The 71/2 Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle

Good book to present to your loved ones

As far as intriguing titles go, this one was right up there in this year’s top ten list for me. This book falls under the mystery / crime fiction / historical genre which is like a ‘having your cake and eating it too’ scenario for a reader like me. I am sure that the minimalist cover coupled by this strange name was enough to lure many an inquisitive reader to this book. (You see what I am doing there, inquisitive a.k.a curious! And whose curiosity got them killed? But who also have nine lives to indulge in this particular pass time?) One wondered whether the 'Seven deaths' were a metaphor like the nine lives of our favorite furry animals. As it turns out, the author meant the title literally – as in, the actual deaths of this one poor woman.Although the story is about the death(s) of Evelyn Hardcastle, the actual hero of the book is the poor soul who is trapped in the vicious cycle of living the same day over and over again until he solves her murder. One would think it can’t be that hard a task, until you realize that the memories of the wannabe detective are wiped out completely at the end of the day and he must begin from scratch the next morning i.e. figure out where he is, why he is there and how many hours he has in his hands, thus wasting precious time and opportunity.The plot of this book makes it a novelty in a market of where crime novels are flooded with much the same plot line in book after book. The idea of a day repeating itself and a murder occurring as its inevitable result again and again gives the plot very much like that of the quirky and very funny ‘Groundhog Day’ movie a much more macabre and deadly twist.It is difficult to categorize this book as an unequivocal success for me because of the very thing that makes this book unique. The constant to-ing and fro-ing (which is normally never a problem for me when it occurs over years or months or even weeks) between the characters made it very difficult to keep the timelines of the day in order. When a character makes a time table in the book to get some order out of this chaos, I sincerely wished that the author had printed one out for the readers as well.This may seem a major drawback for this book but, surprisingly, it was not. I thoroughly enjoyed the book with all its confusion and thought the story was really enjoyable. The main character of Aiden was the one most thoroughly rounded up and dissected to the bone and as he appears on almost every page of the book it is hardly a surprise as he is the one the we are most acquainted with. He is certainly a likable man and upright and honest in most of his dealings with others. The character of his partner in crime, Anna, is actually not so clear cut as we never really know for certain what she is thinking, while Aiden spends a lot of time and energy trying to do right by her. On the other hand the different characters attending the party are described in much detail and even when they make short appearances manage to create quite an impression.The ending of the book was slightly unsatisfactory for me and I failed to understand exactly what the author wanted the real world to look like or where the uncertain fates of Aiden and Anna would lead them. However, that may be a story for another day. A must read.