Stuart Turton has long since established a niche for himself in the mystery world, that of a wordsmith who takes the simple whodunnit formula and transforms it into something slipperier and more nebulous. A murder on a Dutch trading vessel becomes a treatise on class and a potential horror story in the making. A Golden Age stately home murder becomes the site of a Groundhog Day-style romp about guilt and redemption. Now he has returned with possibly the most audacious hook of his career in The Last Murder at the End of the World.
Turton’s premise, as it always does, is the highest of high-concept. In the far-flung future, a deadly fog has descended on the planet, killing all but a small island of survivors who, for decades, have tried to cultivate the last remnant of humanity, guided by mysterious leaders. When one of the enigmatic leaders is shockingly killed, a literal timebomb kicks off, forcing an investigation before the island is consumed by the fog and humanity finally succumbs.
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Such a premise immediately hooks the reader, even as Turton takes his time in establishing the complex history of the island and the wider world, more akin to a sci-fi tome than a sprightly whodunnit, for good and for ill. This is Turton’s first work written after the 2020 pandemic and the themes of nature and disease are front and centre here as Turton’s players consider their place in the world as the final stalwarts of an entire race.
Characterisation is weaker than plot in The Last Murder at the End of the World, although Turton does spend time investing in Emory, its ostensible heroine and lead investigator. Emory is a wife and mother, adrift in her tiny community as someone without a defined place; the murder, however close to home it may be, galvanises her into action, not only to solve the death of a beloved community member but also to cancel the apocalypse (to quote Pacific Rim) about to wipe out her island home. The other characters are fine enough, but a handful of other characters aside, Emory is the only one to make a strong enough impact to remember once Turton’s tale is done.
While it occasionally threatens to collapse under the myriad of twists and turns that Turton is known for employing, and it suffers from minor pacing issues, The Last Murder at the End of the World is a unique and largely successful murder mystery, one that takes square aim at the current state of the world, as well as offering both critique and hope for where humanity might go next. Here’s to Turton’s next great mystery – if we stick around long enough for it, that is…
The Last Murder at the End of the World is out on 28th March from Raven Books.
