks to Goodreads and Sourcebooks for the Advanced Readers Copy in exchange for my honest opinions.

This one is a hard one for me to rate because it was one of my most anticipated reads this year. However, it just felt like a very average book to me with nothing to push it into a 4 or 5 star read. It was more sci-fi than murder mystery which I did not expect and this could also be part of the disappointment for me.

At 'The End of the World' there is an island inhabited by both villagers and human scientists who are the only known survivors of a deadly fog that has taken over the world. The scientists are the presumptive leaders, but when one ends up dead it throws the entire way of life on the island into question. Emory, an islander always on the outskirts of life due to her never-ending curiosity, is put into the role of solving the murder and thus saving the entire island from demise.

Despite the descriptive writing there were several instances of items or situations I just COULD NOT picture and envision what they were describing. This was frustrating and I ended up glossing over these sections. In addition, the narrator of the story was Abi (an AI system) despite Emory being the main character. There were many instances I would be reading assuming it was Emory's thoughts and end up confused and having to re-read sections because the narrator was Abi.

Overall, not a horrible story, just not spectacular. If you are looking for more of a sci-fi or speculative thriller type book this may be the book for you!

I don't really know where to begin here. I am a Stuart Turton apologis, I've probably recommended The 7 1/2 Deaths of Eveyln Hardcastle more than any other book in the last 6-7 years. I also loved the Devil and the Dark Water which some found tedious. I was so excited to get a review copy of this new book. And it was such a disappointment for me. The premise was solid, but the execution was unconvincing. I had a hard time caring about anything that was happening to any characters. It also felt a little too long. I think this book has readers who will love it, but it wasn't right for me. I was not a fan of the audio narration at all and believe that could have changed the experience for me significantly. I may return to the book in print down the road.

I will still continue to recommend Turton and love his books - just maybe not this one so much.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for an audio ARC in return for a fair and honest review.

What if you were tasked with solving a murder just 2 days before a flesh-devouring fog took over your home?

We follow the inhabitants of the Island at the End of the World as they follow their daily routines, through both their point of view and the view of ABI, a conscientious software program that can detect the thoughts and feelings of the islanders and communicate with everyone. This island is located in a futuristic time, after the earth has been attacked by this fog that contains flesh-eating, electrical bugs that devour anything that gets caught in it. There are 122 islanders and 3 scientists. The scientists were on the island before the fog attacked and are considered the elders by the other inhabitants. They are older, taller, and basically God-like to the inhabitants. They created ABI before the world was fog-laden to protect the secrets of the research. The main scientist has even developed a barrier that keeps the fog away from the island.

The inhabitant's world literally comes crashing down when one of the elders is found murdered. The murder causes the barrier to come down and the fog is slowly taking over. The other elders task one of the villagers with solving the murder before the fog takes over the island. The biggest catch is that when the elder was dying, she told ABI to wipe the memories of everyone on the island, so the villager has to take in all aspects of everyone's night to find the killer. Will she be able to solve the murder or die trying?

This book had my full attention from the first chapter. This unique premise adds some Sci-Fi themes on top of the murder-mystery theme. The twists kept coming with each new revelation as we followed the villager on her investigation. This was a fresh new read for me.

Thanks to Netgalley and Bloomsbury Publishing for the advanced copy I received.

It must be wild inside Stuart Turton’s mind. His stories are such intricate puzzles and I cannot help but wonder how he manages to lasso the many ideas running through his brain, successfully taming them into one tale.

But let me tell you this: The Last Murder at the End of the World is a bit long winded. I’m beginning to think that’s Stuart Turton’s signature style. The synopsis’s promised murder takes quite some time to actually occur and the path to its resolution is a long and winding one.

Of course, the cleverness of this complicated tale makes the aforementioned aspect forgivable. Turton has a way of taking stale themes and making them seem fresh. Turton’s skill as a storyteller builds those themes into complex structures, making it all magnificently intriguing. So, yes, it’s a long, winding road, but the scenery is so vibrant, it’s easy to lose yourself in the journey.

What I especially loved about narrative, though, was the exploration of creation, control, and moral compasses. It’s its own sort of genesis, despite opening at the end of the world, and it all leads to a thought provoking mystery.

I did experience one issue, however. I had both the e-galley and advance audio copy of this. Having felt overwhelmed by my reading options, I chose to listen to this. Although James Cameron Stewart did a wonderful job bringing the story to life, I was baffled by the whimsical tone of the story, and couldn’t decide if this was because of how he read it or if I would have also interpreted it as such had I read it on my own. It just didn’t seem to mesh well with the dark content so it did hinder my immersion at times.

I am immensely grateful to Tantor Audio, Sourcebooks Landmark, and NetGalley for my copy. All opinions are my own.

This was a journey I didn't know I was about to go on. I haven't read a story like this one before. I was immediately intrigued with the premise, the mystery behind the fog, and unraveling all of the details on the inhabitants of the island. At no point did I guess what was going to happen next. I really enjoyed the journey and recommend to anyone looking for something a little different than their typical thriller/mystery book!

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for the ARC.

It was an interesting concept but took a while for me to really get into it for some reason. I had trouble keeping up with who was who for maybe the first half of the book. I tend to have that problem when the names are unusual though. I finally got into the mystery about halfway through and from there it was enjoyable. One silly thing that bothered me was the over use of contractions. I don’t know why it bothered me so much but it did. Overall, interesting idea and a good mystery that kept me guessing.

Exciting and different tale of the world's last survivors dealing with treachery and impending doom.