Saturday, May 3, 2025

The Last Murder at the End of the World

The Last Murder at the End of World by Stuart Turton
The Last Murder at the End of the World
by Stuart Turton
Sourcebooks Landmark, 2024. 354 pages. Science Fiction, Mystery.

Outside the island there is nothing: the world was destroyed many years ago 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 long-lived scientists (the only ones who remember what life was like before), living in peaceful harmony. The villagers are content to fish, farm and feast, and to do what they're told, including obeying a strict nightly curfew. One morning, to the horror of the islanders, one of their beloved scientists is found brutally stabbed to death. To make matters worse, 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. The clock is ticking…

I recently enjoyed Stuart Turton’s mind-bending mystery novel, The 7 ½ Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle, in which the protagonist is compelled to solve a murder by reliving the days leading up to it, in the bodies of various participants and witnesses. It was a nifty premise, but to my delight it took an even deeper turn, becoming a thoughtful meditation on remorse, forgiveness, and the worth of a soul by the end. I love a book that takes what could just be a clever gimmick and turns it into something more. That’s a long way of saying that when The Last Murder at the End of the World came along, I had some high expectations. Could this author surprise me again?

I’m pleased to report that Turton is an author worth watching. He has taken another high concept idea and done the most interesting things with it. The narrator, Abi, being a nigh-omniscient artificial intelligence is both a delightful surprise and an intriguing complication, as while her entire purpose is to serve and protect the remnant of the human race on the island, her perspective is utterly inhuman. Most of the time, The Last Murder feels like a traditional third-person limited narrative. The residents of the island have to piece the clues together as best they can, based on their understanding of themselves and their relationships, both with the scientists and one another. It is easy to get drawn into the thoughts and struggles of Emory, Thea, and the other islanders, only for Abi to make a comment at just the right moment to bring the reader crashing back to earth with the realization that we're getting all our information from a narrator who can't even tell us if she knows more than she's saying. I can’t say more lest I spoil the big revelations; all I can say is that my sci-fi-loving heart was quite satisfied by the ending which proves, again, to be more than originally promised. Stuart Turton has said that he wants to try something different with every book he writes; I will be waiting to see what he writes next!

 If you like The Last Murder at the End of the World, you might also like:

Ghost Station
by S.A. Barnes
Nightfire, Tor Publishing, 2024. 377 pages. Science fiction, Horror.

Psychologist Dr. Ophelia Bray has dedicated her life to the study and prevention of Eckhart-Reiser syndrome (ERS), a psychological condition that can affect long-time space travelers--the most famous case of which resulted in the brutal murders of twenty-nine people. Ophelia is assigned to a small exploration crew on an abandoned planet who recently suffered the tragic death of a colleague. She wants to help, but as the tight-knit crew works to solve the mystery of what happened to the previous inhabitants of the planet, it becomes clear that they are not eager to open up. In fact, they are definitely hiding something. The gruesome murder of their pilot sparks terror that history is about to repeat itself. Is this simply the terrible effects of another case of ERS, or something more sinister?

 

The Deep
by Nick Cutter
Gallery Books, 2015. 394 pages. Horror, Suspense.

A strange plague called the 'Gets is decimating humanity on a global scale. It causes forgetfulness – first in small things like the location of one’s car keys, but getting progressively worse to the point that the human body “forgets” how to function at all – and there is no cure. Far below the surface of the Pacific Ocean, deep in the Mariana Trench, a heretofore-unknown substance hailed as a “universal healer” has been discovered, and it may just be the key to eradicating the ‘Gets. A special research lab, the Trieste, has been built eight miles under the sea to study this phenomenon. But when the station goes incommunicado, a brave few descend through the lightless fathoms in hopes of unraveling the mysteries lurking at those crushing depths...and perhaps to encounter an evil blacker than anything one could possibly imagine.

-LAH

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