The Last Murder at the End of the World

“I was created knowing exactly what I was for and I’ve sought to offer the villagers the same gift. Purpose is something which must be given, or it will be endlessly sought.”

Another podcast suggestion! Thank you Back Page Podcast. They’d talked about Turton’s works before but when I heard Turton on the podcast himself talking about this new release I bought all three of his works straight away.

The Last Murder is set after humanity has been nearly wiped off the face of the planet. There’s a small idyllic village on an island where nothing bad ever really happens. The villagers work the land for food, create art for each other’s enjoyment and generally live on positive vibes. When there’s a murder of one of the village elders, it’s up to Emory - who everyone agrees asks too many questions - to ask the right questions to solve not only the murder, but to uncover the secrets of the island’s security system, the elders and the oncoming apocalypse.

The thing about a modern murder mystery is there doesn’t need to be much scene-setting. Dickens spent ages banging on about the same London for decades and it’s a real highlight of his stuff, but in the case of Benjamin Stevenson - recently of this reading list - who writes contemporary stories, there doesn’t have to be a whole lot of world-building, and you can focus on character-building. Because of The Last Murder’s post-apocalyptic, sci-fi setting, Turton gets to exercise his incredible world-building muscles. He takes the familiar and the fantastical and mixes them incredibly well. I never felt lost in the many settings in the island, and the sense of place is spectacular. Likewise with a science fiction, the author gets carte-blanche to go a bit wild with the plot. And yet, The Last Murder was very grounded. I’m not really a sci-fi person, but this book is more Lost than Cloud Atlas. Not that I saw Lost.

I’m aware Turton’s other books are very different settings - the first a time-loop in a country manor house, and the second a sea-voyage is-it-occult, is-it-crime book. I’m excited to see the world-building in both.