Book Review: The Last Murder at the End of the World

The Last Murder at the End of the World is a sci-fi murder mystery novel written by British author Stuart Turton.  Its narrative follows a colony of humans living on the last safe island after the world succumbed to an apocalyptic event which drove the human race to near-extinction.  On this island the last remnants of humanity live their days in service to their community under the guidance of the Elders; Niema, Thea, and Hephaestus. Life on the island is orderly and its inhabitants work understanding the fortune of their circumstances. While most folk on the island have no qualms about doing their bit and never questioning things, there are a few people on the island who can’t help but query the unusual elements most people are willing to ignore.  Emory is one such person and her inquisitive nature has garnered her a bit of a negative reputation within the community. The inquisitive reputation soon becomes integral however when the community is turned upside down when one of the Elders turns up dead one morning and what’s strange is no one on the island has any recollection of the last 12 hours. With a deadly failsafe set to initiate in the wake of their death, Emory takes the initiative to solve the Elder’s murder before the island soon meets the same fate.

There’s a lot going on within the confines of this books plot which can be a bit of struggle to retain consistently as you work your way through it.  For better or worse, Stuart Turton’s unique vision is realized in such a comprehensive fashion with the way he sets up the world and its characters.  To grasp the core stakes behind the story, there’s a lot of world building interjected throughout the book that helps define the wider world the story takes part in. This isn’t your conventional murder mystery story where a witty detective is invited to a manor alongside a bunch of eccentric characters, its unique concept and characters help make it stand out while still delivering the core elements found within the genre.  The way the mystery itself is layered throughout the progression of the narrative is remarkably set up for the most part.  The way the story is framed makes the introduction of key details, big or small, exciting because it allows you to piece together things alongside the characters.  I think the way Turton was able to write each character with a great sense of depth and individuality helps makes their presence in this mystery matter. The only real flaw from all of this comes with the requirement to not only retain a lot of details on the mystery in itself, but the wider world too.  Turton doesn’t stop building on top of these things until the very end of the story too, so you really need to pay attention to get the most out of it which isn’t always easy in this books case.

A far as most murder mystery stories go, The Last Murder at the End of the World progress along at a fairly consistent pace. It gives a decent portion of time trying to set the foundations of the world and story up before it lets loose with the murder and the subsequent mystery. Turton wrote the story through the perspective of a multitude of characters which again can produce confusion when it comes to keeping track.  I think the fact the story plays through the lens of a lot of characters highlights the key strength of its structure though, as despite being spliced across multiple perspectives, the course of the narrative is still fairly easy to follow along with.  The overall atmosphere and tone of the book is wonderfully balanced too.  Being set in a dystopian setting, there is a fair bit of weight and seriousness to the story but its characters help imbue it with a unique charm that easily balances out those themes. Its messaging doesn’t always hit the marks Turton set it up for, but it does do a good enough effort regardless.

The Last Murder at the End of the World is definitely one of the more unique murder mystery stories I’ve had the pleasure of reading. Its unique concept has a lot of depth behind it and while it isn’t delivered in the most digestible format, I was still able to appreciate the ambitious story it was trying to tell.  Its unique setting easily plays host to the conventional murder mystery formula yet marvelously incorporates its own ideas into the mix to make it anything but predictable. Its ambition is clear to see, and even though its format isn’t able to properly represent it all throughout, this book is well worth giving a try if you want a different kind of murder mystery experience.