Quickly I realized this book was not for me. I had a really tough time connecting to the story and was getting confused with all of the characters in the book. Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for providing me with this book for my honest review.

Evelyn Hardcastle will die tonight. And if Aiden Bishop doesn't solve her murder by 11 p.m., he will not be allowed to leave Blackheath, the place where all is happening. Everyday Aiden wakes up in a new body, making use of that person's traits and abilities to gather clues and try to figure out this thing. But he's not only one inside the house desperate to get out.

This was a weird book.

The premise is really cool. It reminded me a lot of Clue, which was like my favorite board game growing up, plus the setting and the writing have a similar tone to Agatha Christie's books. They are not the kind of mysteries I usually read - I'm more of a contemporary thriller fan - but I read a few of her books when I was younger and I definitely understand the appeal they have. They really push the reader to think and figure things out on their own, and in this one, I kinda did and also didn't nail it.

I had a bit of a hard time getting into this one because the concept of Aiden switching bodies, at first, was a little difficult for me to fully grasp. However, after like 15% or 20% of the book I was fully hooked. I kept pushing myself to read more and more everyday because I just needed to know what the eff was actually! going! on! And I was very excited over this, especially as the story went on, Aiden was getting closer to the answer and the stakes kept getting higher.

Then the final 50 pages happened. Wow.

While I understand that the concept of changing bodies and reliving a day over and over again isn't very historically faithful, the explanation we get for it is... not much of an explanation at all? It's all really convoluted and terribly explained, and I honestly wish there had been no attempt at explaining it at all. There's a sort of twist tying Aiden and another character together that I also didn't understand the need because it was only presented to us at a surface-level, and it didn't make me care more or less about the characters themselves.

(Here's another thing I'm not sure about either - the characters. I just didn't connect with them at all? I feel like we got to know Aiden's hosts more than Aiden himself, which yeah, ties along with the concept of the story, but I still needed to care a bit more about him to really immerse myself into his quest, because if I don't care about him then why should I care about him getting out or not?)

So, yeah. I really don't know if I would actually recommend this. The mystery part of it is really cool, and you do get answers that are satisfactory and make the journey worthwhile. But then that's not the end, and what comes after the answers are just... a big no from me. Take a chance if you enjoy Agatha Christie and slightly sci-fi twists to your stories!

Huge thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for providing me with this arc.

This is a great book. It is original, engrossing, and fun to read. The author does an awesome job of creating suspense, tension, uncertainty, and mystery all while immersing the reader in the world of Blackheath. I think any lover of mystery should read this book!
The biggest problem that I had with the book was the first several chapters, or the first two "days" for our hero. You see, as the book opens, we are introduced to an apparent amnesia victim, who wakes up in a forest and believes a woman named Anna has been murdered nearby. As this man begins to learn of his identity and make connections with the other inhabitants of the old English manor house where he finds himself, he is nonetheless overwhelmed with sadness at the person he believes himself to have been. The desolateness of the location and the shabby yet foreboding manor house make for an oppressive atmosphere. When, at the end of the day, Evelyn Hardcastle, the new friend our hero has made, dies in front of all the guests gathered for the house party, the real mystery begins. And when our hero wakes up the next morning, in a different room, in a different body, yet on the same day, the mystery is compounded. Our hero, and the reader, is completely confused, uncomprehending, and frightened. This was the point where I almost stopped reading the book. It was very bleak, depressing, and dreary, not to mention with a feeing of dread.
I kept pressing on however, and was very glad I did. Eventually our hero discovers his true name is Aiden Bishop and as he wakes up each morning he finds himself in the body of a different inhabitant of the house. He's racing agains time to find the killer of Evelyn Hardcastle, as well as find the reason he's stuck at Blackheath living the same day over and over. He only has a few "days" and "hosts" left before he will lose his chance to bring the killer to justice and escape the strange time loop he is in.
I really enjoyed this book. It has definite Agatha Christie influences while being completely original. The "world-building" was great, as well as the characterization of Aiden Bishop. The author is able to weave together incredibly complicated strands of create a complex and fascinating story. The mystery is well-thought out and very suspenseful. I felt on-edge the whole time I was reading it, but I had a very hard time putting it down. Although it is a long book, it felt as thought it was just the perfect length. The ambiguous time period of the book, as well as the slight touch of sci-fi towards the end was just the right touch.
I would recommend this book to anyone who enjoys mysteries, suspense, and Agatha Christie. I think it demands a second reading.

5★
“The hunt begins in half an hour and I can’t miss it. I have too many questions and most of the answers will be carrying shotguns.”

Who is this “I” with the questions? My dad told me he’d read about a man whose dementia got so bad that he got up one morning, looked in the bathroom mirror, and said “Who the hell are YOU?” The reason he told me was that he had dementia, but he was a long way from that point.

Our narrator is having trouble recognising himself. At one point he thinks:

“. . . this bland figure in the glass. Brown hair, brown eyes and no chin to speak of, I’m any face in a crowd; just the Lord’s way of filling in the gaps.”

Without giving the plot away, I’m going to attempt the impossible – talking about something similar, using animals. But, I will add some quotations from the real story to give you an idea of the writing.

Let’s say you are a farm animal, a chicken perhaps, and you wake one morning to discover you are a mouse. You are horrified, so you hide under the straw and you overhear a conversation between two men. (Ok, I’m getting a bit “Charlotte’s Web” here.)

A man is lamenting that he’s going to have to take desperate measures to win over someone’s wife, and shortly after, you hear a gunshot

The cat races past you, tearing out of the barn for the house. You’re too frightened to investigate, so you curl up under the straw and fall asleep.

You wake to the smell of scraps of bacon by your nose which the cook has dropped, saying “Here you go, Rover. A little something to warm you up before the hunt.”

Rover? A dog? You’re a dog. What’s this about a hunt? But you wag your tail at the cook, Mrs. Drudge.

“A wide-hipped, ruddy-faced elderly woman is standing by the oven bellowing instructions, her pinafore covered in flour. No general ever wore a chestful of medals with such conviction.”

The cat wanders by, and your earlier mouse heart leaps to your throat before you growl and scare it off.

The cook leaves the kitchen, and you listen to two young fellows muttering about a stranger they saw in the stables. Why is he invited to this exclusive house party? One thinks he is rich and knows their host is in money trouble because he heard him talking with his wife.

“‘. . . we’ll end up poor and I’m fairly certain we’ll be dreadful at it.’
‘Most people are,’ . . .
‘Well, at least they’ve had practice,’ he says.”

The second fellow saw the stranger talking to the wife in the garden. (Aha, the plot thickens. But what about that gunshot?)

What about it? You’re a dog, lying by a fire, so you do what dogs do and doze off.

You wake with a woman tickling your ears, saying “Good morning, Mittens!” She’s asking the maid to draw her a bath and get out her most flattering outfit, because she needs to impress a new guest if they are to save the estate from ruin. You think:

“I suddenly have the sense of taking part in a play in which everybody knows their lines but me.”

Then the maid shrieks. “There’s a mouse in the corner! Mittens!!!”

You (Mittens) recognise your former self, miss your pounce, and let the surprised mouse escape. Remember, the mouse and the dog don’t know they will become Mittens. In each body (host), you know your past, but not your future. You wander off, but

“. . . rooms I pass through are musty, thick with mildew and decay. Pellets of rat poison have been piled up in the corners, dust covering any surface too high for a maid’s short arm to reach.”

Might as well curl up in a sunny spot and doze off. (This is becoming a habit. )

“The hunt!” Get up, Rover! We’re off.” People shout, clattering shotguns and rattling boxes of ammunition.

Rover? What? Again? And guns? You join the hunt, get shot and killed (by mistake, of course) and wake up in the barn again as the mouse. Now you're curious about the conversations and follow a trail of blood from the tack room into the woods.

Enough already. I’m getting ridiculous. And this book is about people, not animals – an Agatha Christie-like, closed-loop house party in a big old, crumbling manor house with an odd assortment of characters.

It’s something like Kate Atkinson's memorable Life After Life– but this is not variations on one life (like the movie based on the book Sliding Doors). This is one story from different points of view, although those points are all shared by one entity – the protagonist - battling poison, knives, guns and . . . oh, yes, there's both an unsolved murder and a foreshadowed one (Evelyn’s).

It’s terrific, and I apologise for my convoluted animal comparison. Just know that our narrator starts off not knowing his own name, where he is or why.

Here I would like to add my thanks to the author’s:

“Special mention must go to my early readers David Bayon, Tim Danton and Nicole Kobie who read this story in its ‘David Lynch’ phase, and very kindly pointed out that clues, grammar and reminders of plot points aren’t a sign of weakness.”

You mean this began with fewer clues and plot points? Gasp!

There are some distinctive characters, which makes it easier to follow the story.

“He’s a smear of a man with oiled hair and a pale, pinched face, his manner that of somebody who finds everything in the room beneath him.”

This fellow is a bit more appealing.

“Freckles are splashed across his nose, honey-coloured eyes and short blond hair suggesting a face spun out of sunlight.”

No vampires or werewolves, but they wouldn’t be out of place in this scary, dismal setting. Where to go?

“I suggest you use this time to hide yourself somewhere he won’t find you. Argentina, perhaps. Good luck to you.”

There were a few names similar enough to make me check the very handy cast of characters in the front. One thing I did wish the author had included was the charcoal tree drawing referred to near the end of the book to help us as well as the character.

I’d love to think it’s in the final printed version, or that some enterprising fan will create one.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Bloomsbury for the preview copy from which I’ve quoted. Thanks also to SOURCEBOOKS Landmark for the preview of The 7½ Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle to be published in September 2018. Whatever the number of deaths, it is a unique mystery!

Should have liked this a lot more than I did. Its a great original concept mashing up an Agatha Christie country house mystery and quantum leap. But I just couldn't get into to it. As they say "its not you, its me"

A unique take on a classic murder mystery, but word to the reader: PAY ATTENTION. I got lost with all character twists, which was the fault of my attention and not a slight on the suberb story telling.

So I loved this book and the description is spot-on when it says it is reminiscent of Agatha Christie. It was a whodunit murder-mystery and I was hanging on the edge of my seat. I’m not always a fan of sci-fi or paranormal or whatever the element was that made Aiden Bishop be able to relive the same day over and over, but I liked it here! It kind of reminded me of the movie Groundhog Day. But then the explanation toward the end threw me. Either there didn’t need to be an explanation – kind of like Groundhog Day, he just relives it until he gets it right basically – or the explanation needed its own storyline. Because it just left me a little confused.

That was the only bad part about the book though and I would totally recommend it anyways because honestly it was such a small part. I loved the mystery - it kept me guessing! And the family drama and the fun jazzy kind of setting. I was anxiously running around all those twists and turns desperate to get there in time to see whodunit! Really fun mystery!

You need this book if you like Agatha Christie style mysteries and don’t mind a bit of sci-fi kind of flair! It was like playing the game of Clue by yourself – if you had multiple personalities!

Entertainment Value: 5
Characters: 4
Voice: 4
Plot: 4
Overall: 4.25 stars

<i>Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for my honest review!</i>

Wow. What an intricate, amazing story - think "Groundhog Day" meets "Lost" (or any other show like "Lost," where neither you nor the characters know what kind of world they are in nor do they know why they are in it, and the whole ending depends on how much sense the writer made out of piecing every little detail of the plot together). That sounds so cheesy, but this is not a shallow or silly novel. It's a really clever murder mystery with a twist: an unsolved 1920's murder stuck in a dystopian time loop until it's solved. This is definitely a page-turner. You have to really pay attention to make sure you don't miss anything, but paying attention is easy - you become so engrossed in the story that you can't put it down. I'm not easily impressed, and I'm really impressed with this novel. It's so original, so clever.

A riveting, complex, spellbinding novel! The story took you through so many twists, turns, roadblocks and characters that you never knew which way it would continue until it was happening! A very inventive mystery thriller that engages you from page one! Absolutely marvellous storytelling! * I received a copy of this book from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review *

This is a review of an ARC from NetGalley.

Our protagonist wakes up running through the woods of a run-down country estate, with a name on his lips - "Anna." Why is he running? Who is Anna? Where is he? He doesn't know, and neither do we. The hero soon discovers he's been trapped in a loop - a murder will take place that night, and he needs to solve it. He'll be given eight tries, each in the body of a different host - a guest at the part - to look for clues and solve the crime, or be trapped there forever.

This at first seemed like a supernatural spin on the classic country house murder mystery. But it's really not that kind of book. About half way through I realized it's more a contemplation of fate, and guilt, and the nature of man. And I'm not sure which way to rate it. The two types of books - murder mysteries and philosophical debates - are almost diametrically opposed in what they give a reader. The classic country house mystery is appealing (at least to me) because it is a puzzle that gets neatly solved: clues found, questions answered, ends tied up with e neat bow (and a gold star if you got there first). A discussion of the nature of man...is not that. You don't get a firm answer on questions like "can people truly change their nature?" "what is guilt?" nor do you expect to. So while I can appreciate the second half of the book, it wasn't what I thought I was getting, and the lack of solutions (the book thinks it's given them but noooo - big gaping plot holes. It may be fashionable to deride Christie and her genre as fluff, and certainly not *literature* , but the woman is a genius, and what she did is HARD and you sir, did not come close) left me unsatisfied.

NetGalley Review

Prior to reading this book, I fell into a book slump. This book was exactly what I needed to pull me out of it. If you're looking for a page-turning book that keeps you up into the wee hours of the morning, then this is the perfect book for you.

A murder mystery with a twist. Aiden Bishop is tasked with solving Evelyn Hardcastle's murder within eight days. If he cannot solve it within the allotted eight days, Aiden must start from the very beginning, lost and memoryless.

The Seven Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle is a unique take on a murder mystery. I greatly admire Turton's flawless writing ability to address all of the moving parts within this novel. I found it incredibly helpful when Aiden himself reminded the readers of a specific clue or idea from an earlier host.

I loved the character development within Aiden throughout his journey. Though, in the beginning, we had no idea of who he was before he arrived at Blackheath, I enjoyed the contrast from one host to the other. Likewise, Aiden's struggle to keep himself from being smothered was very clever and exposed the readers to the piece of himself he felt before entering Blackheath.

Turton's lyrical writing sets the scene perfectly, describing every detail with poise and elegance. I hope to one day write as well as he does.

The Seven Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle will keep you on the edge of your seat. Be sure to have a pen in hand before diving head first into this book. There are so many twists and turns that appear out of nowhere. Get ready for a day full of murder and mystery. I highly recommend reading this book to anyone who can pinpoint the murderer within the first 20 minutes of any detective drama, like myself. The answer may surprise you when you reach the end.

Every day at 11pm, Evelyn Hardcastle is murdered at Blackheath, her family’s estate and her childhood home. Aiden Bishop has eight days to solve her murder. Eight of the same days. The day repeats on a loop, but each day for eight days, Aiden occupies a different body. His only escape from the never ending loop is to solve her murder.

Wow. This was a fantastic, kind of trippy thrill ride. The only thing I can really think to compare it to is The Magus by John Fowler, and that’s only in the sense that both you the reader and the main character really have absolutely no clue what is going on. Unlike The Magus, though, (almost) everything is revealed by the end of the book and it comes to a mostly satisfying conclusion.

Even if it were just a closed door murder mystery, it would still be good. The mystery itself was twisty enough to keep the reader constantly on their feet. I guessed one thing, but most of the elements of the mystery were a total surprise when they were revealed. It’s deliciously complex. The addition of the eight different perspectives along with the fact that everyone is unreliable really added to the story. Add to that the fact that someone is killing off Aiden’s hosts, and the book becomes nearly impossible to put down. I actually had to stop reading it before bed because I was staying up too late (I always wanted to read "just one more" chapter). There were a few world building things that were left frustratingly vague, but I think that was by intention, so I can’t complain.

This genre bending book will screw with your head in the best way possible. I’ve never read anything quite like it, and I really loved the reading experience. I think a lot of people will enjoy it – mystery lovers, those that enjoy high concepts and general fiction readers are going to love this one. I certainly did! 5 stars.

Thanks to Sourcebooks Landmark and Netgalley for the eARC, which I received for review consideration. The 7½ Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle will be available for purchase in the US on 18 September 2018. You can put your copy on hold today!

“Their memories crowd the edges of my mind, the weight of them almost too much to bear. I want everything they want. I feel their aches and am made timid by their fears. I’m no longer a man, I’m a chorus.”<

A Puzzle Like You’ve Never Seen

I must admit I’m not a frequent reader of mystery novels. Even though I love Agatha Christie of course, I haven’t read more than five modern mysteries, maybe not even that much. So, I’m not sure why I requested this ARC in the first place, or what drew me to it, and because of that I’ve been delaying this novel for months, and finally decided to get it off my chest recently – and I couldn’t be more glad that I did.

The Seven Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle is a puzzle. A puzzle you’re entirely drawn into, which you try to solve along with its main character, Aidan Bishop. The more you read, you can feel the clock ticking, as you’re running out of time to solve its big mystery. Overall, this novel reminded me of many things: Inception, Groundhog Day, Christie’s novels, even Alice in Wonderland, but mostly of a board game I used to play as a kid, called The Game of Witches. The pieces for all players were exactly same – black hollowed-out plastic ones, with an exception of the top, where an image of a witch in one of the four colors was placed. The trick of the game was this – when you start, and pull your pieces out of your starting position one by one, you have to flip them over, covering the color. This leads to all pieces being the same, black ones, and as the game advances you easily lose track of which pieces belong to you, and which ones to your opponents, leading to a confusion. Unknowingly, you may help your opponents by advancing their pieces, while thinking you’re playing with your own, all along racing to be the first one to reach the end.

“Nothing like a mask to reveal somebody’s true nature.”

That is what this novel essentially is. There are three players; a mystery to be solved, which is the murder of Evelyn Hardcastle as you might have guessed from the title; and various obstacles along the way, that may help you on your quest or turn against you. The first obstacle is that you have only eight days. The second one is that each day you will wake up as a different person – one of the guests of the party hosted by Lord and Lady Hardcastle. The third obstacle is a time-loop you’re trapped in. There are even more obstacles along the way, but I don’t want to ruin the experience for you, because as much as this novel is reminiscent of the movies and novels I mentioned, it is an entirely unique thing, standing firmly on its own bookish feet, and it is on you to explore it and solve it, if you can. The complexity of Evelyn Hardcastle may put you off, but it is in fact its strongest point. It is a masterfully constructed maze, spinning you in circles on every single turn.

“If this isn’t hell, the devil is surely taking notes.”

Other than its unprecedented complexity and design, this novel brings up some important questions – are we truly what we look like on the surface? Are we defined by our tumultuous past or our present actions? Can we be redeemed for our crimes by changing our true selves? This novel masterfully plays with human nature, which is most notable is the eight hosts Aidan Bishop takes. Each one has his own agenda, his own cowardice, intelligence, urges and desires, and by the end of it, it becomes difficult to pick out the true Aidan, even for himself.

“I grit my teeth. For once, it would be a refreshing to find somebody in this place who was exactly what they appeared to be.”

Now I’ll try to shut my mouth and say nothing else, because every twist and turn in Evelyn Hardcastle is worth exploring and discovering on your own. If you love puzzles, games and mysteries like myself – then this novel is made for you. Even though I’m a huge fantasy lover, this mystery is the best novel I’ve read so far in the last couple of years. I’ll stop here and leave you with this little but significant quote:

“Too little information and you’re blind, too much and you’re blinded.”

: The 7½ Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle

AUTHOR: Stuart Turton

RELEASES: 04 Sept 2018 by Sourcebooks Landmark

GENRE: Mystery & Thrillers

"I'm a man in Purgatory, blind to the sins that chased me here."

I couldn't put this down at all once I started it. The level of detail and intrigue is unreal and unmatched by most other crime thrillers I've read previously. I would put this on par with the like of b.a.paris if I had to compare it to something. It doesn't just go into one category, though. There's the bit of sci-fi in it with the Plague Doctor that appears randomly and the fact that Adrian relives the same day 8 days in a row in various bodies. What even is this world?? I was so confused at first, as I didn't read the synopsis before I began. Once I caught up to what was happening, though, I was entirely hooked!

"Do you know how you can tell if a monster's fit to walk the world again, Mr. Bishop? If they're truly redeemed and not just telling you what you want to hear? You give them a day without​ consequences, and you watch to see what they do with it."

When Aiden's entire objective changes from finding the murderer to saving Evelyn from being murdered at all, there is a bit of push back from a few other characters. His moral compass is so interesting, but I found myself asking if I would be making similar choices. Or would I have only gone as far as to figure out who was murdering Evelyn? There were so many inconsistencies in the original story of Evelyn's homecoming and those closest to her, so it really made for a wonderful novel!! 

"How lost do you have to be to let the devil lead you home?"

If you're a fan of whodunit thriller novels, then you'll love this novel. The characters not only work on discovering who they are and what they value most, but are also in the middle of a murder mystery! This crime thriller will have you on the edge of your seat exploring every little nook and cranny in which potential evidence could be hiding!

Thank you so much to NetGalley and SOURCEBOOKS Landmark for providing me with an ARC. All quotes are taken from an ARC and may not match the final release.

This this wonderfully complicated murder mystery has been referred as Agatha Christie meets Groundhogs Day and that comp is spot on. A must buy for all library collections.

This book was a 5 star read up until the ending. Everything before the last few chapters was original, fast paced, and very fun moving from body to body trying to figure out who was Evelyn's killer. The author is a great writer and I love a good brilliant, complex plot. I will still be excited to read the author's next book.

The ending attempting to tie up all the loose ends dropped this amazing read down to three stars.

There was a little forced romance, mixed with a hapilly ever after, dashed with a small amount of the Black Mirror episode called White Bear. If you are going to give a White Bear ending, go all the way dark with a new twist. Romance and happily ever afters are not needed for this type of story.

I started this book three different times and just couldn’t stick with it. It’s very wordy, and the beginning is confusing, but not in a way that made me want to keep reading to figure out how the mystery unfolds.

Really interesting story! I found the plot engaging and the characters incredibly engaging and engrossing to follow throughout the plot of the book.

This was a confusing but intriguing novel involving the premise that the protagonist would spend 24 hours as a particular character to solve a murder. I read the entire book but, upon review, just felt tired at the end. The surprise ending was too convoluted and connived for my liking. I felt like this was a plot line already explored in the Black Mirror series with regards to punishment and the criminal justice system. This might of been ground breaking a decade ago but now it just tries too hard for the "AHA" moment.

A man awakes in a wood, with no memory of who he is or how he got there, and with only a single name on his lips. A figure is seen running, and soon after, a gunshot. What follows is a stately home murder mystery the like of which you’ve never seen before…

The Seven Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle is, to put it simply, one of the best books I’ve read in a long, long time. It’s fabulously mind-twistingly clever, with a high-concept plot, a host of splendid, characters and a delightfully Christie-esque setting. It’s a book which demands that you pay attention, and rewards you handsomely for doing so. You know who dies from the title itself, but unlike your common or garden whodunnit, you follow the course of a day many times over, from different viewpoints as our protagonist tries to solve the question of who killed Evelyn Hardcastle, and more importantly, why.

I’m in awe of the plotting at work here – multiple characters interwoven across a day and the rooms and grounds of Blackheath. It’s been compared to Agatha Christie meets Inception, but it’s so much more than that – throw in a dash of Quantum Leap, and a smidgeon of Cluedo, topped off with a light dusting of Groundhog Day. I can picture the author in a room with a large map and a ball of red string, laying out the timelines.

Look. It’s genius. Just go and order yourself a copy. The hardback comes with maps, and who doesn’t love a good map in a book? I’ve already got a copy on order so I can read it again and savour it. There’s not many books I get a chance to re-read, but I’m looking forward to re-reading this one again. And again. And again…

The Seven Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle is published in the UK by Raven Books in February 2018. Our US chums will have to wait until September 2018, unfortunately, but you get an extra half death, as over there it’s called The 7 1/2 Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle.