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Book Reviewed by:A murder on the high seas. A remarkable detective duo. A demon who may or may not exist.
The extraordinary new novel from Stuart Turton, author of the bestselling The 7 1/2 Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle, winner of the Costa Best First Novel Award.
It's 1634 and Samuel Pipps, the world's greatest detective, is being transported to Amsterdam to be executed for a crime he may, or may not, have committed. Travelling with him is his loyal bodyguard, Arent Hayes, who is determined to prove his friend innocent.
But no sooner are they out to sea than devilry begins to blight the voyage. A twice-dead leper stalks the decks. Strange symbols appear on the sails. Livestock is slaughtered.
And then three passengers are marked for death, including Samuel.
Could a demon be responsible for their misfortunes?
With Pipps imprisoned, only Arent can solve a mystery that connects every passenger. A mystery that stretches back into their past and now threatens to sink the ship, killing everybody on board.
It isn't apparent just how much of an accomplishment The Devil and the Dark Water is until you reach its brilliant conclusion. There are elements that may give the reader pause throughout — notably the slow pace and a number of coincidences that starts to border on the absurd — but this is a book that rewards both patience and attention to detail. Trust that Turton knows what he's doing, that he is leading you somewhere both shocking and rewarding. In the meantime, there's plenty to enjoy — lively prose, intriguing characters, a compelling mystery and a beautifully rendered setting on the high seas...continued
Full Review
(515 words)
(Reviewed by Rachel Hullett).
In the prologue of The Devil and the Dark Water, Stuart Turton writes:
In 1634, the United East India Company was the wealthiest trading company in existence, with outposts spread across Asia and the Cape. The most profitable of these was Batavia, which shipped mace, pepper, spices, and silks back to Amsterdam aboard its fleet of Indiaman galleons. The journey took eight months and was fraught with danger.
This richly detailed historical novel may center around a fictional detective, but the context of a fleet traveling from Batavia to Amsterdam is largely based in fact.
The United East India Company, or the Dutch East India Trading Company (known as "Verenigde Oost-Indische Compagnie" or VOC in Dutch), was founded in the ...
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