What would you do if there were no consequences to your actions? If, after falling asleep every day, the world reset, and once waking, every deed was erased from all but your memories? Such is the dilemma author Stuart Turton poses to his hero, a man that starts every morning reliving the same day– but in a different body. This man, who doesn’t even remember his own name, finds himself in a uniquely horrifying game: he will live the same story for eight days, watching those around him lie, cheat, steal– and die. He must solve Evelyn’s murder by the end of the cycle, using the talents and restrictions of his various host bodies to his own advantage. Fail, and the cycle restarts. He has no idea how long he’s been trying. In his own words, the Blackheath estate he is stuck at is so cunningly cruel that “If this isn’t hell, the devil is surely taking notes.”
Blackheath is cunning not just in the hero’s dilemma, but rather the genius of the author himself. Somehow, Turton balances multiple twisting time lines that interact and build upon one another with the turmoil and intrepid actions of the hero, all within the same 24 hour frame, and technically speaking, from the same person. The hero’s eight lives interact with their past and future selves in increasingly creative ways, bending the reader’s mind to believe the wildest of Turton’s twists. It’s such a mind-bending situation that, as he puts it, “I’m no longer a man, I’m a chorus.” Despite the added difficulty of untangling his own, half remembered life from eight others, Turton expertly navigates the hero between his own ideas and personality, and the voices of his hosts, that become stronger and harder to ignore with each passing day.
The chilling Blackheath backdrop, complete with crooked woods and a haunted lake that once was the site of a long-past murder, all combine to set the perfect stage for Turton’s brilliant game. Blackheath’s guests, all arrived in preparation for a masquerade ball, are equally deceitful, each with their own hidden motives and clues for the hero to exploit. Unfortunately, Blackheath isn’t only a mystery– it’s a challenge. Between half-remembered loves, plague-doctor gamemasters, and the sinister footman hunting him down, there are a multitude of obstacles standing in the hero’s way, with every intent of trapping him at Blackheath– forever.
Turton’s brilliance makes this book a difficult one to describe. Every piece of the novel that would otherwise be crucial in hooking readers into reading it is in fact its own reveal, another puzzle piece to the myriad of mysteries there are to be solved, beyond just Evelyn’s death. What sets this book apart isn’t just the incredible plot, but the follow through on the author’s part of delivering his promises. Not only is it wonderfully written, with richly evocative description and chilling dialogue, but the Agatha Christie meets Palm Springs meets Clue vibes are just as incredible as one might originally picture when pulling the title off the shelf.
This book, beyond just the well planned and executed elements of a classically elegant and entertaining novel, will fracture every illusion in readers’ minds of how far the author is willing to go to dissect the world of tropes and stitch together something uniquely original. Through the hero’s hellish journey towards the hope of escape, Turton turns every mystery stereotype on its head, creating a wonderful mirror into true human nature, the kind that is often glossed over in other similar titles, by removing every boundary and consequence and instead letting his characters run wild. Their adventures are dark, moving, and will keep even the most jaded reader up late under the covers with a flashlight, forgetting about tomorrow. Wildly immersive, incredibly creative, and all-together brilliant, Turton’s debut novel is not to be missed this holiday season. It will be sure to chill one’s mind and capture one’s heart, casting a spell until the turn of the final page. As Turton’s hero so eloquently describes Blackheath, “The last time I entered this forest, my mind never made it back.”
5 paws:
