The 7 1/2 Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle

 

The 7 1/2 Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle by Stuart Turton  432 pages

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 . . .

I picked up this book with a lot of excitement. What a concept! 

There is a cheat sheet of characters in the front because there are quite a few of them and you have to keep them straight. Very helpful. 

I just couldn't keep up. He switched bodies numerous times. Also, he moved back and forth in days AND the time of day, so when he interacted with another character, he had to point out to the reader if the other characters knew certain clues yet. 

The 'what is really going on here?' question is unanswered until page 381. 

I stuck with it, but I just let it carry me to the end. I stopped trying to follow somewhere in the middle.

I'm curious how other readers do.