The Devil and the Dark Water (originale 2020; edizione 2020)

The writing is good and the plot is interesting and moves along at a good pace. My only quibble is that there are so many diversions from the main thread that its easy to get lost as to what is happening and where you are in the timeline. ( )

A very readable story, but also frustrating. I don't know that the mystery's reveal quite works. ( )

The year is 1634 and a convoy of ships is sailing from Batavia to Amsterdam. The ships' hulls are filled with spices and other bounty but one of the ships is also carrying the Governor General, who has high hopes that with this cargo, he will get a promotion and live the rest of his life in comfort and wealth in Amsterdam. But as soon as the ship sets sail, strange evil things begin to occur and passengers start to die. The perfect Locked Room Mystery! Is it the dwarf? The guard with only one eye? Or maybe the mysterious passenger nobody every sees. This was entertaining and filled with plot twists. I had many guesses for this whodunit, but I never came close. The mystery is good but the descriptions of the setting, the ship, and life aboard a merchant vessel was what I really enjoyed about this story. Definitely an enjoyable historic fiction mystery. ( )

Last night I finished this marvelous mystery thriller that I have been glued to for the past week. This book is truly sensational and deserves all the stars in the sky.

I think I will venture to say that I've never read anything quite like this before. It is finely crafted, it has a fantastic diabolical plot, and a cast of characters both good and bad that are all so very endearing and unforgettable. It has many twists and turns, like a maze that creates a story filled to the brim with calamitous chaos! Unique and clever, chuck full of adventure, chills, heartwarming emotions, and a blood feud of revenge like you've never imagined.

It's curious, frightening, funny, and sincerely rip-roaring crazy.

Board ship and travel on a 17th century voyage with a sparrow and a bear! You're gonna love this
..I promise! 🤪😉☺ ( )

It’s 1634 and Governor General Jan Haan and his family are setting sail from Batavia (modern-day Jakarta, Indonesia) to Amsterdam, The Netherlands. On board their ship is a famous prisoner: Samuel Pipps, a legendary detective, or problemetary as he calls himself. Pipps has been accused of a crime for which the penalty is death. His sidekick/Watson, Arent Hayes, knows Pipps is innocent but is unable to convince the governor general of this fact.

The voyage seems to be cursed from the start: a dramatic doom-laden prophecy sees them off at Batavia, then there are dead men roaming the decks, ghost ships on the horizon, and devilish symbols appear without human intervention. Has the devil been unleashed on board? How many will die? Will they make it to Amsterdam alive?

I’ll preface my assessment by stressing to prospective readers that this is not going to be exactly like Evelyn Hardcastle. Evelyn was a brilliant, mind-bending book. It’s a tough act to follow, and I like the direction Turton has taken. The mystery is a sort of locked-room mystery, which fits the puzzley vibe of Evelyn, and the single timeline makes it a bit more straightforward. I liked Sara and Lia as characters, and the atmosphere was tense and the plot kept me turning the pages. The book itself is lovely too, a beautiful cover, and the trade paperback edition I had could even lie flat easily. I also very much enjoyed the author’s note and the conversation with the author at the end where he explains the writing process and what elements he’s changed and how he drew on history to write the story he did.

One element I also enjoyed was the reference to Pipps’s and Hayes’s previous cases, and the fact that you can imagine the characters living on after the story has ended. I like this room that has been given for Turton to dip back into this universe if he wants to—or for others to take up the fan fiction pen (especially those who have a crush on Hayes; Turton mentions them in his author’s note).

I’d recommend this if you like locked-room mysteries with elements of the supernatural, and if you liked Evelyn Hardcastle, with the warning that this is not going to be the same book as Evelyn. I’d even recommend it if you haven’t read Evelyn, because there is no time-jumping to contend with. (I love time-jumping myself, but it can be hard to keep track of sometimes.) ( )