This ADMITTEDLY took a while for me to get through - the mark of a high-brow, intricate plot.
The Seven Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle is a gift for murder mystery fans. From the get-go, Turton plunges you into the heavy and delightful narrative of Blackheath House and its chessboard players. As you turn each red-tinted page, you are churned deeper into the tangled plot surrounding the titular murder of Evelyn Hardcastle.
The groundhog-day fate of the narrator means that we come face to face with almost every character under the roof of Blackheath; Turton delivers a spectacular array of perspectives. We see the day play out through the ears, the lungs and the minds of the lords and ladies and curiously evasive serving staff.
‘Chairs and chaise longues have been gathered around the fire, young women draped over them like wilted orchids, smoking cigarettes and clinging to their drinks.’
You struggle along with the helpless protagonist as the story reaches a baffling apex to the answer of who killed Evelyn. A thousand questions litter your head as the mystery is revealed, and a sense of catharsis is reached but after a long sit-down.
Being an aesthetically-obvious match to the murder mystery genre, this book reads very much like a love letter to the classic, ‘Golden Age’ mystery set in the big country house in the near-enough middle of nowhere. Turton’s choice to make the narrator of this tale a constantly changing character means that the layers of bafflement and elusion seem endless. However, he balances these plot intricacies with elegance and vivid characterisation.
He tips his hat to the many tropes of this iconic genre, dressing the titular Evelyn Hardcastle up as a green-frocked Miss Scarlet who remains an unknown for a significant chunk of the book. The shadow-bound mastermind of Blackheath is named as the ‘Plague Doctor’ but once again; Turton leaves all the juiciest reveals to the very final chapters.
I would recommend this as a holiday read due to the density of the plot, despite the slow middle The Seven Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle is a worthy murder mystery. The characterisation is enchanting and the lightning-quick pacing in the last half of the book is thrilling.
…
‘For those few terrifying seconds, Derby was utterly beyond my control. That was his poison spilling out of my mouth, his bile coursing through my veins. I can feel it still. Oil on my skin, needles in my bones, a yearning to do something dreadful. Whatever happens today, I need to keep tight hold of my temper or this creature is going to slip loose again and goodness knows what he’ll do. And that’s the truly scary part.’
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