I found this one really difficult to get into I gave it four chapters and in the end stopped reading. I loved his last book which is why I choose to review this one. I will try again at a later date. Thank you Netgalley for allowing me to review it and Stuart Turton for writing it for me 3 stars.

Although the story is a little long winded, I am glad I stuck with it. A suspenseful read that I would definitely recommend

I loved the atmosphere this book created, I really felt what that ship was like, how creepy it was and the characters were fantastic. However I found it so difficult to follow for a good third of the book I struggled to keep the story and characters straight in my mind.

Oh my gosh, it took me forever to get to this book, however in Stuart Turton's fashion it was realllly good. If you like Sherlock Holmes type stuff, this is the book! I loved the characters twists and I did not see that ending come up. Very well done the tension and the aspect of... is it supernatural or not? Very cleaver work.
The characters are likeable - even the guy who is so awful to his wife has some qualities that make him less hateful.
I do feel i need to re-read it now that I know everything.

What started off as an intriguing and exciting story of adventure became, in the end, something I was desperate to have concluded. By the time the reader starts to get answers, it's difficult to care what those answers are. To me, the answers were contrived and there was no way at all the reader could have worked out what steps had created the conclusion. I don't mind a mystery I can't solve if there's a moment of realisation that something obvious had been over looked and tied up all the threads neatly. The Devil and the Dark Water seems to end on a note of "to be continued" but I won't be back for a second installment.

The fear of an unknown entity can lead men to do desperate things. And greed can lead them to do even worse. A nefarious ‘demon’ named Old Tom comes aboard the Saardam and people start showing up dead. It’s up to Arent and Sara to discover the truth.

I absolutely adored Stuart Turton’s debut novel, The Seven 1/2 Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle, so I jumped at the chance to read The Devil & the Dark Water.

As much as I hoped this would meet and exceed my expectations, I can’t help feel disappointed. I don’t know whether it is because my expectations were so high after his first novel but I was left wanting more.

I felt The Devil & the Dark Water was very slow off the mark, I was probably 40% through before I felt engaged with the plot. Additionally, I felt the plot began very convoluted in points, bogged down by unnecessary plot divergences and characters. Whilst The Seven 1/2 Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle had several different narrations, POVs and timelines, it felt succinct and easy to follow. Whereas this was linear but sometimes confusing due to the excess of characters.

Not a bad book by any stretch, if anything I would have probably appreciated it more if it were another author’s work.

A long-winded book that is rather different to his first. To late now to review as it has been archived - apologies!

This book is an absolute wonder, it has everything; perfect historical fiction with a great cast of characters, a unique setting aboard the ship, a compelling mystery and a touch of romance. This is more than detective fiction, this is an immaculately plotted perfectly paced novel with a story which kept me guessing and great twists and turns throughout.. I couldn’t predict the outcome at all. Brilliant stuff.

I approached this book with some level in trepidation having never been a big fan of historical novels but I am glad that I did! The author manages to capture in words the sights, sounds and smells of the docks and of the ship and its crew and passengers and the descriptions of being at sea certainly left me with landlubber legs!
There were points in the story that felt a bit too drawn out, particularly the reveals about the supernatural goings-on but overall it was a good read with plenty of atmosphere.

I was really looking forward to this book based on Turton's "The Seven Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle" reviews (it's still in my TBR). The premise seemed promising, and I've always enjoyed a good mystery.

I'm just over halfway through and I am sorry to say that this book is not 'it' for me. For one, it's overwritten and slow. Secondly, the characters feel very stereotypical and I don't care much about them.

I want to know how it ends, but I am not sure I want to spend another 3 hours on it to discover the truth (especially since I've seen many underwhelmed reviewers at this point).

This review is based on an ARC of the book. Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for this copy in exchange for an honest review.

Initially I was enticed by this story. However, I felt it became too drawn out and as I read on, I felt trapped onboard with the diverse range of characters in the appalling vile and filthy conditions! ( it was written with vivid detail). I ploughed on as I wanted to see how it concluded.

Turton's brand of fantasy is fascinating. His first was like a time-travelling Golden Age crime novel - and also a cross between Quantum Leap and The Prisoner - so it was hard to know what his second novel would entail. It turns out it was a sort of locked-room (or rather, locked ship) mystery with a supernatural predator set on a 17th century Dutch East Indiaman sailing from the colony of Batavia (now Jakarta in Indonesia) back to Amsterdam. It is a slight cheat to call this fantasy when it is more of a supernatural thriller crossed with a historical detective novel but, to be honest, I suspect Turton's work is going to start creating categories and genres all of their own.... There is a spirit known as Old Tom whose malignant powers have spread from the Netherlands to the colonies, a self-combusting prophetic leper, the world's greatest detective, a beautiful woman and her brutal, powerful husband, a precious machine, a child with extraordinary intelligence, and a supporting cast of piratical sailors. Mostly a historical novel, partly a supernatural suspense story - totally gripping.

In 1634 prisoner Samuel Pipps (the worlds greatest detective) is put on board the ship Saardam in Batavia (now Indonesia) to be transported to Amsterdam where he will be executed for a crime he may or may  not have committed. With him is is loyal assistant (and mountain of a man) Arent Hayes. 

As soon as they set sail amongst the large crew, noble men and women and the working class passengers does it all unravel. A leper is stalking the ship and killing off people, saying his master Old Tom (a known devil) will come and have his vengeance. People start to hear Old Tom speaking to them and striking bargains with him before they are all slaughtered...with Pipps in shackles, can Hayes find out the mystery behind all of these crimes? 

This book ticked all the boxes for me (starting with the gorgeous cover); a murder on the high seas, a unique detective duo, mutiny and a demon. This is a rollicking good read. Each main character was fleshed out with backgrounds to make you connect to them. Turton is a brilliant storyteller with a vivid imagination. 

I really enjoyed Turton's first offering (The 7 1/2 Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle) and he has shown once again that he is the master of complex and rich tales. The Devil and the Dark Water is full of atmosphere. I don't want to give too  much away with a review by mentioning all of the main characters as I feel it's best to enjoy without too much info, but I highly recommend this belter of a book!

A 4 star read for me. 

Thank you to Netgalley for a copy of this book in exchange for a review.

Implausible, often overwritten, tricksy and contrived

I have to conclude that Turton is not a writer who touches my heart, soul, or viscera. Or, in the end my rational mind wanting at least a plot driven gamesy puzzle to be unravelled with satisfying solutions Like his previous novel (which sadly had failed to engage me enough to finish it) this one is one which I read rather in the spirit I might engage with a crossword puzzle. The experience was cerebral. For sure I wanted to know what happened, and his cast of characters and seventeenth century on board ship world, with its cast of eccentric miscreants,and villains, with the odd person of relatability and milk of human kindness thrown in, were interesting, but never became real to me. Hence, my interest was only ‘how does this puzzle end’ without much caring about the characters within the pages.

I have no proof of this at all, this is purely my own subjective response, but, to take a theatrical image, Turton seems to me to be like an extremely clever actor, one who builds from the outside, dazzles with his brilliant display, all false moustache and fake noses but does not wring the heart, or make you, as audience, engage with either your own humanity, or the humanity of the portrayed character. There are actors who make us marvel with their ability with accents, walks, technical flamboyance, and there are actors who make us forget that we are even watching a play, and somehow, not only have they revealed our own complex humanity to us, but somehow made us simultaneously be a part of the character they are portraying. That is the true magic. And, there are writers like this too, and they are the writers who own me, as reader, and make me marvel at what seems to be a little miraculous – I believe their creations have almost created themselves, and possibly exist outwith their creator’s initial conceptions

Part of the problem I find is that some of the writing seems rather careless and sloppy, so I was pulled out of story trying to work out what a sentence meant – perhaps a cannier editor might have picked some of these oddments up:

‘sweat standing up on her brow’ – surely ‘up’ is redundant

‘How they could not?’ For sense, in context, it should have been ‘How could they not?’

And then there were the images and similes where it really felt as if Turton was just trying too hard to impress and be original :

‘His jewelled hand lay across his round belly, which resembled a rock that had rolled into a ravine’

‘surveying them like they were something foul slipping off a wagon wheel’

These kinds of stubbed toe images of my reading were frustrating, because Turton also produces images which are genuinely arresting in the right way, but, for me, there was just too much over-egging of everything, and I was yearning for a sparer simplicity.

Though I started reading this with interest, early overwriting had me on a 3.5 rating reading experience. Unfortunately the further I progressed, the lower the rating was sinking. No spoilers here, but from the point tensions aboard ship went from individual to wholescale groups of people against each other, a nosedive into bad and implausible Z rated action movie territory had begun.

I probably should have abandoned it at that point, and the rating might have scraped 3 star. Forcing myself to the bitter end, I/m afraid it got worse and worse. I was skip reading without interest, watching implausible reveal pile on even more implausible reveal

I wanted so much more than this tale of multi murder, mayhem and demonic possession with a veritable cast of would-be detectives aboard a ship sailing between Batavia and Amsterdam in 1634. I do love historical fiction, and crime fiction, and even the element of the fantastical and supernatural, hence my request of this as an ARC from the publishers.

I am just sorry to be so resoundingly undelighted

Unfortunately, the formatting of this book meant that I was unable to read it therefore, I cannot review.

Stuart Turton has just become an automatic buy author for me. After reading and loving The Seven Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle last year I could not wait to pick up this book and it was so worth the wait!

The puzzle to solve kept me guessing the whole way through so the elaborate plot when revealed blew my mind. I cannot wait for the next book by this author.

Stuart Turton is fast becoming one of my favourite authors. "The Devil and the Dark Water" is so different to his debut novel "The Seven deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle". but the similarity between the characters feeling trapped in a mystery they can't unravel proves that this is where Turton's strength lies as a writer.

I turned page after page way past my bedtime because I couldn't bear to put the book down and not know what was happening, and in places I was so spooked I don't think I'd have been able to sleep anyway.

A masterpiece of a chilling historical thriller, I couldn't wait for my husband to read it so we could discuss it in detail!

Shortly to be published in paperback, The Devil and the Dark Water is a gripping historical thriller mostly set aboard a merchant ship transporting spices, silks and the world famous detective Samual Pipps who unfortunately is being kept inside a locked cell and due to be tried in Amsterdam for a crime. It is 1634, a time of superstition, fear of the unnatural and the threat of disease. Also on board a leper, who makes his way onto the ship and issues a curse to the passengers advising them of their deaths and the devil who will seek them out; and then he sets fire to himself and dies........
Turton delivers a motley cast of characters from the powerful and cruel to sinners and sailors who are absorbed into and impossible murder, suspense, betrayal and supernatural events that play out until the final ingenious conclusion.
Selected as a recent Books are my Bag Fiction Book of the Month, BBC Two Book Club Between the Covers and for Radio 2 Jo Whiley Book Club.

What a cracking book. Painted in rich and freely applied layers on a canvas of fear. The Poseidon Adventure on Magic mushrooms or exchange for whatever psychedelic drug you most identify with.

Set in 1634 it is a book that defies pigeon-holing. Mostly set aboard a boat bound for Amsterdam it not only carries the dangers of the seas from pirates and storms. But has a cutthroat crew, an unhealthy duration to travel of 8 months while being crammed together sharing poor conditions and disease. Our boat carries a special cargo, nobility and a troop of soldiers protecting the governor-general to a new appointment of great power and influence.
Before the ship leaves port a mute leper issues a grave warning about demons before spontaneously igniting in flames.

As the sails are made ready for departure a further mark associated with the Devil seems to confirm that this voyage is cursed and few will survive unless they move over to the dark side.

A true horror filled and supernatural tale with a sense of terror as no-one can get off the ship to escape. Character led mystery with passengers trying to comprehend the mystery, unravel the strange happenings and make sense of enemy within their midst.

The hardback version had the benefit of the plan of the ship portrayed which made sense of the locations mentioned. However, it feels cramped and the writing styles used adds to this sense of claustrophobia. Yet within this confined environment an assassin travels freely, instilling fear and danger to passengers and sailors alike.

One event is like a closed room murder mystery but there are so many strange happenings along the way that the book becomes a true page turner, although you wonder what horrors await this stricken ship.

I loved the sense of danger; certainly not an ideal way to travel in that time, but needs must. I liked the care building character and the equal time spent on all principal players in this unfolding drama. Not sure even Jayne McDonald could have made the Saardam appear to be a cruise worth taking.

A book that might haunt your dreams but we all need a read occasionally to take us outside our comfort zone and add chills to our nervous system.

This book is fantastic and it was one of my favourite reads of 2020. It's a cross between Pirates of the Carribean and Sherlock Holmes - it's clever, mysterious, sinister, funny, heartwarming and so much fun to read. Having enjoyed both this and The Seven Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle, I can happily say I'm a Stuart Turton fan and will probably read anything and everything else he writes.