A Few Quick Thoughts about The 7 ½ Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle (Audiobook) by Stuart Turton, James Cameron Stewart

The 7 ½ Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle by Stuart Turton, James Cameron Stewart (Narrator) Unabridged Audiobook, 17 hrs., 4 min. Tantor Audio, 2018 Read: March 6-19, 2020 Grab a copy from your local indie bookstore!

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

If I said everything I wanted to here, I’d blind you with too much information.

In the interest of A. Time and 2. Not wanting to overwhelm you with anything but mostly III. I don’t want to take away the impact that reading/listening to this would bring to you. So…I’m going to be brief.

Let’s start with the publisher’s description:

The Rules of Blackheath

Evelyn Hardcastle will be murdered at 11:00 p.m.

There are eight days, and eight witnesses for you to inhabit.

We will only let you escape once you tell us the name of the killer.

Understood? Then let’s begin…

***

Evelyn Hardcastle will die. Every day until Aiden Bishop can identify her killer and break the cycle. But every time the day begins again, Aiden wakes up in the body of a different guest. And some of his hosts are more helpful than others.

For fans of Claire North and Kate Atkinson, The 71/2 Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle is a breathlessly addictive novel that follows one man’s race against time to find a killer—but an astonishing time-turning twist means that nothing and no one are quite what they seem.

When I grabbed this audiobook, I remembered less than 1 percent of what I’d read about it. I just remembered bloggers loving it. Also, it was on Chirp, so…you know, cheap, and I needed something to listen to. So without even reading the blurb again, I grabbed it.

What a mind-bending book. I’ve seen comparisons to Clue (the movie, not the game), Agatha Christie, Groundhog Day, and Quantum Leap—I’d add Knives Out. Those comparisons are all apt. Add those things with some incredibly brilliant writing—there are sentences here that justify the expense and/or time involved just to hear/read them. Throw in a clever, clever book and it’s a real winner.

It’s sort of a fantasy. It’s a very old school mystery. It’s impossible to encapsulate. The themes explored include:
Identity
Memory
Vengence
Corruption (inner and public)
Forgiveness
Redemption

Stewart’s narration was pretty solid—occasionally I wondered about his choices for female voices—but all in all he kept me engaged and entertained.

I thought the book dragged a bit from time to time, but it’s hard to think of anything Turton really could’ve cut/rearranged to help that–and the large portion that didn’t drag made up for the rest easily. To say that the plot is intricate is to undersell it, I don’t remember the last book I read that was quite this intricate and well-constructed. It’s truly impressive, thoroughly entertaining, and completely provocative.

Listen to it, read it, whatever…put it on your list and you’ll be glad you did.

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