A mind-bending wonder somewhere between an episode of Black Mirror and a classic Poirot mystery. 4/5.
Thank you to Bloomsbury and NetGalley for providing me with an e-copy of this book. The Seven Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle will be published on 8th February.
The blurb: How do you stop a murder that’s already happened?
At a gala party thrown by her parents, Evelyn Hardcastle will be killed–again. She’s been murdered hundreds of times, and each day, Aiden Bishop is too late to save her. Doomed to repeat the same day over and over, Aiden’s only escape is to solve Evelyn Hardcastle’s murder and conquer the shadows of an enemy he struggles to even comprehend–but nothing and no one are quite what they seem…
My take:
This book has a great premise and puts an original spin on the classic country house murder mystery. The layers in the story make it incredibly complex and I take my hat off to the author. I can’t imagine the diagrams necessary to keep track of where all the characters are supposed to be at various times as the narrator body-hops between different “hosts”, bumping into friends and enemies along the way. In addition to the murder mystery we have the mystery of Aiden himself: who is he and why is he being forced to relive the same day, searching desperately for Evelyn Hardcastle’s killer?
At even its most superficial level, this is an entertaining mystery which forces you to pay attention at all times, meaning it never gets dull. However, the book’s most impressive strength – its complexity – may also be something which turns readers off. I didn’t find this a “fun” read. It’s not relaxing in any way and the characters are intriguing rather than likeable. Currently I’m rather sleep-deprived and I’m not sure enough of my little grey cells are firing to get the most out of this book at the moment. If you don’t want to read for a mental work-out and think the many jumps in the narrative might lose you, I’m not sure I’d recommend this book.
It’s the sort of story you’d love to have time to go back and read again once you know the solution to the mystery and who all the people the narrator has embodied during the day are. I can only imagine an agent somewhere is already trying to get this under Christopher Nolan’s nose as he’s the only director I think could pull off a movie adaptation.
I enjoyed the murder mystery side of the story more than the moral philosophy element (attempting to answer the question of whether people can ever really change), and I thought the ending was a little too neat, but I’m still bowled over by the staggeringly impressive structure. If I think about it all too much, I think I’ll get a headache!
Overall: classic murder mystery fans who think they’ve seen it all should give The Seven Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle a try. Just don’t pick this as a relaxing read – you’ll need your wits about you to keep up.
Claire Huston / Art and Soul
Art and Soul 
What a wonderful review.. I already knew some of it but I’m very intrigued by its complexity. I haven’t read one review yet where it put off a reader so I’m up for that challenge :-). Is it even possible to figure this mystery out in advance? I’m guessing not. I’m very eager to read it and requested it twice but they’re just not giving me a chance ;-).
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Thank you 🙂
I didn’t figure out the murder mystery, but I did figure out the mystery of who the narrator is and roughly what on earth is going on!! 🙂
I really hope you get a copy and the chance to read and review it. Every time I think about it I can’t get over the work the author must have had to put into it!
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I know what you mean about re-reading a book to see if you can spot the clues.
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I wish I had more time to re-read books! This one in particular would make you feel very pleased with yourself on a re-read. I can imagine there are so many things you’d notice the second time round which just slipped past you first time.
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Fantastic review Claire! I don’t mind not liking characters as long as I find them interesting. And I’m definitely up for a challenging read. I have the eARC for this, so now I’m really excited to get started.😊
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Thank you!
I really hope you enjoy it. I usually find with murder mysteries I’m not too bothered if the characters are awful – as long as the puzzle keeps me entertained, and this one is a very good one! 🙂
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Great review!
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Thank you 🙂
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I would have no chance of working it out then 😉
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I didn’t come close to working out the murder mystery! I was just pleased I was at least partly right about who the narrator was and why he was there! 🙂
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Excellent, insightful review! I am looking forward to reading this one. It keeps moving up and down my TBR list, but now you’ve just moved it up.
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Thank you!
I’m really pleased. I hope you enjoy it too 🙂
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I’m definitely really interested in this- even the moral philosophy aspect to be honest! Great review!!
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Thank you 🙂
I hope you enjoy it if you have time to read it.. It’s truly astounding the amount of work that must have gone into planning it.
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You’re welcome 🙂
That’s great!
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Ooh I love the sci-fi element of it! Definitely adding this to my TBR.
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It’s definitely an interesting mash-up of highly traditional country house murder mystery with ideas I’ve seen in a few episodes of Black Mirror!
I hope you enjoy it when you get to it 🙂
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