Outside the island there is the world destroyed by a fog that swept the planet, killing anyone it touched. On the island it is idyllic. 122 villagers and 3 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 they learn 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…
Regular readers will know how much I bloody love Stuart Turton’s books. First we had the intricately plotted, fabulously mind-twistingly clever and utterly brilliant The Seven Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle. Then we found ourselves in 1634 on the the good ship Saardam with the world’s greatest detective (albeit locked up below decks) and a growing pile of bodies in The Devil and the Dark Water.
And now, Stuart Turton, master of the impossible murder (in book form, thank goodness), is back again with his third book, The Last Murder at the End of the World.
One hundred and seven hours until humanity’s extinction. Though most of humanity is already gone, wiped out by a mysterious fog and leaving us fully in a dystopian future where a mere 122 villagers survive on a small Greek island along with three scientists. Oh, but the island is surrounded by the same strange fog that killed everyone else. Yikes.
Then one of the scientists is killed, and the defences holding the fog at bay break down. Double yikes. The book starts with ninety two hours to solve an impossible murder and save the world.
Pfft. Easy.
Turton has taken the locked room mystery and turned it into a locked island – there’s no way on or off (and nowhere to go other than that deadly fog if you did escape). And there’s Abi, the voice inside the villagers’ heads which tells them what to do and how to behave. And a strange curfew each evening where everyone falls asleep at the same time, no matter where they are or what they’re doing. And the curfew wiped everyone’s memory from the night of the murder, so whilst everyone is technically a suspect, no-one really has the knowledge or ability to do kill anyone. They’re not even really sure what murder is, and even the murder wouldn’t remember doing it.
Look, it’s hard to talk too much about this without spoiling things. It’s brilliant, it’s twisty, it plays with your perceptions and makes you question what it is to be human. It’s a shorter book than the first two, but packs so much into it. Turton was already one of my favourite authors and this book merely strengthens that.
And can we talk about that title? I was listening to a podcast earlier today (the excellent Quick Book Reviews by Philippa Hall) in which he said that in a world of one-word titles, he wanted something which jumps out and grabs the readers attention. The last murder? I’m in. At the end of the world?? I’m so in I can’t even see the way out. Genius.
I was lucky enough to get my grubby bookblogger hands on an ebook advance copy of this book to review, but I’ve had my order in for a signed special edition since last August. It should be here tomorrow, and I can’t wait to read it again.
And I hardly ever read books again, given the state of my TBR pile.
THAT’S how good it is. Go buy a copy. Buy two, one for you and one for a friend.
The Last Murder at the End of the World by Stuart Turton is published by Raven Books. Many thanks to the publisher for the advance copy ebook to review.
