What Makes A Novel Intrigue-Rich?

Writers' Book Club: The 7 1/2 Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle (Week 2)

Welcome to Week 2 of Writers’ Book Club: The 7 1/2 Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle. Today, we’ll discuss Chapters 21-40 as we focus on what makes Stuart Turton’s novel “intrigue rich.”

»Week 1 of this book club can be found here.

»Week 3 will be the conclusion of our book club (next Saturday).

»Download a reading guide at the bottom of this post or in the post for Week 1.

In Every Chapter—Intrigue

I once heard that sitcom writers aim for three jokes per page of an episode’s script. People watch sitcoms to laugh and laugh often. In fact, the only time I ever went to a show taping, I was exhausted and annoyed by how often we in the audience were required to laugh as loudly as we could (they gave out prizes to the best laughers—I did not win).

By the same token, a mystery novel should invoke intrigue in every chapter. Turton is great at this; his novel stuffed full of intrigue. Every chapter presents

• a curious object (a single chess piece in an otherwise empty trunk)

• a tantalizing secret (the note Evelyn retrieves from a hiding place near the well)\

• an important clue (the page missing from Helena’s planner)

• or a shocking reveal (several people at Blackheath are being blackmailed).

Every one of these elements feels important when we encounter it on the page. And although not all of them are important to the plot or mystery, they’re all used skillfully.

Let’s look at three ways Turton makes use of intrigue in The 7 1/2 Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle, and let’s also talk about the way Turton avoids “intrigue overload.”