The Last Murder at the End of the World by Stuart Turton
My rating: 3 of 5 stars
On an island at the end of the world, a small settlement of survivors lives. Outside the island there is nothing. Well, nothing but a murderous fog that contains insect-like creatures with a taste for human flesh.
I may be exaggerating this a little, but trust me, you don’t even want to dip a toe in that fog.
122-villagers and 3-valued scientists live together on the island in harmony. It’s a simple life, but they do need to abide by some stringent rules; all for their own good. We should trust the scientists, right?
Well, the villagers certainly do. One day though, the unthinkable happens. One of their beloved scientists is found murdered, thus setting into motion a chain of events that could lead to the destruction of their world.
They need to solve the murder within the next 107-hours, or risk bringing on the fog and all the terrible little creatures that come with it.
The Last Murder at the End of the World was one of my most anticipated releases of 2024. I’ve really enjoyed both of Turton’s previously releases and was excited to see what sort of brain-teaser he was going to create for us next.
Sadly, this one just wasn’t suited to my tastes, but I can still appreciate the solid plot progression and creativity it took to create this whole world.
IMO, this book would work best for Literary Fiction fans, who enjoy stories with Speculative, or Futuristic elements.
I did enjoy the very beginning; the introduction to the setting and characters. It was all very mysterious and murky. It was giving me serious LOST vibes.
Not the attractive people suddenly stranded on a beach thing, though. More the disturbing community bits that they discover on the island way later…
I feel like I knew very early on, around page 37, what one of the big reveals was going to be. I don’t normally care about that, actually, I don’t. I don’t care about that, but unfortunately for me, the reveal I felt was coming is a trope I don’t tend to enjoy.
True to trend, it didn’t work for me here either. Obviously, I am not going to spoil for you what that is, but I’m aware that is strictly a personal taste issue, and is no way a reflection on Turton, or his work.
In fact, I doff my cap to Turton’s writing, creativity and overall mental prowess. It’s clear, if you’ve ever read one of his books, that his brain works better than around 95% of the rest of us.
For me though, this failed to capture my attention. I feel like some of it was kept too obscure, meaning, I couldn’t picture any of this. I was being told a lot of things, but I couldn’t actually imagine it, in my mind’s eye, playing out.
I also did find the pace to be incredibly slow, and not in an enticing slow burn sort of way. More in a, I’m starting to fall asleep way. And once I started to feel that, I couldn’t shake it. I really just wanted it to be over, which hurts me to say, but we’re all about honesty in this house.
I was fortunate to receive an early copy of the audiobook, because that definitely helped me to get through this one. I did find the narration quite charming.
At the end of the day, this just wasn’t a great fit for my tastes. The content wasn’t something I enjoyed. Nevertheless, I still love and admire Stuart Turton as an author and I cannot wait to see what he comes up with next!
Thank you to the publisher, Sourcebooks Landmark and Tantor Audio, for providing me with copies to read and review. Even though this wasn’t my cup of tea, I am still very glad I had the chance to pick it up!