Need a cozy sweatshirt, bookish tote, or mug? Get one at the BookBrowse Merch Store!

BookBrowse Reviews The Devil and the Dark Water by Stuart Turton

Summary |  Excerpt |  Reading Guide |  Reviews |  Beyond the book |  Read-Alikes |  Genres & Themes |  Author Bio

The Devil and the Dark Water by Stuart Turton

The Devil and the Dark Water

by Stuart Turton
  • BookBrowse Review:
  • Critics' Consensus (8):
  • Readers' Rating (1):
  • First Published:
  • Oct 6, 2020, 480 pages
  • Paperback:
  • Jul 2021, 448 pages
  • Rate this book

About This Book

Reviews

BookBrowse:


Aboard a ship to Amsterdam in 1634, a bodyguard attempts to prove his employer is innocent of a crime, but a series of "unholy miracles" complicates his mission.
This review is available to non-members for a limited time. For access to our digital magazine, free books,and other benefits, become a member today.

In 1634 on the day that world famous detective Samuel Pipps is set to board the Sardaam from Batavia to Amsterdam in handcuffs, the ship is approached by a leper who climbs atop a crate to declare a frightening prophecy: "The Sardaam's cargo is sin, and all who board her will be brought to merciless ruin. She will not reach Amsterdam." The man then bursts into flames and dies moments later, at which time it's discovered that, despite the prophecy he just announced, he has no tongue.

While the opening of this standalone mystery is explosive, The Devil and the Dark Water is a slow burner. It mostly follows Arent, Samuel Pipps' bodyguard, a gruff yet honorable man intent on proving the innocence of his accused employer. It also follows Sara Wessel, a noblewoman trapped in an abusive marriage hoping to make a new life for herself in Amsterdam. The two form an unlikely friendship as the ship comes under siege by dark forces in the form of a demon called Old Tom that has a terrifying link to Arent's past.

In his sophomore novel after the wildly successful debut The Seven and a Half Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle, Stuart Turton expertly marries the classic detective novel with the supernatural. Whether Old Tom is an actual devil or the work of any of the humans on board is unclear for the majority of the story, but a paranormal presence can be acutely felt throughout, as a series of three "unholy miracles" occurs, starting with the slaughter of all the animals in a pen that was inaccessible to the passengers.

Though the novel is not outright scary, there's something distinctly chilling about the atmosphere that Turton has created. Effectively evoking the spirit of classic locked-room mysteries like Agatha Christie's Death on the Nile, he offers an intriguing cast of characters whose ambiguous pasts and motives are all sufficiently compelling to infuse the novel with a sense of paranoia and mistrust.

The author also subverts the classic detective formula with the fact that the detective in question — Samuel Pipps — is in chains throughout the voyage. The work of solving the mystery then falls to Arent, Pipps' second-in-command who has always been the brawn to Pipps' brain. Arent protests frequently that he isn't the right man for this job, but with his employer locked away for a crime that he may or may not have committed, he's the only one who can be trusted to help.

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.

Reviewed by Rachel Hullett

This review was originally published in The BookBrowse Review in November 2020, and has been updated for the July 2021 edition. Click here to go to this issue.

Membership Advantages
  • Reviews
  • "Beyond the Book" articles
  • Free books to read and review (US only)
  • Find books by time period, setting & theme
  • Read-alike suggestions by book and author
  • Book club discussions
  • and much more!
  • Just $60 for 12 months or $20 for 3 months.
  • More about membership!

Beyond the Book:
  The United East India Company

Read-Alikes

Read-Alikes Full readalike results are for members only

If you liked The Devil and the Dark Water, try these:

  • Act of Oblivion jacket

    Act of Oblivion

    by Robert Harris

    Published 2023

    About This book

    More by this author

    From the bestselling author of Fatherland, The Ghostwriter, Munich, and Conclave comes this spellbinding historical novel that brilliantly imagines one of the greatest manhunts in history: the search for two Englishmen involved in the killing of King Charles I and the implacable foe on their trail - an epic journey into the wilds of seventeenth-...

  • A Net for Small Fishes jacket

    A Net for Small Fishes

    by Lucy Jago

    Published 2022

    About This book

    More by this author

    Wolf Hall meets The Favourite in Lucy Jago's A Net For Small Fishes, a gripping dark novel based on the true scandal of two women determined to create their own fates in the Jacobean court.

We have 6 read-alikes for The Devil and the Dark Water, but non-members are limited to two results. To see the complete list of this book's read-alikes, you need to be a member.
More books by Stuart Turton
Search read-alikes
How we choose read-alikes

BookBrowse Book Club

  • Book Jacket
    The Jackal's Mistress
    by Chris Bohjalian
    From the New York Times bestselling author of Hour of the Witch, a Civil War love story of a Confederate wife and a wounded Yankee.

Members Recommend

  • Book Jacket

    The Antidote
    by Karen Russell

    A gripping dust bowl epic about five characters whose fates become entangled after a storm ravages their small Nebraskan town.

  • Book Jacket

    The Dream Hotel
    by Laila Lalami

    A Read with Jenna pick. A riveting novel about one woman's fight for freedom, set in a near future where even dreams are under surveillance.

  • Book Jacket

    Raising Hare
    by Chloe Dalton

    A moving and fascinating meditation on freedom, trust, and loss through one woman's friendship with a wild hare.

  • Book Jacket

    Fagin the Thief
    by Allison Epstein

    A thrilling reimagining of the world of Charles Dickens, as seen through the eyes of the infamous Jacob Fagin, London's most gifted pickpocket, liar, and rogue.

  • Book Jacket

    Girl Falling
    by Hayley Scrivenor

    The USA Today bestselling author of Dirt Creek returns with a story of grief and truth.

  • Book Jacket

    Jane and Dan at the End of the World
    by Colleen Oakley

    Date Night meets Bel Canto in this hilarious tale.

Who Said...

Books are the carriers of civilization

Click Here to find out who said this, as well as discovering other famous literary quotes!

Wordplay

Solve this clue:

B O a F F T

and be entered to win..

Your guide toexceptional          books

BookBrowse seeks out and recommends the best in contemporary fiction and nonfiction—books that not only engage and entertain but also deepen our understanding of ourselves and the world around us.