The Morality of Murder

Book Review for The Last Murder at the End of the World by Stuart Turton

“everything we fear finds us eventually, so there’s no point trying to outrun it.”
― Stuart Turton, The Last Murder at the End of the World

Genre: Science Fiction, Mystery

My Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

The Last Murder at the End of the World is a quirky and uncanny novel that fuses mystery, dystopia, and speculative fiction into something wholly unique.

Set on a remote island that’s home to the last remnants of humanity, the novel opens with an irresistible premise: the island is a controlled utopia, its inhabitants monitored and kept safe from a deadly fog that has wiped out the rest of the world. But when the scientist responsible for maintaining the island’s protective barrier is found murdered—and the collective memory of the crime is mysteriously erased—the community must race to uncover the killer before the fog consumes them all in just a matter of days.

One of the novel’s most intriguing elements is its narrator—an artificial intelligence designed to watch over the island’s inhabitants. Through this non-human lens, Turton explores themes of morality and free will in fresh and provocative ways. The AI’s voice is both analytical and achingly human, adding emotional depth and a touch of philosophical unease to the unfolding mystery.

Every twist is meticulously crafted, each layer of the mystery peeling back to reveal unexpected truths—not just about the murder, but about the society itself (major spoilers omitted). The setting, simultaneously idyllic and claustrophobic, feels vividly real and unsettlingly plausible.

The characters are complex and compelling, their interpersonal tensions and fragile alliances driving much of the suspense. As the boundaries between truth and illusion blur, readers are pulled into a story that’s not just about solving a murder—but about confronting the terrifying cost of survival.

Stuart Turton