It has numerous moving pieces and parts, and as I mentioned above, there are many players involved with contradictory motives. The mystery that Turton has crafted is smart and extensively complex. We have the dryly sarcastic humor and scientific logic of Holmes, as well as Christie’s trademark red herrings and elements of the more intuitive detective work of her infamous Hercule Poirot.Īnd we have the exceptional writing skills of Stuart Turton to tie it all together. We have the ingenious Sherlockian detective duo of Sammy and Arent, and also a large cast of nefarious characters, similar to what is often seen in Christie’s novels. In short, the novel is a paranormal Sherlock Holmes and Agatha Christie mash-up. I am uncertain as to whether I will effectively convey the full extent of its intelligence and beauty. How shall I begin? I am at a loss as to where I should best start this review because there is just so much to admire about The Devil and the Dark Water. With Sammy locked away in a cell, it is up to Arent and Sara to investigate the mystery of the demon - and stop it in its tracks before the ship and all its passengers are doomed. And the passengers hear the whisper of an evil voice in the night, tempting them with their innermost desires and foretelling three unholy miracles that will bring nothing but death and destruction. Shortly after departure, the ship is plagued with strange events of a demonic nature – a sail is marked with a malevolent symbol, a dead leper haunts the passageways, and livestock are slaughtered. Also on the ship is Arent Hayes, Sammy’s friend and personal bodyguard, and Sara Wessel, a high-ranking noblewoman with a secret plan of her own. Samuel Pipps, the world’s greatest detective, is imprisoned on a ship bound for Amsterdam, where he will be tried and executed for an unknown crime upon his arrival.

I will even venture to say it’s novelistic perfection. As a follow-up to his bestselling 2018 debut, The 7 ½ Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle, his sophomore effort is an absolute stunner. And with it, Stuart Turton has hit the ball clear out of the park, inarguably proving to the literary world that a one-hit wonder, he is not.

Devil and the dark water review