Have you ever seen the funny, slightly dark comedy Groundhog Day, in which the hilarious Bill Murray lives the same iconic day over and over again?
How about the prim and proper BBC show Downton Abbey, where a family of British aristocrats intermingle and share the drama with their colorful and full-bodied staff?
Have you read any of Agatha Christie’s novels where puddles in the alcove, open windows, and missing keys all carry their weight in significance and intrigue?
Have you played the board game Clue, in which you have nearly a dozen rooms, colorful suspects, old-fashioned weapons, and a pair of dice to solve a crime?
If you answered yes to any of the above, then you will have some understanding of Stuart Turton’s mind-bending murder mystery, The Seven and a Half Deaths of Eveyln Hardcastle. It is a healthy mix of all of those stories, with a sprinkling of The Twilight Zone, along with its own unique twists, turns, drops of blood, dark corridors, rainy nights, and distant gunshots.
Nineteen years after a mysterious murder at the Blackheath House, the family and associates are lured back to the estate on the anniversary of the death of young Thomas Hardcastle. However, this time, it’s his older sister Evelyn’s life that is in danger.
Turton has basically written a love story to Agatha Christie with this creative work. While his narrative is completely original, it smacks on every page of Christie’s genius plot turns and vivid characterizations. I felt exactly the same way I did when I read And Then There Were None, when I got to the deliciously frustrating point that I couldn’t figure out any possible way the mystery would be solved…but then it did! Turton’s tale has the same elements of desperation, intrigue, and mind-baffling clues, which all resolve in a way you could never in a million years see coming.
As a reader and lover of the traditional classics, I am always wondering which of my current, contemporary reads may be the next modern classic. Which one can stand the test of time? Which one has reached the lofts of the literary greats? Which one will be reread and recommended time and time again? Which will have characters, themes, and plot twists which will not be forgotten? I honestly believe that The Seven and Half Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle could be one.
Read it. Take some Ibuprofen for the slight headache you’ll develop. Then read some more.