October 17, 2020
The Devil and the Dark Water by Stuart Turton
Samuel Pipps is the most valuable agent employed by the
Gentlemen 17 who run the United East India Company. His cases are read by the public like the adventures of Sherlock Holmes. But after successfully completing a mission in
Batavia on the island of Java, he is suddenly arrested and imprisoned in a
dungeon before being transported to Amsterdam to stand trial for an unknown
offense. His bodyguard and associate
Arent Hayes is determined to not only find out what Sammy stands accused of,
but also to discover and thwart the
unknown force that is threatening to destroy the ship they are sailing on.
The second title by the author of The Seven and a Half Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle, this is another historical mystery but with less of a fantasy overtone than Turton's first book. Almost all of the story takes place on an Indiaman, a type of 17th century sailing ship, and without a diagram of the ship, it was difficult to figure out exactly where the players were located at any given time. It is a clever mystery although the ending felt rushed and therefore a little unsatisfactory.
Sailors were a superstitious lot in the 17th century – they may still be, although my husband was in the Navy and while there were lots of bad habits, they didn’t seem to indulge in much superstition. But it seems like just about everyone was extremely superstitious in the 17th century. Superstition, religion, and social standing ruled everyone's lives.
I have an uncommon last name, and I was startled to find
that it was used in this book – it was a little disconcerting every time I saw
it in print.
Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for providing an eARC in return for a review.
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