Genre: Good question. Crime, historical, possibly fantasy.
Wonderfully enjoyable nonsense. A book you’ll read quickly, which will help because it could be quite confusing otherwise. High concept? Certainly. But lots of fun nonetheless. Aiden Bishop wakes up in a forest near Blackheath, a decaying mansion resurrected to a passable state to host a welcome home party for the titular Evelyn. Only Aiden isn’t in his own body and he’s there to solve Evelyn’s murder. If he doesn’t then he’s trapped at Blackheath, living the day over and over. But that’s not all... he gets eight ‘hosts’ in total, all guests at the party, to use to gather information/influence the day. If a host dies he jumps into the next one and starts the day again. But even though the day starts again it’s still Aiden in the other hosts. Still with me? It doesn’t matter too much, it’s a tremendous ride. Think of it as Groundhog Day meets Cludeo via The Butterfly Effect. Downtown Abbey this is not.
The authors’ genius lies in the characters. Each one is memorable and each one has secrets. We truly get to know and sympathise/loathe each one, but they all contribute to the outcome. There are allies and enemies, sometimes murderously. I’ve read other reviews that accuses the story of trivialising murder but I disagree.
It’s a cracking murder mystery before you even get to the host jumping. Read it before someone tells you the ending. That aren’t many books deserving of hype but this one is. And... it could even be the beginning of a series. I, for one, feverishly hope it is.
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