The 7 1/2 Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle

I could not put this book down! I remember seeing this in 2018, as it was the Goodreads Choice Award Nominee for Mystery and Thriller and for Debut Author. The cover caught my eye, as did the title. Unfortunately, I did not start reading this book until this past Sunday. Most of the books I read nowadays are actually books I listen to through the app Overdrive. James Cameron Stewart narrated. The production of this audio book was very well done.The book opens with the following invitation:You are cordially invited to Blackheath House for a Masquerade.Introducing your hosts, the Hardcastle Family:Lord Peter Hardcastle and Lady Helena Hardcastle and their son Michael Hardcastle, their daughter Evelyn Hardcastle.Notable guests:Edward Dance, Christopher Pettigrew, and Philip Sutcliffe, family solicitors.Grace Davies and her brother Donald Davies, socialites.Commander Clifford Harrington, Naval Officer (retired).Millicent Derby and her son Johnathan Derby, socialites.Daniel Coleridge, Professional gambler.Lord Cecil Ravencourt, banker.Jim Rashton, Police officer.Dr. Richard "Dickie" Acker.Dr. Sebastian Bell.Ted Stanwin.Principle Household Staff:The Butler, Roger Collins.The Cook, Mrs. Drudge.First Maid, Lucy HarperStable Master, Alf MillerArtist in residence, Gregory Gold.Lord Ravencourt's valet, Charles Cunningham.Evelyn Hardcastle's Lady's Maid: Madeline Aubert.We ask all guests to kindly refrain from disusing Thomas Hardcastle and Charlie Carver. As the tragic events surrounding them still grieve the family greatly.Chapter one starts off in the middle of the woods where a man, yet to be named, sees a murder and is shouting the name "Anna." He is then handed a silver compass and told "East." When he goes East, the man stumbles upon a residence and seeks shelter inside. Our main character appears to have suffered a traumatic event and must be told his own name: Sebastian Bell. Over the next few hours, Bell meets a man wearing a plague mask, and that will stay his name until the conclusion of the novel. The man, referred to as the Plague Doctor, tells Bell that he is actually Aiden Bishop, that he has eight days to solve the murder of Evelyn Hardcastle, each day Aiden will be given a "host" to occupy to help solve the mystery, and Aiden must find him by the lake at 11 PM with the answer or risk starting the loop all over again. Aiden can't believe this and ends up "wasting" two of his hosts in denial. Eventually, Aiden buys into what the Plague Doctor is saying and begins attempting to figure out who murdered Evelyn Hardcastle. Without giving spoilers, I want to address why I so thoroughly enjoyed this novel.First, it was very complex. Some popular authors, take James Patterson for example, do not always provide a complex story. I enjoy being challenged as a read and several times I fought the urge to pull out a notebook and pen to jot down clues. That urge, and the desire to figure out "whodunit" was very powerful and made me not want to book the book down. Between keeping track of which host Aiden was, who talked to who, how interactions from two decades ago bear relevance to the story at hand, as well ad Aiden being able to change the day over time while in different hosts, there is a lot to keep track of in the novel.Second, the setting was beautiful and tragic at the same time. The book is set on a remote estate called Blackheath. We are not given a specific time period, but it reminds one of the early twentieth century Gothic style. The estate is owned by the Hardcastles: Peter (patriarch), Helena (matriarch), Michael (son), Evelyn (daughter), and Thomas (deceased). As with most Gothic literature, the estate is eerie and holds many secrets. The death of Thomas Hardcastle almost two decades before has tainted the grounds. Most of the novel occurs in dark rooms and tiny spaces, or at night near the woods and the lake. Very foreboding. There are also secret passages ways, boat houses, and carriage houses, and other outbuildings scattered throughout the property that come up. Additionally, there are other elements about the setting, that would be spoilers, and so I will not discuss them. I find these elements brilliant.Third, I thoroughly enjoy the character development. We are forced, as the reader, to assume 9 different characters: Aiden and all eight of his hosts. Aiden in and of himself is a very complex character. We do not learn why he is at Blackheath until much later in the novel, but we do learn that he is no longer the Aiden he was when he originally came to Blackheath. Aiden has had to reinvent himself and choose who to be. Additionally, as Aiden gets closer and closer to day eight, the character of his hosts increasingly exert themselves on Aiden. Our protagonist is often having to shake off his hosts memories and personal flaws. Some of each host seems to "rub off" on him as the story unfolds.Finally, the numerous themes throughout the book have given me much to think about, as well as much to continue to think about. Some themes include: good vs evil, betrayal, fate vs free will, injustice, and manipulation to name a few. We are told in the book that Aiden is up against two other rivals. We learn that Aiden must present the final answer to Plague Doctor before the other two in order to escape Blackheath's continuous loop. As time goes on, we assume as the reader that those two rivals are Anna and a dark, murderous character called "The Footman." Aiden is trying to free not only himself, but Anna as well. Anna and Aiden represent "good" and The Footman represent evil. It is a constant cat and mouse game throughout the novel between these two forces. Another theme is the theme of betrayal. The Plague Doctor, and other characters, hint to Aiden that he is being betrayed. The turmoil Aiden goes through in whether to decide to trust others lingers throughout the book. Blackheath's loop is likened to fate; this day has been repeating, ad nauseam, for a lengthy period of time. Yet the Plague Doctor and Aiden attempt to exert their free will on the loop. You will have to be the judge of if they are successful. We see the injustice of not only Evelyn's murder, but Thomas' and others as well; and we see manipulation of events and characters regularly.I do not think I can praise this book enough as a fantastic murder-mystery and an absolute page turner! I hope you each decide to pick it up for yourselves, and when you do, come back here so we can chat about the mystery that is Blackheath.Happy Reading!-Hession

I enjoyed reading this book. It took me the first 3 chapters to really get into it, but the chapters are short, so it didn't take long. Some chapters are so short that I had to hit the back button on my Kindle to make sure there wasn't a glitch.If I had to do a read-over, I would have a pen and paper to take notes on, which is not something I have ever done when reading a book for pleasure. There are so many characters that become intertwined the further along you read the book, and it does become confusing. The fact that there are so many characters to keep track of is the reason for the four-star review; some parts are simply confusing.The main character is the consciousness of Aiden jumping into 8 different bodies and living out one day as each character. The storyline jumps back and forth between these different characters while slowly revealing clues to the mystery. I honestly didn't figure out where to attribute the 7 and 1/2 deaths unless it is referring to the number of characters whose days we get to see played out in the storyline.I liked the concept of the book and the way the author gave each character a completely different body to inhabit. He gave descriptions as to what it would feel like in a different body and working with a different brain. It touched on an aspect of empathy for what other people might experience living out their lives, that we will never know, since we only get to experience one body and one brain.This concept of brain/body jumping alludes to either a magical world, a fantasy world, or hell, but none of that is explained in the book. I would have liked more explanation about this strange world the reader is taken to, even if it was revealed at the end of the book. Unfortunately, the book ends a bit more abruptly and leaves the reader question about this world.As for the story, it is enjoyable, and I looked forward to every reading session I had. It was nice to be immersed in so many different aspects of the mystery from a variety of viewpoints. There are revelations and mysteries revealed throughout, leading up to the final reveal. The ending was not anything I would have guessed or gathered from putting the clues together. I was actually questioning how the character derived the conclusions and was able to solve it by the end. I got some of it, but I felt lost on a portion of it as well.