The 7 1/2 Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle

June 22-24, 2020 I’m still tempted to say that this is one of my favorite books of all time. It combines so so many story elements that I love - murder mystery (especially in the style of Agatha Christie), time travel, old time-y British setting, and impossible-to-guess, super clever reveals. It is definitely one of the most unique books I have ever read. There are a lot of mystery books, and a lot of time travel books, and old-timey Agatha Christie type books, and there are probably a few body swapping books out there too. But to combine all of that into this book plus for it all to play out so cleverly just kinda blows my mind. I have been wanting to reread it for some time. I FREAKING LOVE THIS BOOK. I loved it just as much as the first time I read it. It is slow moving at times and you are going to be confused a good bit of the time reading it. But that’s the whole point. And I promise that EVERY question is answered and the answers are worth it. It’s so clever that the ending is basically unguessable. There are so many tiny puzzle pieces that build the ending so so so cleverly. ”Are things always like this? The explanations arriving before the questions?” That quote basically sums up this super crazy puzzle of a book. But it’s awesome. I already wrote a long review below the first time I read this so I’m gonna end it there. I just want to say that Stuart Turton is a genius and I hope he keeps writing books set in this world. There are endless possibilities here. ***** Sept 18-21, 2018 I don't remember the last time I looked forward to reading a book after reading the premise as much as this book, and let me just say that it lived up to and more than completely surpassed my expectations. In the high I'm currently feeling after finishing this book I feel like it's one of the best books I ever read and will now be up there on the list when someone asks me what my favorite book of all time is. I just had a good feeling going into this one that it was right up my alley. It has time travel, murder mystery, old timey, body swapping...it's Agatha Christie meets Quantam Leap meets Groundhog Day meets the most twisty, amazing, mind-blowing storyline and an incredible cast of characters. This book should be a classic. It's one that as soon as I finished reading I wanted to start over and read again, and I guarantee on a second or third reading it would be even better because you'd pick up small clues and details you wouldn't get from the first reading. It's a book I wanted to read slowly because I never wanted it to end and also a book I wanted to devour because I couldn't wait to find out how it ended. Just the way everything came together was absolutely incredible. I cannot imagine the amount of planning and foresight it took for all of these pieces to connect SO seamlessly. Because everything doesn't happen exactly in chronological order, sometimes we got the answer before we knew the question. And yet everything came together so perfectly. Like when something would happen you’d wonder why in the world would that happen. And then days and chapters later from another host’s perspective it would be revealed in a way that makes completely sense. Literally EVERY detail is important, that's why I really want to read this book again. And maybe even again. Some things I saw coming, and I felt very clever for having figured it out. But seriously. I had no idea or even scratched the surface of the web of secrets yet to be revealed. The mystery kept changing, as one question is answered 5 more pop up in their place. But I felt completely satisfied with the answers by the end of it. I'm still processing everything. The characters were amazing. Aiden is great, but even though he's the narrator and the main character he's not even the main one you focus on, since each one of his hosts has a little piece of themselves in him. Every chapter, every new day, Aiden felt like someone new to fall in love with. Rashton was probably my favorite host, but all of them really were so different and awesome in their own way. Anna was such a good character too. It was never clear who was trustworthy and who was not. The characters were so memorable, I know I’ll keep thinking about them for a long time. The atmosphere was great too. It was dark and creepy, and the location was so well-described I felt like I was there. It felt like a real place and at the same time had this whimsical not-quite-real feeling that just set the mood for this crazy story. I want everyone to read this book!! 5 stars doesn't truly express how much I absolutely loved it. It took some of my favorite subjects and threw in memorable and real characters, an intriguing and twisty storyline, and reveals that had me reeling, that I can't help but classify it as one of my new absolute favorites. READ IT!

I enjoyed reading this book. It took me the first 3 chapters to really get into it, but the chapters are short, so it didn't take long. Some chapters are so short that I had to hit the back button on my Kindle to make sure there wasn't a glitch. If I had to do a read-over, I would have a pen and paper to take notes on, which is not something I have ever done when reading a book for pleasure. There are so many characters that become intertwined the further along you read the book, and it does become confusing. The fact that there are so many characters to keep track of is the reason for the four-star review; some parts are simply confusing. The main character is the consciousness of Aiden jumping into 8 different bodies and living out one day as each character. The storyline jumps back and forth between these different characters while slowly revealing clues to the mystery. I honestly didn't figure out where to attribute the 7 and 1/2 deaths unless it is referring to the number of characters whose days we get to see played out in the storyline. I liked the concept of the book and the way the author gave each character a completely different body to inhabit. He gave descriptions as to what it would feel like in a different body and working with a different brain. It touched on an aspect of empathy for what other people might experience living out their lives, that we will never know, since we only get to experience one body and one brain. This concept of brain/body jumping alludes to either a magical world, a fantasy world, or hell, but none of that is explained in the book. I would have liked more explanation about this strange world the reader is taken to, even if it was revealed at the end of the book. Unfortunately, the book ends a bit more abruptly and leaves the reader question about this world. As for the story, it is enjoyable, and I looked forward to every reading session I had. It was nice to be immersed in so many different aspects of the mystery from a variety of viewpoints. There are revelations and mysteries revealed throughout, leading up to the final reveal. The ending was not anything I would have guessed or gathered from putting the clues together. I was actually questioning how the character derived the conclusions and was able to solve it by the end. I got some of it, but I felt lost on a portion of it as well.

Turton turns many a fine phrase. I was impressed with his wit. However, although he has metaphors and similes galore, even his descriptive language is lacking. A person with 8 different hosts, and yet I could not picture any of them clearly for lack of description of their physical attributes. It was this vagueness as well as the frequently convoluted storylines, vagueness of the importance of Blackheath and its purpose and then not caring when it was revealed what the place was for, and lack of mention of some of the most important characters (in the end), that frustrated me. If this wasn't for a bookclub, I may not have finished it at all. It dragged a lot and was an effective sedative at the end of a long day. One of the main bad guys didn't have a motivation! The majority of the excitement is in the last 30-ish pages, and it shouldn't have taken so long to get there. The big reveals didn't seem that interesting after such a long time to wait for them, and I didn't really care about the main character and what happened to them. I guessed far from the ending who the real villian was, but forgot about tertiary characters that were part of the answers because the main character simply does not mention them. If we are constantly in his head, how is it that it takes so long for him to reveal so much of what he was formulating to us?! In many ways I felt like I was reading the equivalent of a too-long second-class Agatha Christie play. Also, I usually read books with female protagonists. Perhaps being in the mind of a male character, in the bodies of only male characters, written by a male author was too single-note for me. It would have been more interesting to have the male character in the bodies of the female characters as well.

This book is irresistibly readable. The marketing blurbs compare it to lots of other things—novels and TV shows and movies—and I can see the inspirations there, but really it's completely its own thing. It borrows freely from multiple genres, but isn't constrained by any of them. You won't be able to put it down—not because the author relies on cheap cliffhangers, but because the story keeps growing more complex and fascinating as it builds on itself, and you just want to keep going. The story is ingenious, and almost impossible to summarize, yet not difficult to follow. Despite its intricate structure, Stuart Turton doesn't leave any loose ends dangling; he clearly thought through all the details with incredible care during the writing process. It all hangs together logically... important for almost any story, but especially crucial for a mystery. (After I finished, I went looking online to see if anyone had compiled a timeline of the book's events, and was astonished that I couldn't find one. I may have to do it myself.) The characters are fleshed-out and believable and fully motivated and never quite what they seem at first... just like in real life, you never really know what someone's thinking unless you're inside their head. The lagniappe in this book is that the protagonist gets to be inside a whole series of heads... not through the authorial convenience of third-person multi-perspective (as with Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire, for instance), but for reasons that are actually intrinsic to the plot. The atmosphere, the ambiance, the sheer *mood* of this book, is always present but never intrusive. The setting is clearly described and easy to envision (the map inside cover of the softcover edition is wonderful, and although I was disappointed to discover that the hardcover also included a floorplan of the house, once I found it I realized that it corresponded almost perfectly to the picture the words had painted for me). Even the weather is practically a character in this book. And the writing itself deserves praise. It's clear, engaging, and captivating. It's expository when it needs to be, introspective when it needs to be, and suspenseful when it needs to be. Turton has a way with a clever metaphor that makes it seem effortless. Most importantly—and I can't emphasize this strongly enough because it's a weakness of so, so many novels—he *sticks the landing*. This book resolves what it sets up, in terms of both plot and theme, in a genuinely satisfying way that brings a sense of closure. It's almost impossible for me to believe this is Turton's first novel. I definitely look forward to reading others.

Context: I read this book as part of a book club, and it was one already on my TBR. We spaced it out over 3 weeks and discussed the read pages weekly. Review: This was an excellent book club book! It’s a complex story with a lot to theorize about and unravel. I adored the writing style - every time I picked it up, I was sucked right back in. I love twisty stories, so it would have been just as enjoyable as an individual read for me, but it’s pretty complex and so some readers may enjoy reading it most in a book club-like setting so they can discuss and ask questions. The main character was really interesting, and I’m a sucker for amnesia with a side of identity crisis. It was really fun to try and parse out what parts of his hosts were him and what parts were the hosts - made extra fun because the main character didn’t know either. The plague doctor was an interesting take on a character being a symbol of death without being Death. I’m also a sucker for Death-like characters. Perhaps it shouldn’t have been surprising to me for a time-loop story to have a theme of second chances, but it was. Overall, I’m happy with how it ended, though I do have mixed feelings about Anna, and it does leave some up for interpretation. I would have liked to know what the consequences of the characters’ choices are more clearly, and I would have liked to understand the world of this book better - specifically what time period did this actually take place in and is Blackheath technologically, supernaturally, or magically created? - Sofia

I could not put this book down! I remember seeing this in 2018, as it was the Goodreads Choice Award Nominee for Mystery and Thriller and for Debut Author. The cover caught my eye, as did the title. Unfortunately, I did not start reading this book until this past Sunday. Most of the books I read nowadays are actually books I listen to through the app Overdrive. James Cameron Stewart narrated. The production of this audio book was very well done. The book opens with the following invitation: You are cordially invited to Blackheath House for a Masquerade. Introducing your hosts, the Hardcastle Family: Lord Peter Hardcastle and Lady Helena Hardcastle and their son Michael Hardcastle, their daughter Evelyn Hardcastle. Notable guests: Edward Dance, Christopher Pettigrew, and Philip Sutcliffe, family solicitors. Grace Davies and her brother Donald Davies, socialites. Commander Clifford Harrington, Naval Officer (retired). Millicent Derby and her son Johnathan Derby, socialites. Daniel Coleridge, Professional gambler. Lord Cecil Ravencourt, banker. Jim Rashton, Police officer. Dr. Richard "Dickie" Acker. Dr. Sebastian Bell. Ted Stanwin. Principle Household Staff: The Butler, Roger Collins. The Cook, Mrs. Drudge. First Maid, Lucy Harper Stable Master, Alf Miller Artist in residence, Gregory Gold. Lord Ravencourt's valet, Charles Cunningham. Evelyn Hardcastle's Lady's Maid: Madeline Aubert. We ask all guests to kindly refrain from disusing Thomas Hardcastle and Charlie Carver. As the tragic events surrounding them still grieve the family greatly. Chapter one starts off in the middle of the woods where a man, yet to be named, sees a murder and is shouting the name "Anna." He is then handed a silver compass and told "East." When he goes East, the man stumbles upon a residence and seeks shelter inside. Our main character appears to have suffered a traumatic event and must be told his own name: Sebastian Bell. Over the next few hours, Bell meets a man wearing a plague mask, and that will stay his name until the conclusion of the novel. The man, referred to as the Plague Doctor, tells Bell that he is actually Aiden Bishop, that he has eight days to solve the murder of Evelyn Hardcastle, each day Aiden will be given a "host" to occupy to help solve the mystery, and Aiden must find him by the lake at 11 PM with the answer or risk starting the loop all over again. Aiden can't believe this and ends up "wasting" two of his hosts in denial. Eventually, Aiden buys into what the Plague Doctor is saying and begins attempting to figure out who murdered Evelyn Hardcastle. Without giving spoilers, I want to address why I so thoroughly enjoyed this novel. First, it was very complex. Some popular authors, take James Patterson for example, do not always provide a complex story. I enjoy being challenged as a read and several times I fought the urge to pull out a notebook and pen to jot down clues. That urge, and the desire to figure out "whodunit" was very powerful and made me not want to book the book down. Between keeping track of which host Aiden was, who talked to who, how interactions from two decades ago bear relevance to the story at hand, as well ad Aiden being able to change the day over time while in different hosts, there is a lot to keep track of in the novel. Second, the setting was beautiful and tragic at the same time. The book is set on a remote estate called Blackheath. We are not given a specific time period, but it reminds one of the early twentieth century Gothic style. The estate is owned by the Hardcastles: Peter (patriarch), Helena (matriarch), Michael (son), Evelyn (daughter), and Thomas (deceased). As with most Gothic literature, the estate is eerie and holds many secrets. The death of Thomas Hardcastle almost two decades before has tainted the grounds. Most of the novel occurs in dark rooms and tiny spaces, or at night near the woods and the lake. Very foreboding. There are also secret passages ways, boat houses, and carriage houses, and other outbuildings scattered throughout the property that come up. Additionally, there are other elements about the setting, that would be spoilers, and so I will not discuss them. I find these elements brilliant. Third, I thoroughly enjoy the character development. We are forced, as the reader, to assume 9 different characters: Aiden and all eight of his hosts. Aiden in and of himself is a very complex character. We do not learn why he is at Blackheath until much later in the novel, but we do learn that he is no longer the Aiden he was when he originally came to Blackheath. Aiden has had to reinvent himself and choose who to be. Additionally, as Aiden gets closer and closer to day eight, the character of his hosts increasingly exert themselves on Aiden. Our protagonist is often having to shake off his hosts memories and personal flaws. Some of each host seems to "rub off" on him as the story unfolds. Finally, the numerous themes throughout the book have given me much to think about, as well as much to continue to think about. Some themes include: good vs evil, betrayal, fate vs free will, injustice, and manipulation to name a few. We are told in the book that Aiden is up against two other rivals. We learn that Aiden must present the final answer to Plague Doctor before the other two in order to escape Blackheath's continuous loop. As time goes on, we assume as the reader that those two rivals are Anna and a dark, murderous character called "The Footman." Aiden is trying to free not only himself, but Anna as well. Anna and Aiden represent "good" and The Footman represent evil. It is a constant cat and mouse game throughout the novel between these two forces. Another theme is the theme of betrayal. The Plague Doctor, and other characters, hint to Aiden that he is being betrayed. The turmoil Aiden goes through in whether to decide to trust others lingers throughout the book. Blackheath's loop is likened to fate; this day has been repeating, ad nauseam, for a lengthy period of time. Yet the Plague Doctor and Aiden attempt to exert their free will on the loop. You will have to be the judge of if they are successful. We see the injustice of not only Evelyn's murder, but Thomas' and others as well; and we see manipulation of events and characters regularly. I do not think I can praise this book enough as a fantastic murder-mystery and an absolute page turner! I hope you each decide to pick it up for yourselves, and when you do, come back here so we can chat about the mystery that is Blackheath. Happy Reading! -Hession

This murder mystery/Groundhog Day/Quantum Leap mashup essentially tells two stories. First, there's a straight-up English murder mystery complete with a tumbledown mansion, a family with a tragic past, strange house guests, and mysterious butlers and ladies' maids flitting in and out. Then, on a completely different level, there's a protagonist/gumshoe who relives the day of the murder 8 times, each time inhabiting a different houseguest. The protagonist is doomed to re-live the murder over and over until he can solve the mystery and escape from the doomed and unpleasant mansion. In some ways, the mystery and the Groundhog Day schtick mesh well together. You get to re-live the day of the murder from several different points of view, gradually picking up more and more details, until the final reveal. On the other hand, there are so many characters -- including, if I've counted correctly, two ladies' maids of dubious background, a skulking butler and an evil footman, all of whom are uber-mysterious -- that it's hard to keep track of them and their comings and goings. I'm pretty certain that the author drew up an elaborate diagram and timeline so that he could keep track of everything himself, and if HE had to do it for HIS OWN STORY, isn't it possible that maybe the plot ended up a little too cluttered? Plus, really -- the butler did it? No, actually, the butler didn't do the headline murder itself, but the butler sure did a cartload of other weird stuff including a bunch of ancillary murders, and I have to say that whoever is in charge of HR at this creepy mansion needs to be fired. It takes forever until the reader finally finds out why the Groundhog Day business is going on. I will try as much as possible to avoid any spoilers here, but let me say that the reason for the whole repeat-the-day-until-you-solve-the-mystery stuff is nonsensical and pointless. The story has a Deus-Ex-Machina character called the Plague Doctor who flits in and out of the story, giving hints and acting mysterious and stuff. When he finally explains why our protagonist and some of the other characters are repeating the day, I found myself scratching my head. Really? I thought. The reason they did it was so nonsensical that the goal of solving an arbitrary murder mystery seemed to have no connection to the reason they were there. Does being able to solve a complicated whodunit mean that you are a virtuous person? Does it mean that you have purged yourself of your own past misdeeds? Not really. The person who has solved this murder mystery has about as much moral heft as someone who completes an unusually complicated jigsaw puzzle. And if the murder mystery essentially exists in a place divorced from ordinary space and time, what is the point of solving the mystery anyway, since no justice system will follow up on your having solved it? Back to the murder mystery. It's generally a good idea for a classic mystery to have more than one murder. The first one gets the ball rolling. The second alerts the gumshoe to the fact that the danger is still out there. The third one ramps the danger level up to 11. But this murder mystery had so many damn homicides that, at the end, I had to count them up, and I'm not sure my tally was even accurate. Was it 8? 13? Jeez, am I supposed to keep track of that, too? Overall, this was a pleasant enough read. I started it on an airplane, so it wasn't as if I had much choice in the matter once I started it and was stuck in my seat for the next 5 hours. But as a mark of how good it was, I have to admit that, after I landed, I DID finish it, so it wasn't really that bad. It was readable and kinda fun. Sure, the mystery was so overly complicated and had so many overlapping characters that keeping track of them all became pointless after a certain point. And sure, there were so many homicides that I not only couldn't keep track of them, I found myself wondering why I was supposed to care about only one of them. And yeah, the Groundhog Day stuff turned out, at the end, to be pointless and stupid. But it was a fun read. I give it three stars.

If Wilkie Collins and David Mitchell had a baby, he would be named Stuart Turton. I do not even know how to begin to describe this book. I don’t want to give too much away and the plot is so complex it is hard to know where to start. I was interested in reading this book because it is such a twist on the usual murder mystery. Evelyn Hardcastle dies every day for eight days. Or is it 7 1/2 days? Does she really die? Aiden Bishop is trying to figure out who is murdering her with the goal of preventing the murder. All of this takes place in a crumbling manor house called Blackheath. Location and time period are unclear. Lord and Lady Hardcastle invite various guests to their home under the guise of celebrating their daughter Evelyn’s return from France. Mr. Bishop somehow ends up there but he is inhabiting the body of one of the guests. Each day he inhabits a different host from among the members of the house party. He stays in his host until the host falls asleep or dies. There is a lot of dying at Blackheath. Each host gives him a different perspective on the events of the day. As he gains new information, he comes closer to solving the murder. He is somewhat aided by a strange man in a Plague Doctor’s costume and also by a woman named Anna. His efforts are being frustrated by a man known as The Footman, who really enjoys torturing and killing anyone he can catch. Aiden eventually finds out that he is not the only person trying to solve the murder. Only the person who solves the murder will be allowed to escape Blackheath. Oh, and time does not move in a linear fashion. And that is just the tip of the iceberg of this story. Is your head spinning yet? Mr. Turton is an excellent writer with an amazing imagination. Good luck guessing who is guilty in this story. We read this book in book club and the consensus was that it was clever and well written. We all found some parts of the book confusing. It was easy to get some of the characters muddled up, so we were thankful for the list of characters at the beginning of the book. Many members thought that the book was too long. You really need to suspend disbelief in order to enjoy this book. Many aspects of the book are not explained, such as who is the Plague Doctor and who does he work for? And how does Aiden get into the host bodies? This book requires work and full concentration on the part of the reader. If you are intrigued but hesitant, one of our book club members read the first half of the book and listened to the second half on audiobooks. She found the audiobook version less confusing. I am interested to see what Mr. Turton comes up with next.