On a remote island, what is left of Blackheath, a highly advanced lab, remains. And on that island lives Blackheath’s former director and founding genius, Niema Mandripilias. Niema is one of the three island elders --- a benevolent yet enigmatic leader of the hundred-plus people who live in the village. At first blush, the island is a utopia. Everyone is happy and has exactly what they need. They are safe from the deadly fog that blankets the rest of the earth. That is, until Niema is murdered.

Not just another post-apocalyptic survival tale, Stuart Turton’s new novel, THE LAST MURDER AT THE END OF THE WORLD, is full of curiosity, power, creativity and a unique understanding of family. Turton creates not only a world built on the science that remains after a climate disaster, but also an entertaining locked-room mystery. Who is the killer in this society of peace and order? How does the murder set into motion further destruction yet also serve to save humanity? And what is humanity really?

"Not just another post-apocalyptic survival tale...THE LAST MURDER AT THE END OF THE WORLD is full of curiosity, power, creativity and a unique understanding of family.... Overall, this is a fun, clever and provocative story about the end of one world and the beginning of a better one."

There is a large cast of characters here that is sometimes hard to keep track of, but the story most closely follows Emory, a mother who is somewhat estranged from her father and her daughter. She also has lost both her mother and her husband. In the rigid community into which Emory was born, she stands out as aimless yet critical. A deep thinker and fierce questioner, she never found her place in the limited set of occupations that the elders allow the villagers. While others are content to accept their lot, obey the elders and find joy in simple hobbies, Emory wants to understand the world. She has kept notebooks full of questions her entire life. Most of them are never answered and annoy or frustrate those around her. But to solve a series of crimes and save the inhabitants of the fog-surrounded island, Emory’s skills of observation, puzzle solving and questioning are finally seen as valuable.

Emory and her daughter, Clara, are granted greater access to the history, memories and foundations of the island by Abi, the omniscient voice in the minds of all who live there. Abi is the narrator of the novel but holds information back from readers, just as she does from Emory, as she sets out to find the culprit and reveal his or her motive. The catch is, if the killer isn’t brought to justice in just a few days, the fog will envelop the island and finally destroy humanity.

At the heart of THE LAST MURDER AT THE END OF THE WORLD is an exploration of humanity itself, especially as it is expressed through family. When Emory and Clara work together, they begin to heal generations of sadness, loss, distrust and misunderstanding. All the while, Clara and her grandfather, Seth, begin to think more like Emory, wondering who they are, what the world really is, and what both humanity and technology are capable of in the face of catastrophe.

Turton packs a lot of detail into this novel along with some cool, but not always surprising, reveals. The original disaster (sinkholes, fog, insects, societal chaos) is not explained in much depth. Instead he spends about a third of the book bringing readers into the life of the island before the real action of the mystery begins. Peering too closely at the details is to miss the overarching and thoughtful themes and ideas here.

Overall, this is a fun, clever and provocative story about the end of one world and the beginning of a better one.