Review: The Last Murder at the End of the World

3/5 stars

The Last Murder at the End of the World, by Stuart Turton (2024)

"Solve the murder to save what's left of the world..."

It's a post-apocalyptic world where most of the human race, as well as all other living things, have been wiped out by a deadly fog that carries with it carnivorous insects. The last remaining humans are 122 villagers, and 3 scientists living in relative peace on a small island, protected from the fog by a forcefield. The villagers are content to farm for their food, and feast together in revelry, while the scientists continue their work trying to find a way out of the fog. That is, until the head scientist, Neima, winds up dead, setting off a countdown of 92 hours, at which point the fog will overtake the island. The only way to escape this fate is to find the murderer, and kill them (I can't explain why without spoilers).

One of the villagers, Emory, along with her daughter Clara, are tasked with investigating. Hindering that investigation is the fact that the AI system that is implanted in everyone's brains, called Abi, has wipe their memories clear of the evening of the murder. There are no reliable narrators, since no one knows what really happened - except maybe Abi, but she/it isn't telling. And only Neima could have ordered the memory wipe, and directed Abi to withhold that information.

I liked this, but I didn't love it (not like I loved his book The 7 1/2 Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle). The first half of the novel is more about the end of the world and how the villagers live now, doling out bits of information about what is really going on with the scientists and Abi. The villagers are mostly quite happy, but there's something odd and a little sinister about the island. For example, why do the scientists live forever (they're each over 100 years old) while the villagers all die when they reach 60 years old? Why does Abi talk inside the heads of the villagers more than the scientists? And how much control over the villagers does she/it wield?

The actual murder investigation was not quite as interesting to me, maybe in part because it felt very convoluted. It's one thing to have a twisting, complicated plot that takes a lot of brain power to track. It's another when that complicated plot feels more like it just keeps contradicting itself. It left me confused and a little annoyed by the end. Also, some of the "big reveals" are treated with such nonchalance that I felt like either I was missing something, or the characters themselves weren't getting the significance.

Anyway, it's still good, and I recommend it if you like sci-fi and murder mysteries!

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