The Devil and the Dark Water
A Novel
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4.2 • 26 Ratings
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- $3.99
Publisher Description
New from the bestselling author of The
Seven Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle! Take Stephen King horror, a Sherlock
Holmes-esque detective, and add a dash of Pirates of the
Caribbean for an utterly unique murder mystery on the high seas.
Samuel Pipps is the greatest detective
of his day . . . but now he’s a prisoner, accused of an unknown crime by one of
the world’s most powerful men. Along with his faithful sidekick, Arent Hayes, he’s
sailing back to Amsterdam from the East Indies, where he’ll stand trial.
But no sooner are they out to sea than
devilry begins to blight the voyage. Still shackled in his cell, Pipps sends
Hayes to solve a mystery that connects every passenger on board. All hope is
pinned on Hayes solving the mystery, but when he goes missing, Pipps is faced
with the most dangerous puzzle of his career. All the while, voices whisper to
him in the dark. But are those whispers clues? Warnings? Or the devil himself?
The Devil and the Dark Water has been optioned for television, and Turton's debut novel, The Seven Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle, is being adapted as a seven-part series for Netflix.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Set in 1634, this outstanding whodunit from Turton (The 7 Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle) opens in Batavia, where celebrated investigator Samuel Pipps, who was working in the Dutch East Indies until his arrest for an unknown reason, is about to be transported to Amsterdam aboard the Saardam, along with his longtime sidekick, Arent Hayes. From the dock, a bloody man issues a dire warning to the Saardam's crew and passengers. As the grim figure, who appears to have leprosy, prophesies that the ship won't reach its destination, his clothing bursts into flame. Hayes and another passenger, the governor-general's wife, rush to help the dying man, only to find that his tongue had been cut out, making any speech impossible. The puzzles only continue once the vessel sets sail, including a locked-room murder, the reappearance of the dead leper, and a ghost ship dogging the Saardam. As Turton ratchets up the tension en route to the brilliant resolution of the plot, he keeps readers in doubt as to whether a rational explanation is possible. Fans of impossible crime fiction won't want to miss this one.
