The Devil and the Dark Water by Stuart Turton – Review

Published: October 6, 2020

Publisher: Sourcebooks Landmark

Series: Standalone

Genre: Mystery

Pages: 463 (Hardcover)

My Rating: 4.0/5.0

Synopsis:

A murder on the high seas. A detective duo. A demon who may or may not exist.

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 onboard. A mystery that stretches back into their past and now threatens to sink the ship, killing everybody on board.

The breathtaking new novel from Stuart Turton, author of the The 7 1/2 Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle, winner of the Costa Best First Novel Award.

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After Stuart Turton’s impressive writing debut in 2019, I was quite excited to check out The Devil and the Dark Water. I honestly knew very little about the plot, aside from that it was set on a ship and there may or may not be a demon aboard killing people. I was delighted to find that this was an almost Sherlockian mystery, though with the “Watson” character forced to take up the lead on the case. 

Set in 1643, The Devil and the Dark Water follows Samuel Pipps and Arent Hayes as they cross the oceans from Batavia back to Amsterdam. Sammy, the brilliant crime solver, has been imprisoned aboard the ship for unspecified crimes and Arent is left mostly on his own when a dead man rises and strange symbols of the demon known as Old Tom begin appearing on the ship. There are a number of interesting circumstances and small mysteries that slowly unravel over the course of the tale. How is a dead man still alive and tormenting passengers? What is the mysterious red light that appears over the ocean? Did Sammy Pipps really commit the crime he was accused of? There are so many small mysteries that you can’t help but to turn page after page waiting for the answers.

The main character, Sammy and Arent are likable and extremely easy to stay interested in. The secondary characters are equally fascinating and memorable. The Governor General Jan Haan isn’t exactly likable, as he’s the one who imprisoned Sammy and he’s abusive to his wife Sara, but he’s central to the plot and Arent’s adoptive uncle. Sara Wessel is an intelligent woman with some training in the medical field and she’s a supportive mother to her brilliant young daughter Lia. Lia is a precocious child, who’s unparalleled genius must be kept secret from others lest they think she’s a witch or some nonsense. She wants to be free of her overbearing, abusive father so she can pursue her inventions. Creesjie Jens is Jan Haan’s mistress and surprisingly, is a dear friend of his wife Sara. Wouldn’t expect that, now would you? This book is full of surprises and because it’s a mystery, I won’t be spoiling them here.

This was another brilliant standalone from Stuart Turton. I’ll be honest, I didn’t care for the way it ended but I also didn’t hate it. It just seemed a little strange, like there were so many plot threads that needed to be wrapped up that the ending felt a little unbelievable. That being said, it was an impressive book with so many unexpected twists and turns. If audiobooks are your thing, I would recommend that format for The Devil and the Dark Water!