The Last Murder at the End of the World: The Number One Sunday Times bestseller

by Stuart Turton

On a mysterious island where crime does not exist, a seemingly impossible murder has been committed….

Can you join together with a very unlikely amateur detective to solve the Last Murder at the End of the World?

The small group of villagers who live on the tiny island lead simple, but happy lives. There is no world beyond their shores, but they’re content with what they have. Only Emory feels frustrated. Unlike everyone else on the island she doesn’t yet seem to have a purpose. All she seems to be good at is asking questions.

But then one of the scientists who guides the villagers is found murdered and as there has never been a crime before, there is no detective to call on. There is only Emory and her gift for asking questions. So now Emory must explore every inch of her island – from the cliffs to the jungles, from sandy beaches to the very top of the mountain – to find clues that apparently don’t exist.

How can she solve a mystery on an island where no one lies but there’s still no way to find the culprit?

THE NUMBER ONE SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER

'An absolute blast' BENJAMIN STEVENSON
'I loved it' C. J. TUDOR
'Wildly inventive' M. W. CRAVEN
'Believe the hype' ALICE BELL
'Extraordinary' WILL DEAN

Readers love The Last Murder at the End of the World:

'Mind-bending'
'Absolutely loved it'
'Captivating'
'Thrillingly fast-paced'
'New favourite book'
'Another masterpiece'
'Unique'
'Explosive'
'Absolutely unforgettable'
'Unlike anything I've ever read before'
'Still shocked by the ending'
'Wonderfully imaginative'

FROM THE AUTHOR OF THE SEVEN DEATHS OF EVELYN HARDCASTLE AND THE DEVIL AND THE DARK WATER

An Observer Thriller of the Month

The Last Murder at the End of the World was No. 1 in the Sunday Times Hardback Fiction chart w/e 30th March 2024

• ISBN10: 1526634929
• ISBN13: 9781526634924
• Publish Date: 2 January 2025 (first published 28 March 2024)
• Publish Status: Active
• Publish Country: GB
• Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing PLC
• Imprint: Raven Books
• Format: Paperback
• Pages: 352
• Language: English

Reviews

[annieb123]

Originally posted on my blog Nonstop Reader.

The Last Murder at the End of the World is a trippy SF/dystopian island murder mystery set against a post-apocalyptic extinction event written by Stuart Turton. Released 21st May 2024 by Sourcebooks on their Landmark imprint, it's 368 pages and is available in hardcover, audio, and ebook formats. Paperback format due out 1st quarter 2025 from the same publisher. It's worth noting that the ebook format has a handy interactive table of contents as well as interactive links.

This is an oddly compelling story, about the descendants of a group of survivors from a catastrophic level event which killed the vast majority of humanity. There are a handful of survivors who still remember the original event, and they're elders and govern the few hundred vestiges of humanity who are left on a tiny atoll island bunker after everyone else is gone. 

The writing is solid. The plot and science aspects much less so. At the base of the whole is a pretty well plotted isolated murder mystery setting with a limited pool of suspects. The execution is problematic, because the author works against the reader to obfuscate and muddle the story at every step. The plot is a bit scattered, there's a universal telepathic narrator which lives in the thoughts of all the characters in the book called Abi, there are physical and psychological dangers at every turn, and the titular murder sets events in motion which will result in the demise of the last vestiges of humanity if not solved in a very short window of time.

The unabridged audiobook version has a run time of 11 hours 21 minutes and is capably read by James Cameron Stewart. He has a classically trained, very well enunciated light baritone and manages the various characters well, both male and female. The choice of a man to voice a book mostly filled with female characters (Abi is also described as female) was perhaps odd, but he does an exemplary job with the read. Sound and production quality are high throughout.

Three and a half stars. The author is wildly popular, so it would make a good choice for public library acquisition, and possibly for book club discussion. 

Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes.

[Quirky Cat]

Book Summary:

The world has shrunk to one small island for all intents and purposes. On this island are the last survivors on earth: twenty-two villagers and three scientists. It may not sound like much, but they have hope for the future.

Unfortunately, that hope is shaken by the sudden death of one of their few scientists. This kicks off a brutal series of events. What's worse – the villagers have less than three days to solve the murder, or else their island will go the way of the rest of the world.

My Review:

Ohhh. I already know that The Last Murder at the End of the World is one of those books that will stand out in my memory for years to come. It's just SO different from everything else I've read. Yes, there were several familiar tropes and themes, but they were combined in new ways, making for an utterly delightful read.

In truth, while this book is billed as a murder mystery, several mysteries are going on. Mostly because it seems like all the humans have their own secrets, which are causing merry havoc within the village. Fun times (not).

I enjoyed the complexity of this read. While I did guess the killer before the big reveal, I was on the edge of my seat until the next, never really certain if my theory was right (it was only partially right, for those who are curious).

Lately, it feels like I've been reading a lot of books with great promise, only to be let down. That is not the case for The Last Murder at the End of the World – this book lives up to the premise and pitch. I promise.

Highlights:
Science Fiction Meets Mystery
Dystopian Setting
Strong Character Archetypes
Multiple Perspectives

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