The Last Murder at the End of the World by Stuart Turton
The Last Murder at the End of the World
by Stuart Turton
Mystery | Science-Fiction
354Pages
Released March 2024
Rating: ★★★
Goodreads
Content Warnings
After reading The Seven and Half Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle a few years back, I felt undecided on my feelings about Stuart Turton. For a while, I wasn’t interested in his more recent works but after reading the book blurb on this, I decided to give his books another go.
This book takes place after the world has ended. A mysterious fog filled with glowing insects shrouds the planet — everywhere except for a small island near Greece - where the inhabitants have somehow managed to keep the fog at bay. Led by three Elders (and alongside a benevolent AI) who guide them through the new world, these inhabitants have learned to survive on their small island. But when one of the Elders is unexpectedly murdered, the fog suddenly starts enclosing on the island and it becomes a race against time for survival.
Where to begin with this. This is the second time I’ve come out of Turton’s novel scratching my head at what I just read. It wasn’t necessarily a bad book. The plot was intriguing and the characters were interesting (albeit a bit rough around the edges). The pacing was meh. But Turton keeps throwing in these strange curve-balls and wild-goose-chases that I often have a hard time keeping up. They feel like strange, inorganic plot-devices that usually leave me with more questions than answers. It was an interesting journey, though I’m not entirely convinced it was one worth taking. That said, I haven’t written off Mr. Turton’s writing just yet. I think if you were a fan of his previous novels (or semi-nonsensical goose-chases), you’ll like this one as well.