Listen free for 30 days

1 credit a month, good for any title to download and keep.
The Plus Catalogue—listen all you want to thousands of Audible Originals, podcasts, and audiobooks.
$14.95 a month plus applicable taxes after 30 day trial. Cancel anytime.
The 7 ½ Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle cover art

The 7 ½ Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle

Written by: Stuart Turton
Narrated by: James Cameron Stewart
Try for $0.00

$14.95 per month after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

Buy Now for $26.30

Buy Now for $26.30

Pay using card ending in
By confirming your purchase, you agree to Audible's Conditions of Use and Amazon's Privacy Notice. Tax where applicable.

Publisher's Summary

The rules of Blackheath: Evelyn Hardcastle will be murdered at 11:00 p.m. There are eight days and eight witnesses for you to inhabit. We will only let you escape once you tell us the name of the killer. 

Understood? Then let's begin....

Evelyn Hardcastle will die. Every day until Aiden Bishop can identify her killer and break the cycle. But every time the day begins again, Aiden wakes up in the body of a different guest. And some of his hosts are more helpful than others....  

The most inventive debut of the year twists together a mystery of such unexpected creativity that it will leave listeners guessing until the very last second.

©2018 Stuart Turton (P)2018 Tantor

What the critics say

"Readers may be scratching their heads in delicious befuddlement as they work their way through this novel, but one thing will be absolutely clear: Stuart Turton is an author to remember." (Booklist starred review)

Featured Article: 12 Unpausable Can’t Miss Thriller Audiobooks

There is nothing like a great thriller to hook you in, grab your attention, and leave you hanging on every word. Thrillers are some of the most exciting audiobooks out there, and the power of a well-told suspenseful story is virtually unrivalled. From murder mysteries to psychological thrillers, action-packed plots, or intriguing characters, audiobooks in the thriller genre will keep listeners coming back for more. Here we’ve compiled a list of the most unpausable thrillers that will have listeners unable to stop.

What listeners say about The 7 ½ Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle

Average Customer Ratings
Overall
  • 4 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    236
  • 4 Stars
    124
  • 3 Stars
    64
  • 2 Stars
    17
  • 1 Stars
    11
Performance
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    265
  • 4 Stars
    90
  • 3 Stars
    36
  • 2 Stars
    10
  • 1 Stars
    9
Story
  • 4 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    217
  • 4 Stars
    100
  • 3 Stars
    63
  • 2 Stars
    18
  • 1 Stars
    14

Reviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.

Sort by:
Filter by:
  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Amazing

Very well written! fantastically narrated! I never wanted it to end! A true whirlwind of emotions until the very end!

9 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Excellent listen!

His female voices were a little weird but otherwise a great book! It was very intriguing!

6 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Loved it!

Amazing narrative and history totally recommended if u are into suspense pilled up hahaha plot very well structured and delightful descriptions. :)

4 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

A Most Interesting Book

The author is excellent. I loved not only his writing style but also his ability describe even the smallest detail in a most wondrous descriptive manner.
The storyline too is very well crafted. It kept my attention well in place right to the end, which in itself was quite clever. A good book must always have a good ending.

2 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Surpringly original and confusing

I almost stopped listening as it was very confusing... until it wasn't. A very original idea for a storyline. If you have the time to sit quietly and listen and digest what is happening you will want to continue listening and try to solve the murder. Good to the end.

1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

pay attention - lots of moving parts

A very enjoyable premise for a murder mystery. Full of human frailty and the deep basic good that lies at the heart of some but not all. It definitely kept me guessing. I admire the ability of the author to weave such a complicated story. There are parts that don't seem to make sense until later which is definitely the experience of the main character. It helps the reader feel what the main character felt at times in terms of being behind the game but then being able to see it later.

1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

What a twist!

I hesitated on this one because of the length, but I’m so glad I dove in! This twist on a typical whodunit story added so much depth and now I wish it was even longer!

1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Simply breathtaking!

Imagine a mix between Steven Hall's Raw Shark Texts, Jonathan Lynn's Clue movie, Downton Abbey, and Agatha Christie; all combined into a grand chess game like narrative. I'd been waiting awhile to be able to sink my teeth (read ears) into this work! The novel simply goes above and beyond.

If you're looking for a twisty tale you'd be hard pressed to find one better than this phenomenal debut

10 / 10

1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    3 out of 5 stars
  • R
  • 2023-03-28

Cunning idea but better on screen

While the concept of the book was interesting, the execution was more fitted for the screen instead. I found a lot of the clues were more visual and did not work on the written/spoken page. The book only picked up half way through and while I was holding on for a marvellously tied up ending that’ll prove it worthwhile for my commitment, I found the character developments in the end a tad weak for the change that was promised. The author writes well with a great grasp on metaphors, albeit too much explanation at times with little room for the reader’s own imagination. I finished the book feeling unsatisfied and found myself needing a different book to scratch the itch.

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Good but long

I felt like this story was incredibly drawn out. I liked it but I got bored often. It took me a long time to finish

Sort by:
Filter by:
  • Overall
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    1 out of 5 stars
Profile Image for Anita
  • Anita
  • 2019-05-08

Disappointed

I was intrigued by this novel's description, and I WANTED to like it, but I was seriously disappointed. We're dropped into the middle of things, and I didn't get any sense of the narrator as a person. Couldn't even finish listening to it, which is rare for me.
The narrator is okay, but the story itself felt very nebulous rather than mysterious/suspenseful/intriguing -- any of which can be enjoyable.

61 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars
Profile Image for Ree
  • Ree
  • 2019-08-23

Almost Brilliant

A fascinating concept, fantastic mystery, fabulous gothic setting and atmosphere, and some truly gorgeous writing. As often happens when you dabble with time, a few things just didn’t quite work, and the story was so convoluted that it got a bit clunky in places. It also fully embraced the less appealing aspect of the mystery genre by loading up the end with long explanations, most by the villain in order to give our hero a chance to escape/outwit his opponent. And a lot of the “outwitting” depended on things the hero had done “offscreen”, only—unless I missed something—we were with him every minute weren’t we?—from waking in one host to waking in the next? Some streamlining and restructuring would have done it a world of good, and, personally (this will be vague so as not to give spoilers), I think a bit of clarity about the underlying physical structure and rules of Blackheath would have also helped. I expected it to be more of an ”unplugging” persay—due to the nature of the host system, the very end didn’t really make sense. The real gem of the story was the redemption of 2 characters and how their redemption impacts each other. All nitpicking aside, I did really enjoy the mystery, loved loved loved the house, and I have to go watch Gosford Park now.

59 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars
Profile Image for Trent
  • Trent
  • 2018-10-07

A Great Book and Performance

I really enjoyed this book and the performance by the reader. The plot has a kind of Agatha Christie murder mystery feel to it and the mystery is set up very well. It's fun jumping from character to character, each time receiving a clue and then trying to figure out where it fits in to the story. It reminded me of the movie Memento directed by Christopher Nolan. If you like that type of story setup then I recommend this book.

51 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    3 out of 5 stars
Profile Image for Mat
  • Mat
  • 2018-10-18

It’s like clue and Groundhog Day rolled into one.

Okay so I really wanted to like this book . There is a lot of love for it everywhere . So this just might be me . It fell flat. The story took way to many turns the ending just fell flat . I would def read another book by author if he does more. He can write . The story just got away from him.

39 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    3 out of 5 stars
Profile Image for Cat Lover
  • Cat Lover
  • 2019-01-23

Read at 1.25x - Comes together 15 hours in...

I loved the title of this book and love a good mystery but it took 15 hours to finally reveal what was going on.

If this book had just let the reader know that upfront, I think the story would’ve been more enjoyable. Otherwise it was a confusing mess with zero character development.

The narrator was terrible. Spoke very slowly. I sped up the audio 1.25-1.5x ... hardly any voice inflections...

Story was semi interesting but should’ve been an 8-10 hour book.

I’d save your credit.

38 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    2 out of 5 stars
Profile Image for blutoes
  • blutoes
  • 2019-02-04

A unique idea, but badly executed

I was really excited about this book because it seemed exactly like something I would like. While the idea was really unique, the writing was just terrible. What should have been a taught thriller was written with such inconsistency that it made it frustrating. People and rules would just drop in and/or change whenever the author felt like it. Some characters were described in excruciatingly repetitive detail, and others hardly at all. It seemed almost like something that someone would write in school. It's really a shame because I've read a lot of time-loop thrillers and it seemed like this one would be different. It is too bad that the author wasn't able to execute the idea well.

29 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars
Profile Image for Reisodi
  • Reisodi
  • 2018-10-14

Absolutely fantastic

When the book opened, I expected a dry murder mystery, with straightforward plot twists and turns. Even when the mechanic of multiple hosts was explained, I had no idea to what lengths the story would unfold. This was a great story, and I would highly recommend it!

23 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    2 out of 5 stars
Profile Image for Christine
  • Christine
  • 2018-11-11

The Groundhog did it

This one hurt. It sparked enough curiosity to keep reading, but never enough to satisfy. It just kept going, and every new discovery was just more of the same. The ending was on a par with the rest of the book - an ending but not a conclusion. I am so glad this is over. At the end I think back on a bunch of hateful, uninteresting characters that filled me with no empathy. Bleech!

20 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars
Profile Image for Princess Buttercup
  • Princess Buttercup
  • 2018-12-03

An Amazing Experience

I loved every second of this book. Excellent narration and totally engrossing story. A must listen!

12 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars
Profile Image for RueRue
  • RueRue
  • 2020-01-04

Pay attention

Wow, there is a lot to keep track of in this convoluted mystery-fantasy-horror hybrid. Multiple characters, repeating timelines, a sprawling decrepit estate with many locations. Other reviewers have likened it to Clue meets Groundhog Day, and that is a good comparison, but there is much more complexity. While I admired the concept and the author's intention, I think it's a little too confusing at times and definetely too long. Credit to the narrator for giving all of the multiple hosts unique vocal qualities, which helped enormously in keeping track of the characters.

9 people found this helpful