Stuart Turton

From the bestselling author of The 7 1/2 Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle and The Devil and the Dark Water comes an inventive, high-concept murder mystery: an ingenious puzzle, an extraordinary backdrop, and an audacious solution. Solve the murder to save what's left of the world. Outside the island there is nothing: the world was destroyed by a fog that swept the planet, killing anyone it touched. On the island: it is idyllic. One hundred and twenty-two villagers and three scientists, living in peaceful harmony. The villagers are content to fish, farm and feast, to obey their nightly curfew, to do what they're told by the scientists. Until, to the horror of the islanders, one of their beloved scientists is found brutally stabbed to death. And then they learn that the murder has triggered a lowering of the security system around the island, the only thing that was keeping the fog at bay. If the murder isn't solved within 92 hours, the fog will smother the island--and everyone on it. But the security system has also wiped everyone's memories of exactly what happened the night before, which means that someone on the island is a murderer--and they don't even know it. And the clock is ticking.

The Last Murder at the End of the World

Michelle Hruby

Eva Ströberg

Stuart Turton - The last murder at the end of the world
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⭐️⭐️⭐️
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In this post apocalyptic world, where only a small number of people (villagers and their 3 elders) are left trapped in an island somewhere in Greece, with deadly fog surrounding them, threathening - a murder happened. One of the elder was killed. But by who? 
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I love the idea of this book. Post apocalyptic thrill? ✅ Murder ✅ Secret experiments? ✅ but somehow the book seemed sloppy. There were some paragraphs that probably slipped proofreading. Some names were confused with each other, I had to re-read some thru to make sure that it wasn’t me but it was the book.
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I would like to give it 4 stars for the entertaining values but all the mistakes and confusions made me irritated.
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Tamara

Clever, as expected, but somehow I didn’t connect with the characters. I might try to read it again someday, maybe I’ll enjoy it more another time.

 is a light SciFi murder mystery billed as “an inventive, high-concept murder mystery: an ingenious puzzle, an extraordinary backdrop, and an audacious solution.” The last of humanity are gathered on an island surrounded by a fog that kills anything that touches it. But when one of the scientists is murdered, it triggers a failsafe that takes down the barrier protecting the island. If the murder isn’t solved, everyone will perish.

, so I was looking forward to Turton’s latest book. I eagerly started it only to be immediately disappointed. It took me multiple attempts to even get through the first chapter. And despite not being too long of a book, it took me nearly a month to finish it. 

The bottom line is that this book just did not capture my attention at all.

 I did not care about the characters or the plot. I didn’t care who the killer was or who would survive.

The story was told in present tense – which I rarely like – and was narrated by the scientist’s AI, Abi. Abi hinted at things in a most annoying manner and delivered obvious red herrings. It even told the reader who would die. Rather than building suspense, it just annoyed me. The AI with the ability to control the villagers’ minds and bodies was probably supposed to be scary, but I think the media is oversaturated with AI doom lately. So that just added one more layer of tedium to this book. I'm sure there was some pointed commentary between in there somewhere, but I was too annoyed with the characters to pay attention to it. 

This story was mainly made up of a bunch of drawn-out dialogue obfuscating the mystery just for the sake of running the clock down to the last second.

, I was fine with not understanding what was going on because it felt intriguing and unique, with 

, I just felt exasperated and uninterested. The overly convenient village-wide amnesia was obnoxious to the extreme since it was really the only reason there was any “mystery” in the story. As I mentioned, I was completely apathetic to the fate of these characters.

I also thought the killing fog would be creepier and possibly even had a bit of horror element to the story. But nothing was scary. Not even the titular end of the world. In fact, the tone of the story felt closer to a cozy mystery a lot of the time. Nothing in this book worked for me.

Honestly, I can’t even work up a good rant about this one. Despite my disappointment, my boredom for this story outweighs the ire that summons my typical snarkiness. That is also the reason I didn’t rate this lower. 

I simply don’t care enough about this story one way or the other

. I just want to be done with this one. Hopefully Turton’s next book doesn’t leave me marooned on the island of boredom like this one did.

Characters and Character Development: 1 Star

Colleen

2 Stars

*The last F at the end of my patience*


The Last Murder at the End of the World is a light SciFi murder mystery billed as “an inventive, high-concept murder mystery: an ingenious puzzle, an extraordinary backdrop, and an audacious solution.” The last of humanity are gathered on an island surrounded by a fog that kills anything that touches it. But when one of the scientists is murdered, it triggers a failsafe that takes down the barrier protecting the island. If the murder isn’t solved, everyone will perish.



“Her grief will be waiting in the dark and quiet. It will hide behind a dozen ordinary things, ambushing her when her thoughts drift.”


I thoroughly enjoyed The Seven Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle and The Devil and the Dark Water, so I was looking forward to Turton’s latest book. I eagerly started it only to be immediately disappointed. It took me multiple attempts to even get through the first chapter. And despite not being too long of a book, it took me nearly a month to finish it. The bottom line is that this book just did not capture my attention at all. I did not care about the characters or the plot. I didn’t care who the killer was or who would survive.

The story was told in present tense – which I rarely like – and was narrated by the scientist’s AI, Abi. Abi hinted at things in a most annoying manner and delivered obvious red herrings. It even told the reader who would die. Rather than building suspense, it just annoyed me. The AI with the ability to control the villagers’ minds and bodies was probably supposed to be scary, but I think the media is oversaturated with AI doom lately. So that just added one more layer of tedium to this book. I'm sure there was some pointed commentary between in there somewhere, but I was too annoyed with the characters to pay attention to it. This story was mainly made up of a bunch of drawn-out dialogue obfuscating the mystery just for the sake of running the clock down to the last second.

Whereas when I read The Seven Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle, I was fine with not understanding what was going on because it felt intriguing and unique, with The Last Murder at the End of the World, I just felt exasperated and uninterested. The overly convenient village-wide amnesia was obnoxious to the extreme since it was really the only reason there was any “mystery” in the story. As I mentioned, I was completely apathetic to the fate of these characters.

I also thought the killing fog would be creepier and possibly even had a bit of horror element to the story. But nothing was scary. Not even the titular end of the world. In fact, the tone of the story felt closer to a cozy mystery a lot of the time. Nothing in this book worked for me.

Honestly, I can’t even work up a good rant about this one. Despite my disappointment, my boredom for this story outweighs the ire that summons my typical snarkiness. That is also the reason I didn’t rate this lower. I simply don’t care enough about this story one way or the other. I just want to be done with this one. Hopefully Turton’s next book doesn’t leave me marooned on the island of boredom like this one did.


RATING FACTORS:
Ease of Reading: 2 Stars
Writing Style: 2 Stars
Characters and Character Development: 1 Star
Plot Structure and Development: 2 Stars
Level of Captivation: 1 Star
Originality: 2 Stars

Entertaining, light read. Good for getting me out of my reading slump

Sarah Erle

came in without knowing what's about to happen and now i can say is that I'm glad I picked up this book. 

saint 

An apocalyptic fog has left the world's population dead except for 120 people who exist on an island off the coast of Greece. Then, one day, a murder sets off a chain of events that will bring this group of people to an end unless they can solve the murder. The only problem? They can't remember anything that happened.

This story is quintessential Stuart Turton. It's cerebral, unique, and a lot of fun to read. I really enjoyed it.

Thanks to Thoughts from a Page and Sourcebooks Landmark for the advanced reader copy.

Cheri McElroy

An apocalyptic fog has left the world's population dead except for 120 people who exist on an island off the coast of Greece. Then, one day, a murder sets off a chain of events that will bring this group of people to an end unless they can solve the murder. The only problem? They can't remember anything that happened.

This story is quintessential Stuart Turton. It's cerebral, unique, and a lot of fun to read. I really enjoyed it.

Thanks to Thoughts from a Page and Sourcebooks Landmark for the advanced reader copy.

The Last Murder at the End of the World

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