The Seven Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle, book review. (Stuart Turton)

Oh No!

Have I found my book of the year 2020 already?

Well . . . Maybe!

Confusing, fast-paced, witty, horrific intriguing and I'll-be-damned-if-I'm-putting-this-book-down-it's-only-half-past-one-in-the-morning-and-I-really-really-really-need-to-know-who-the-murderer-is, oh, shit it’s . . .!

If you like murder mystery, crime, romance, character lead drama, family sagas, a good old punch up, some serious skulduggery and subterfuge, then you are simply going to love this book.

Set in the eloquent but scratch-beneath-the-surface-and-you'll-see-the-peeling-paint-mansion that is home to the Hardcastle family and has been for generations, we find our main protagonist (Aiden Bishop) trapped in the body of a man he does not recognise, a man who feels utterly alien to him in both body and mind, and it all kicks off like a slap in the face.

Aiden Bishop will have eight hosts throughout the book, each reliving the day of Evelyn Hardcastle's death (which at first appears to be a suicide) from different perspectives and it reads like Agatha Christie does Cluedo.

Aiden Bishop is assisted by Anna, whose name is the only thing he remembers when he first wakes as the cowardly drug peddling Sebastian Bell, deep in the woods, but as the days pass he morphs into a butler, a morbidly obese Lord, a rapist and a cad, an aging solicitor, a gambler, all before becomes a policeman and finally, an artist, who help, but in some cases hinder, in his search for the truth, and it'll be all for nothing if he can't solve the murder before the end of the eighth day, for that's when the cycle will reset, his memory will be wiped and everything will start afresh, taking him back to the very beginning, where it will continue to loop, for however long it takes him to not only find out who the perpetrator of Evelyn's murder is, but the reason why they want her dead in the first place.

I love the way this book is written, how Aiden battles inside each of his hosts: disgusted by the Lord's obesity, the solicitor's contempt, the gambler's cunning, the rapist's despicable mind and more.

With each character helping to reveal more about what may or may not have happened and the delicate intricacies between them as they try to gain favour and information - some becoming incapacitated and popping up randomly through the book, others making their bid for freedom - Aiden is gradually left with fewer and fewer friends and even fewer option. So should he trust the not so trustworthy Anna? The man in the death mask? Should he trust anything he's learnt over the last eight days? And where the hell is their host, Evelyn's mother, Mrs Hardcastle, who no one's seen all day?

Simply put, this book is brilliant. It’s original, has superb characters and just keeps going until the very end. Highly recommended.

Four and a half stars then and don't be surprised if you see this book making an appearance in December when I decide on my book of the year.