Book Review: The 7 1/2 Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle by Stuart Turton
*This article was originally published on April 1st, 2022
OVERALL RATING: 8/10
Spoiler Warning: Due to the mysterious nature of The 7 1/2 Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle, I will only mention light spoilers for the general setup and plotlines of the book. The ending and other important moments will NOT be spoiled.
REVIEW
The 7 1/2 Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle (apparently known in the UK as The Seven Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle) is a 2018 old-school whodunit murder mystery with a refreshing twist. The book has done well enough to be picked up by Netflix, with a seven-episode series currently in production. So, should you rush out to read it or just wait for a day-long binging marathon?
PLOT/PROS
Building off of decades of expectations from things like Clue and Agatha Christie, Turton plays with stereotypical murder mystery tropes. Characters such as the doctor, the butler, and the artist (among many others) find themselves in a secluded English manor on the night of a massive party. Yet, things are not all as they seem. Evelyn Hardcastle, daughter of the party’s hosts, will be killed at 11 PM.
Our protagonist, Aiden, must solve the crime by reliving the day of the murder through the bodies of eight different party attendees and piecing together the clues from their combined perspectives to identify the killer. Every time Aiden falls asleep, is knocked unconscious, or dies, he wakes up in the body of a different party attendee. In addition, Aiden has no memory of his past life or how he ended up in this outlandish scenario. Leaving the manor is not possible, and if he cannot sufficiently solve the murder after these eight days, his memory will be wiped clean and the process will begin all over again.
Here’s the catch: each time Aiden wakes up at the start of the day in a new body, the past version of himself is still inhabiting yesterday’s host in the same timeline. So on day two there are two versions of Aiden searching for the truth, on day three there are three, and the number continues to grow. This allows Aiden to remember what he experienced in the past and leave helpful notes, tools, etc. in places he knows they will be needed.
Therefore, as a reader we see Aiden benefit from these strange occurrences before later reliving these moments from future Aiden’s perspective as he sets them up for past Aiden to succeed. In this way, all the versions of Aiden are relying on each other to ultimately solve the mystery and escape this hellhole.
To throw even more of a wrench in things, two other competitors are playing this game alongside Aiden, and only the first to correctly solve the crime (and produce sufficient evidence) will be set free. With three competitors desperate to escape, the stage is set for plenty of backstabbing, betrayal, and general uncertainty about who can be trusted.
But how has Aiden ended up in this twisted game? Who are the people he is competing against? Can Evelyn’s murder be stopped? All of these questions tie into the larger mystery of the novel, revealing the book’s more unique flavor. At its core, The 7 1/2 Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle shines in its ability to craft a dystopian scenario that’s origins are eventually explained enough for the reader to fill in the details with their imagination, but not spelled out so clearly to lose its central mystique.
For that reason, Turton’s debut novel can be considered science-fiction, fantasy, or purely dream. The interpretation is largely left to the reader, and I found this structure to give the story legs in my imagination long after reading the final page. As someone with a love for mystery, I found the book’s combination of traditional tropes and new ideas to be a refreshing shake-up for the genre.
Something I also enjoyed was how Turton used the personalities of the characters Aiden inhabited to shed light on the protagonist’s own nature. For example, at one point Aiden takes control of a rapist and must fight the repulsive urges that pop into his mind unannounced. In a less extreme example, Aiden finds himself disgusted when he discovers the first body he controls is that of an illicit drug dealer supplying product to the parties’ patrons.
Aiden must resist the temptations and wants of these hosts in order to stay on task and accomplish his ultimate goal. Through exploring these characters’ faults, strengths, and inner workings, a man who has forgotten everything about himself is able to piece together an identity and a purpose over the course of the novel.
In other instances, outside characters treat him differently based on the body he inhabits. A rich man may be friends with another wealthy patron but refuse to even make eye contact with a member of the service staff. This leads to conflict and uncertainty as Aiden must form observations on people he sees through a variety of opposing lenses.
CONS
So what keeps this book from a higher rating? First off, at times I found The 7 1/2 Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle to be incredibly confusing. The reader must keep up with an increasingly more convoluted and complicated set of timelines and characters (and who is controlling those characters) all while trying to solve an advanced murder mystery puzzle.
With constant body, perspective, and time switching, it can be hard to keep track of who knows what and when. As I got deeper into the book, I found myself wanting to skip to the end so I could finally put everything together and make it all make sense. It eventually did, but there are certain parts of the mystery that I’m not sure I ever fully understood. This may make the book more valuable for repeat readings, but I found it frustrating on my first time through.
While I am counting this as a con from the reader’s perspective, it also speaks to the complexity of this novel. It is incredibly impressive that Turton was able to keep everything straight in his head and craft such a complicated narrative.
In addition, I found myself somewhat disappointed when the reason Aiden is stuck in this twisted game was finally revealed. While I loved the general concept of the game’s purpose, the specific explanation for why he is there felt a bit out of nowhere and over the top for my liking.
It broke the immersion and took me out of the novel for a brief moment as I considered this out-of-left-field concept introduced into what was, up until that point, a relatively focused narrative.
CONCLUSION
Ultimately, The 7 1/2 Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle is an incredibly fresh take on the tried-and-true murder mystery formula. Anyone with an interest in this genre should definitely pick up a copy.
You can tell that Turton put a ton of effort into creating a plot that keeps you interested and guessing until the very last page. While I was never able to solve the mystery myself (I have a feeling that very few will be able to), I still thoroughly enjoyed hearing it all laid out in the book’s final chapter.
The complicated web formed by decades of deceit, bribery, lying, and crime that led up to this murder finally comes unraveled in a clever, satisfying, and believable conclusion. The novel’s deeper mystery is left deliciously vague, with enough crumbs left behind to give the reader’s mind room to fill in the gaps. I myself prefer to go with the futuristic science-fiction explanation.
Hopefully, Netflix can do right in bringing this fantastic thriller to a larger audience via a limited series.
