It's a unique blend of sci-fi and post-apocalyptic fiction with a murder mystery at its core. I absolutely devoured it! It was way more enjoyable than I anticipated, especially since my recent reads have been rather average.

Given the genre mix, you do need to be a bit more forgiving of some of the more far-fetched elements, though there were moments when I thought, "That’s a bit of a stretch." Additionally, the book introduces so many characters that it can be hard to keep track of who’s important to the story.

Despite these minor issues, I found it unputdownable. The murder mystery and the broader themes—AI, genetics, the environment, etc.—were thoroughly engaging. The audiobook, narrated by Adjoa Andoh, added even more depth to the experience. I found it twisty, fun, and compelling, though I understand it might not be everyone’s cup of tea for a crime thriller. This book has definitely piqued my interest in exploring more of this author's work.

I will be honest with you. I didn’t know what I was going to get with this. I just liked the cover and the blurb on the book, but I had such a good time with this.

It’s such a strange beast. It’s sci-if post-apocalyptic novel with a murder mystery at its heart. And I devoured this! I had such a blast with this, much more than I thought I would as the last few reads have been very middle of the road for me.

Because this is a mix of genres, you do have to give a tad more leeway over some of the far-fetched moments and elements, though there were several times that I did go “that seems like a stretch”. Plus, there are so many names thrown at the reader that you need a moment to go “are you important to the story?”

But this was unputdownable with the murder and the wider issues this book tackled (AI, generics, the environment, etc) and the audiobook is narrated by Adjoa Andoh makes this feel much richer. I really liked this as it was twisty, fun, unputdownable read, but I completely understand that this isn’t everyone’s cup of tea reading for a crime thriller. I must say I’m intrigued to try out this author’s previous works.

Wow! I love this author but I think he has outdone himself with this book!

Such brilliant writing that it is a pleasure to read. I was gripping from start to finish. The last murder at the end of the world is such a unique concept, brilliantly written with so many twist and secrets uncovered along the way.

Absolutely astonishing!

While the premise of The Last Murder at the End of the World is interesting and unique, I really struggled with this one. The story flowed well while introducing all the characters, but I struggled following all of them, and some points to the story were quite far fetched and a bit too complex. I still enjoyed reading this, but was not an amazing of a read as Evelyn Hardcastle ...

The Last Murder at the End of the World - Stuart Turton

This book started off great for me, I was so intrigued and enjoyed the flow of the book, but half way through I started to struggle with it and wanted to get to the conclusion, I felt it really slowed down. I enjoyed getting to know the characters and I found the setting and relationships fascinating. I have really enjoyed other books by this author so will look forward to more from them in the future. Thanks so much Netgalley, Bloomsbury Publishing Plc and Raven Books for the e-arc in return for my honest thoughts and opinions

I struggled with this book, The Last Inhabitants in the World: A Dark Fog creeps closer to the island, entwined with a mystery of a long life for some and a short life for others. Then, there is a murder that no one remembers and a race against time before the island is taken over by the fog, and everyone dies. I think this is well-written and interesting, but it didn't work for me.

This was a gripping read, I thought the characters were intriguing and I'm going to keep an eye out for more from this author.

The last humans on earth reside on a Greek island surrounded by a deadly fog. Life appears idyllic for the 122 villagers and the 3 elders (scientists who worked at a research post underground before the end of the world). Watching over them is Abi, an artificial intelligence tasked to protect those living on the island.

When Niema, the head elder is found dead, the security system protecting the island from the fog fails, and the residents have 107 hours to save themselves. Abi was instructed to erase everyone’s memories of the night before so anyone could be the murderer… and not even know it.

Turton’s books are always unpredictable and original. His debut The Seven Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle was one of my favourite reads a few years back. The Last Murder is a sci-fi/post-apocalyptic story with a murder mystery at its core. There are lots of characters to keep tabs on but the standout ones for me were Abi (who acts as the narrator), the elder Thea and Ciara who is tasked with solving the murder.

Turton’s work also looks at much wider social issues such as artificial intelligence, societal control and genetic engineering which was really interesting additions to the story. The suspense is maintained throughout and Turton delivers plenty of twists in terms of the murder mystery.

Thanks to NetGalley and Bloomsbury Publishing for the arc. Out now!

Something slightly more different from Turton this time – full on science fiction, rather than some odd mixture of the two, and post-apocalyptic as well. I liked the pace of the plot, it was a fast read, and the concept was interesting. The mystery was kept mainly because there were certain things that weren’t stated to the reader, and it depends on if that’s your cup of tea whether you enjoy that, versus being able to solve it yourself.

I thought The Seven Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle was a brilliant novel, new, exciting and unpredictable. That is why I immediately read The Devil and the Dark Water that was not as good, but still interesting. Of course, I had to read Turton's new novel as soon as possible.
Really, saying almost anything about this novel is too much because revealing the plot makes Turton's magic vanish.
I liked the unusual narrator, the idea of a murder investigation in which the suspects and witnesses had their memories erased and don't know not only what happened, but whether they themselves are murderes.
The best thing Turton does is that he makes an unpredictable, exciting story with many unforseenable twists and turns. But the plot is too complex, complicated, too far fetched to be credible, if we could believe in all of it, maybe it would be easier to accept the whole story.
It works well as an adventure, a thought experiment of a possible future. An interesting dys/utopia filled with action and surprises, I think it would make a thrilling movie. But, I hoped for more... I am still waiting for a novel from Turton that can compare to Evelyn...

I honestly don't know how Stuart Turton does it. His debut, The Seven Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle, broke the boundaries of speculative and crime fiction whilst his follow-up, The Devil and the Dark Water, mashed together historical fiction and a locked-room mystery. For his third novel, The Last Murder at the End of the World, Turton is ripping up the rulebook yet again for a futuristic dystopian jaunt that, you guessed it, features a head-scratchingly complex murder at its heart.

The Last Murder at the End of the World is set on a Greek island that has become the last bastion of humanity in a world otherwise destroyed by a deadly fog. Life on the island is seemingly idyllic. One hundred and twenty-two villagers live peacefully alongside three 'elders': the last scientists who once worked the research outpost that now empty beneath them. Watching over them all is our narrator, Abi, an artificial intelligence who ensures their island home stays safe.

But when Niema, the de-facto leader of the elders, is found dead, the villagers have to contend with the sudden intrusion of violence into their idyll. Niema's death has lowered the intelligent security system that keeps the deadly fog at bay and they have 107 hours left to save what's left of humanity. Even worse, Abi was instructed to wipe everyone's memories of exactly what happened the night before. So someone on the island is not only a killer but they might not even know it...

Having absolutely adored Turton's last two novels, I went into The Last Murder at the End of the World with very high expectations and I am pleased to say that I was not disappointed. Although neither science-fiction nor dystopian fiction are my usual go-to genres, I found the setting and premise utterly compelling and, as the novel drip feeds information about what led to the creation of the fog, found myself really enjoying the eco-thriller elements as well.

Although less character-driven than his last novel, I also really warmed to Emery and Clara - the mother/daughter duo who end up playing 'detective' to try and solve Niema's murder before time runs out. The novel has something of an ensemble cast but certain characters - the remaining scientists Hephaestus and Thea. and Emery's father Seth - really stood out and, for all their flaws, I found myself interested in their characters and motivations, as well as in their secrets. Emery and Clara are fantastic leads and I found myself really rooting for them as they attempted to rebuild their somewhat strained relationship whilst racing against time to save the day.

As with Turton's previous books, The Last Murder at the End of the World makes good use of the crime genre to explore wider social issues. In this case, societal control, genetic engineering, and artificial intelligence all come in for a thorough examination. Although dealing with some weighty themes, however, the novel never felt overly moralistic. The suspense remained high throughout and, after a slightly slow start, I found myself absolutely flying through the pages.

As you can probably tell, this was another absolute winner of a book for me. With an interesting premise, compelling cast of characters, and a central mystery that provides plenty of twists, it really fulfilled its potential. Stuart Turton was already on my list of 'must buy' authors and with the promise of a contemporary thriller to come next, I think I can safely say I'll be reading more of his work in the future!

The end of the world is nigh in Stuart Turtons' latest offering. Well, I say nigh, it's pretty much done and dusted. A deadly fog wiped out humanity apart from less than 400 villagers who live on an idyllic island. They're living a simpler life. They farm and fish and at night go to sleep at curfew. No matter where or what they're doing. They're led with strict benevolence by 3 scientists. They're the oldest in the group and adored by the villagers, so they are all shocked when one is murdered. That's bad enough, but the sudden death of their elder has triggered the islands defences being lowered and letting the fog in. If the murder isn't solved within 4 days, everyone in the village will die.

This is one of those books that you have to persevere with a bit. It starts slowly and remains that way, but as this world is revealed to us, it really does grip you. There's so many questions it raises that you have to keep reading one more page. Great stuff.

Cards on the table. I didn't enjoy this as much as Stuart's previous novels but that said I still thoroughly enjoyed it. It's a compelling and original read.

the 7,5 deaths of evelyn hardcastle was one of my favourite reads so I was very excited to try this one


While still fun it was not brilliant and I struggled to finish it

Ingenious, Clever, Unlike any other author of this moment. If you like Turton’s other books there is no way you won’t LOVE this one, he truly plays with a story like nobody else
-
HUGE thanks to the publisher for an early read of this one!

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for the e-Arc, all opinions are my own 😊
<b>Real Rating: </b> 3.5

Plot/story: 3.5
Setting/worldbuilding: 3.5
Characters: 3
Writing/ prose: 2
Unputdownable: 5

I did enjoy this book, it was a page turner and I couldn't stop reading for 2 days straight.

Very quick summary: dystopian post-apocalyptic world, this bizarre fog has decimated hunanity and all that's left is an island and 122 inhabitants that need to work together to fix this plague and reclaim the Earth. But some of their motives and methods rarely align and when the titular murder occurs this has a domino effect, causing secrets to get revealed, secrets which threaten the very existence of the last people.

I think I did myself a disservice having high expectations, Stuart Turton's 7 Deaths remains one of my top 5 favourite books of all time, and I was desperately hoping this would be a similar puzzle.

And on that front he did deliver, he can build a spider's web with incredible panache, but I was lost half the time as the story is overstuffed with side characters' histories and it did feel like we could have managed without a few side plots or characters.
Because of this some of the characters felt a bit two dimensional, however the villains were despicable and so many of the secrets revealed made me utterly loathe them.

A major issue for me was the AI Abi, who is ingrained in all characters' psyches at birth and casually and frequently converses with them at random moments, mid sentence, mid scene, this had me very confused as to who was currently talking and I re-read a lot of pages to get it clarified - however it may be a symptom of reading in my second language as reading words such as "she thought" to me don't necessarily mean "she thought *at* the AI, who replied instantly".

The setting was initially compelling, I was hungry to discover more of the island's secrets, but as more sections were revealed, it became more unbelievable. There's dystopian and then there's are you people friggin blind?

The pace was jarring, we have a time limit to solve this who-dun-it of 97h and while that in theory should have pushed the plot forward, the story takes a while to establish the key characters one by one and the actual murder happens very late, I admit I lost my patience a bit.

Unfortunately the big finale didn't quite stick the landing and I believe the secret uncovered in the middle of the book was much more impactful.

Overall it was a good read, I was blown away by many of the reveals and I would read a sequel, it did need some finessing.

Great setting and well written but not the best characters and a slightly convoluted plot. Easy to recommend for a holiday read but not the best book of 2024

Stu Turton is a marvel and a master of disguise. I have read all three of his books and have loved them all. His books have a habit of changing and you never quite know where you are. he more than writes, he crafts, he creates, he paints a picture with words and it develops so beautifully as you read. This is full of surprises. A really great read.

I'm happy to say that Stuart Turton did it again. "The Last Murder at The End of the World" is another genre-bending tal, but this time murder mystery intertwines with science fiction and post-apocalyptic dystopia. Set on the last habitable island in a world consumed by a deadly black fog, the story unfolds with the discovery of a murder victim, threatening the fragile existence of the island's inhabitants. Turton skillfully blends elements of mystery with themes of societal control, collective compliance, and the search for truth amid a backdrop of impending doom.

Through a captivating lens of unreliable narrator, Turton explores the islanders' eerie conformity and the unsettling influence of a collective conscience named Abi. As the main protagonist Emory (the only person on the island who' dares to question her reality) navigates the investigation, challenging the island's rigid social structure and unraveling long-held secrets, the story evolves beyond a mere whodunnit into a profound exploration of identity, agency, and familial reconciliation. Turton adeptly balances the dystopian setting with the familiar tropes of detective fiction, crafting a gripping narrative that keeps readers engaged until the final revelation.

While Turton's narrative may not surpass the novelty of his first work (I adored Evelyn Hardcastle), "The Last Murder at The End of The World" delivers a compelling blend of mystery, speculative fiction, and psychological intrigue. With its thought-provoking premise, richly developed characters, and immersive world-building, this novel offers a satisfying read for fans of both the mystery and dystopian genres, leaving me eagerly anticipating Turton's next imaginative endeavor.

This book was very enjoyable! I have been a fan of Stuart Turton since his first book and this one did not disappoint. The dystopian setting was striking and intriguing, and I loved the suspense that built through the book through the setting (no further detail to avoid spoilers!). I loved the twists and turns of the main plot and, as ever with a Stuart Turton book, I had no idea where it was going next, which I love!