Literary reviews by Tim Love.
Warning: Rather than reviews, these are often notes in preparation for reviews that were never finished, or pleas for help with understanding pieces. See Litref Reviews - a rationale for details.

Wednesday 30 December 2020

"The Seven Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle" by Stuart Turton

A man with amnesia wakes in a wood and witnesses a woman's murder. The male murderer gives him a compass and tells him to go east. He finds a stately house, Blackheath, with guests attending a weekend do. He reports the crime. Somehow he knows that the victim's name was Anna, but nobody's heard of her. It's the pre-mobile era. He discovers who he is (Sebastian Bell, a middle-aged doctor) and that he seems to have been attacked with a knife. He trusts no one. Evelyn Hardcastle, the daughter of the house owner, tells him how lucky he is to be able to choose who to be - he could assemble traits from several people to recreate his new self. She tells him that 19 years before, her brother Thomas was murdered by two person near the the lake, partly because of her negligence. Only one was caught. She's lived in Paris since, ordered back by her parents for this anniversary where the guests from 19 years before have been invited. She tells him he's a dope-dealer for the upper classes.

Next day he wakes to the ringing bell of the front door. He's in a different room. He opens the door to Sebastian Bell, who's reliving the events of the day before. The narrator's now Mr Collins, the butler.

Next day he's Donald Davis. He tries to leave the place, but not before the Plague Doctor explains the rules. He's going to experience 8 days in 8 hosts. At the ball there will be a murder that doesn't look like a murder. He can only leave if he solves the mystery. There are 3 competitors (but maybe there's a 4th?), and a footman who's trying to kill him.

Next day he's old Lord Ravencourt. He tries to contact the other 2 to assemble clues. We learn that Evelyn's parents have arranged that she'll marry Ravencourt for his money. That evening Evelyn shoots herself dead. Ravencourt's valet is Cunningham, allegedly Lord Peter Hardcastle's bastard son. We jump back to continue the unfinished days of earlier characters.

He's really Aiden Bishop. He wants to know more about himself. All he knows is that he remembers the name "Anna". The hosts aren't empty vessels. Sometimes Aiden is cunning, sometimes he's impulsive, depending on who his host is. When they meet, the contestants compare hosts.

Next day (day 5) he's Jonathan Derby. There's an inner voice that interjects from time to time (we're told later that the voice is all that remains of Aiden).

The gamesmaster (masked plague doctor) says that he does't know who the murderer is, hence the game. Aiden has asked to come - his 2 rivals (one of them Anna) haven't. It's far from Aiden's first visit (he's in the 1000s). Anna keeps written notes about what happens and when, but doesn't show them to Aiden.

We meet other characters - Gold (the family portraitist), Stanwin (an ex-servant, now upper-class blackmailer).

On day 6 he's old Mr Dance, the Hardcastle's solicitor. We learn that Helena, Peter Hardcastle's wife, was having an affair with his son's co-murderer, Carver. Charles Cunningham is actually Helena and Carver's son. Helena is becoming a suspect. This section's rather long and slow.

Miller is the stable-master - "His elderly face is a mass of wrinkles and overhanging flesh, more than enough material for his emotions to build a stage from. Every frown is a tragedy, every smile a farce. A lie, sitting as it does somewhere between both, is enough to collapse the entire performance"

When he's Jim Rushdon, a sharp-minded policeman, the pace quickens. Hosts are being murdered, and Aiden realises that in a past loop he murdered Anna. This section is the most like a whodunnit - the plot of the Evelyn's fake suicide pulls together many clues. My guess is that someone sometimes pretends to be the plague doctor.

On day 8 he's Gold, the artist. There's another games-master, Silver Tear, who's in dispute with the Plague Doctor. We learn that Blackheath is one of 1000s of assessment centres, where prisoners are tested to see if they're ready to be released. The situations are unsolved crimes. Blackheath is for the worst cases - Anna[belle] was a global terrorist who tortured Aiden's sister 30 years before. Aiden first went in to gain revenge, but over the years he's changed, and so has Anna. He thinks that Anna deserves to be released. The Plague Doctor tells her at the end about the other characters - "they were never anything more than a trick of the light, Anna. Now you get to walk away with the flame that casts them.". The loose ends are tidied up as there's a twist.

I suppose the book could be described as a collection of linked short stories - or nested stories.

Other reviews

  • Carrie O'Grady (The price Turton pays for this is a loss of emotional engagement on the reader’s part. But as an intellectual thriller, the book can’t be faulted, and in the end, it’s the story that triumphs, with a series of last-minute revelations as dazzling as the finale of a fireworks show. I’m not sure it entirely makes sense, when all’s said and done – but who cares?)
  • goodreads

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