The Act of Writing

Rian Johnson, writer and director of Looper and the famously controversial Star Wars: The Last Jedi,  returns to the big screen with a new film, a murder mystery entitled Knives Out. The base plot is simple, a family gathers together to celebrate their father/grandfather's 85th birthday, the next morning he is discovered dead and foul play is assumed, due to the dead man's incredible wealth. However, what is shown is decidedly the opposite of simple, with alibis, accusations and motives abounding, any of the family could be the murderer.  Where Johnson's genius shines, in his portrayal of what is an admittedly well worn story, is in his structuring of the telling of said story. Most 'Whodunnit's' have a tried and tested formula; the murder is discovered, the characters are introduced, their alibis (or rather alib-lies) are established, the detective discovers a lot of hidden truths, a red herring is involved and finally the crucial piece of evidence is found...

“The future isn’t a warning my friend, it’s a promise, and it won’t be broken by us. That’s the nature of the trap we’re caught in.” The Seven Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle is one of those novels that comes around once a year and on word of mouth alone becomes a massive, overnight sensation. Personally, I remember hearing about this book months before it was published, and thinking that it was an interesting concept, but ultimately not something I gave a lot of thought to. That is, until the cover design came out. Just seeing how stunning the designs were kept the book in the back of my mind until I finally saw it on my local Waterstones bookshelves. I knew then and there that I had to have it, so later that day a copy came home with me. And it very quickly cemented itself as one of my very firm favourites. From the very first page I was spellbound. The main character, Aiden, knows about as much of the plot as the reader does, i.e: nothing at all. It is only as you fol...