"So," explains Stuart Turton with a deep breath. "It's an Agatha Christie-style murder mystery, but set in a Groundhog Day loop, with a bit of Quantum Leap body-swapping thrown in. Our hero Aiden wakes up every day in the body of a different house guest… but it's the same day, so he sees the same event from very different perspectives."
As an elevator pitch for a debut novel, it is just about perfect – not least because trying to explain his brilliantly labyrinthine new book The Seven Deaths Of Evelyn Hardcastle is difficult enough, even if you've just read it.
“And it’s taken me a long time to get it down to two sentences,” Turton laughs.
The widely travelled English writer has spent some of his career in the UAE. "When the book was first signed, people would ask me what it was about, and I'd finish talking to them about two hours later. You could see the light going out of their eyes. So, yeah, I've got a bit better at explaining it."
A good job, too – it would be a real shame if anyone was put off by the high concept of Turton's book, given that it is such fun to read. Aiden, we soon learn, has eight chances to identify a murderer stalking the remote Blackheath House through the eight different "hosts" he inhabits – and if he doesn't, he will be stripped of his memories and trapped in this infernal loop forever. It makes for a really enjoyable twist on a Christie thriller, which is a genre that Turton clearly loves.
“Her mysteries were the ones I read as a kid, one after the other,” he says. “And they just stuck with me – there’s something about the form I’ve always loved. She puts all the suspects and clues in front of you, and you’re allowed to try and solve the mystery – you don’t know anything the sleuth doesn’t, most of the time. It’s almost presented as a game – and I love that about it. It feels fair – Agatha Christie saying: ‘Are you as clever as me?’ And 99 per cent of the time you’re not. Even before I knew I wanted to write a book, I wanted to write an Agatha Christie story. So I naturally gravitated towards
that genre.”
But there was an obvious problem with writing that kind of murder mystery: she has already written them all, mastering every plot and twist. When The National spoke to writer Andrew Wilson last year about his own take on a Christie novel, A Talent For Murder, he said that it had to appeal to modern sensibilities to succeed. Which it did. So for Turton, figuring out a way to fashion a book that wasn't just a pale imitation was something that has "taken me about a decade", he admits.
During that decade, he lived for three years in Dubai. It was only towards the end of his stint working as a travel writer for Etihad's in-flight magazine – "it was phenomenal, astonishingly fun; they were paying me to go on holiday once a month" – that he began to figure out how his novel might work.
"All these elements of being a 1980s kid, of watching Groundhog Day and Quantum Leap, congealed over the top of a murder mystery," he remembers. "And one day it just clicked, the book was there, waiting for me, as I was on a plane. I just started writing it – it was the weirdest thing."
Which makes the actual writing of The Seven Deaths Of Evelyn Hardcastle sound blissfully easy. Far from it. Turton jokes that he had so many Post-it notes on his walls, it would almost have been cheaper to buy stock in 3M, their manufacturer. "There were tonnes of rules I had to work out in a book like this," he says, "otherwise the whole concept falls down. All the things you see in your favourite time-travel books or movies, where a person leaves messages for his past self, I had to lock down whether they'd be allowed in this house. Stuff like whether, in the Groundhog Day loop, if Aiden did something as one character, could that affect what would happen in the next Groundhog Day."
For the book to have narrative momentum, Aiden does use the fact he knows he will wake up as a different character to build the picture to solve the crime. There is also a brilliantly enigmatic figure called the Plague Doctor, who arrives to explain the circumstances of Aiden's nightmarish situation just at the point most readers will probably start to wonder whether, as Aiden does himself, they're taking part in "a play in which everybody knows their lines except me".
In making the rules so clear, Turton achieves something rather impressive: he encourages a real connection between author, novel and reader. The Seven Deaths Of Evelyn Hardcastle has the air of an intriguing video game in the way in which Aidan "controls" different characters and has a set amount of lives to use up in his quest. Turton is delighted by the comparison.
“I grew up playing video games and I still do, so subconsciously they became part of the process,” he agrees. “We went for a publisher meeting where someone described the hosts as avatars, which I found really interesting. Video games are great at giving you a direct experience and putting you under pressure every moment, so it would be great if a book could do that too. ”
All of which does feed into the idea that The Seven Deaths Of Evelyn Hardcastle is a much brisker and more modern book than its art deco cover and talk of early motor cars might suggest. Even the country house setting, with its lords, ladies and household staff, is written from a decidedly 21st-century outlook.
“You know, it winds me up every time people decide this era – where people were doomed to be poor and the rich got to be better than everyone else – was somehow the greatest period in British history. It’s been fetishised as this brilliant time that we’ve lost, but I’m proud we got beyond that and we have social mobility.
“So pretty much all the upper-class people in the book are vile, old, grasping. I didn’t want it to overshadow the story at all, but the subtext is definitely that this was a decaying, crumbling period of history that we should be locking away, not aspiring to.”
So in the wake of Downton Abbey's success, it will be fascinating to see how the producers of a forthcoming television adaptation of The Seven Deaths Of Evelyn Hardcastle approach the book's quiet politics. In the meantime, Turton is busy putting up Post-It notes again, for a follow-up set in the 15th century, and hopes to make a return visit to Dubai – "I met my wife there, so Dubai for me is bound up with getting to know her. I really adore the place for that." More immediately, he is looking forward to the reaction to his novel.
“Publishing your debut is weird – nothing happens for a long time and then you’re shot out of a cannon,” he laughs. “But it’s really exciting: I’m being greedy, but I’d genuinely like people to want to read it more than once because it has been written in layers – there’s loads of clues and foreshadowing.
“It’s like a tapestry, the more you look into it, the more details you see.”
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Read more:
'A Long Way Home' is a grand tour through Australia's murderous history
Staunch Book Prize: a reward for the best thriller that doesn't use women as victims
‘Frankenstein In Baghdad' to be released in English: we speak to Ahmed Saadawi
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GAC GS8 Specs
Engine: 2.0-litre 4cyl turbo
Power: 248hp at 5,200rpm
Torque: 400Nm at 1,750-4,000rpm
Transmission: 8-speed auto
Fuel consumption: 9.1L/100km
On sale: Now
Price: From Dh149,900
The White Lotus: Season three
Creator: Mike White
Starring: Walton Goggins, Jason Isaacs, Natasha Rothwell
Rating: 4.5/5
UAE jiu-jitsu squad
Men: Hamad Nawad and Khalid Al Balushi (56kg), Omar Al Fadhli and Saeed Al Mazroui (62kg), Taleb Al Kirbi and Humaid Al Kaabi (69kg), Mohammed Al Qubaisi and Saud Al Hammadi (70kg), Khalfan Belhol and Mohammad Haitham Radhi (85kg), Faisal Al Ketbi and Zayed Al Kaabi (94kg)
Women: Wadima Al Yafei and Mahra Al Hanaei (49kg), Bashayer Al Matrooshi and Hessa Al Shamsi (62kg)
At a glance
Global events: Much of the UK’s economic woes were blamed on “increased global uncertainty”, which can be interpreted as the economic impact of the Ukraine war and the uncertainty over Donald Trump’s tariffs.
Growth forecasts: Cut for 2025 from 2 per cent to 1 per cent. The OBR watchdog also estimated inflation will average 3.2 per cent this year
Welfare: Universal credit health element cut by 50 per cent and frozen for new claimants, building on cuts to the disability and incapacity bill set out earlier this month
Spending cuts: Overall day-to day-spending across government cut by £6.1bn in 2029-30
Tax evasion: Steps to crack down on tax evasion to raise “£6.5bn per year” for the public purse
Defence: New high-tech weaponry, upgrading HM Naval Base in Portsmouth
Housing: Housebuilding to reach its highest in 40 years, with planning reforms helping generate an extra £3.4bn for public finances
From Conquest to Deportation
Jeronim Perovic, Hurst
SUCCESSION%20SEASON%204%20EPISODE%201
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RACE CARD
6.30pm: Handicap (TB) $68,000 (Dirt) 1,600m
7.05pm: Meydan Sprint – Group 2 (TB) $163,000 (Turf) 1,000m
7.40pm: Curlin Stakes – Listed Handicap (TB) $88,000 (D) 2,200m
8.15pm: UAE Oaks – Group 3 (TB) $125,000 (D) 1,900m
8.50pm: Zabeel Mile – Group 2 (TB) $163,000 (T) 1,600m
9.25pm: Balanchine – Group 2 (TB) $163,000 (T) 1,800m
10pm: Al Shindagha Sprint – Group 3 (TB) $130,000 (D) 1,200m
PROFILE
Name: Enhance Fitness
Year started: 2018
Based: UAE
Employees: 200
Amount raised: $3m
Investors: Global Ventures and angel investors
Tell-tale signs of burnout
- loss of confidence and appetite
- irritability and emotional outbursts
- sadness
- persistent physical ailments such as headaches, frequent infections and fatigue
- substance abuse, such as smoking or drinking more
- impaired judgement
- excessive and continuous worrying
- irregular sleep patterns
Tips to help overcome burnout
Acknowledge how you are feeling by listening to your warning signs. Set boundaries and learn to say ‘no’
Do activities that you want to do as well as things you have to do
Undertake at least 30 minutes of exercise per day. It releases an abundance of feel-good hormones
Find your form of relaxation and make time for it each day e.g. soothing music, reading or mindful meditation
Sleep and wake at the same time every day, even if your sleep pattern was disrupted. Without enough sleep condition such as stress, anxiety and depression can thrive.
The specs
Engine: 4.0-litre flat-six
Torque: 450Nm at 6,100rpm
Transmission: 7-speed PDK auto or 6-speed manual
Fuel economy, combined: 13.8L/100km
On sale: Available to order now
BIGGEST CYBER SECURITY INCIDENTS IN RECENT TIMES
SolarWinds supply chain attack: Came to light in December 2020 but had taken root for several months, compromising major tech companies, governments and its entities
Microsoft Exchange server exploitation: March 2021; attackers used a vulnerability to steal emails
Kaseya attack: July 2021; ransomware hit perpetrated REvil, resulting in severe downtime for more than 1,000 companies
Log4j breach: December 2021; attackers exploited the Java-written code to inflitrate businesses and governments
More from Neighbourhood Watch:
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Kumulus Water
Started: 2021
Founders: Iheb Triki and Mohamed Ali Abid
Based: Tunisia
Sector: Water technology
Number of staff: 22
Investment raised: $4 million
Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.
Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.
“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.
“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.
Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.
From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.
Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.
BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.
Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.
Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.
“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.
“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.
“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”
The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”
The Land between Two Rivers: Writing in an Age of Refugees
Tom Sleigh, Graywolf Press
Funk Wav Bounces Vol.1
Calvin Harris
Columbia
MATCH INFO
Tottenham Hotspur 3 (Son 1', Kane 8' & 16') West Ham United 3 (Balbuena 82', Sanchez og 85', Lanzini 90' 4)
Man of the match Harry Kane
Company%20Profile
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