The Devil and the Dark Water

By: Stuart Turton

Narrated by: Julian Rhind-Tutt

Length: 15 hrs and 11 mins

Publisher's summary

Bloomsbury presents The Devil and the Dark Water by Stuart Turton, read by Julian Rhind-Tutt.

Selected for the BBC Two Book Club Between the Covers and the Radio 2 Jo Whiley Book Club.

Shortlisted for The Books Are My Bag Fiction Award.

An impossible murder

A remarkable detective duo

A demon who may or may not exist

It’s 1634 and Samuel Pipps, the world’s greatest detective, is being transported from the Dutch East Indies to Amsterdam, where he is facing trial and execution 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, while also on board are Sara Wessel, a noble woman with a secret, and her husband, the governor general of Batavia.

But no sooner is their ship out to sea than devilry begins to blight the voyage. A strange symbol appears on the sail. A dead leper stalks the decks. Livestock are slaughtered in the night. And then the passengers hear a terrible voice whispering to them in the darkness, promising them three unholy miracles. First: an impossible pursuit. Second: an impossible theft. Third: an impossible murder. Could a demon be responsible for their misfortunes?

With Pipps imprisoned, only Arent and Sara can solve a mystery that stretches back into their past and now threatens to sink the ship, killing everybody on board....

From the author of the dazzling The Seven Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle, winner of the Costa Best First Novel Award, comes an audacious and original new high concept murder mystery.

©2020 Stuart Turton (P)2020 Bloomsbury Publishing Plc

Critic reviews

"If you read one book this year, make sure it’s this one." (Daily Mail)

"A superb historical mystery: inventive, twisty, addictive and utterly beguiling.... A TRIUMPH." (Will Dean)

"A glorious mash-up of William Golding and Arthur Conan Doyle." (Val McDermid)

Decent sophomore effort

Very good naration, I would love to hear this performer also for other books.

Regarding the book itself while some plot twists were somewhat contrived and over the top, similarly to Seven Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle, I still enjoyed the overall experience very much and would recommend this book. Highlights for me were setting in somewhat closed environment of the ship and character studies of people under pressure as well as some of the historical elements. Where I agree with some of the critisism is that plot seemed to move very slowly in certain parts and final resolutions as mentioned above went little of the rails.

My new favourite author!

After listening to his first book (7 deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle) I thought I’d give this book a try.

It’s everything I look for in a mystery novel, exciting, unexpected, different and with a satisfying conclusion that wraps all the pieces up.

I love Agatha Christie and Sherlock Holmes as well, and I’m happy to hear Stuart Turton takes inspiration from them.

I liked the setting

pretty good story kept you guessing some of it a bit cute but forgivable. quite violent.

the narrator mispronounced forecastle which, as the setting is largely on a ship came up an awful lot.

great book

enjoyed the twist. he writes well. images stick in head.plot drags you in. nice to follow his other book.

Good, but slightly underwhelming

I read the seven deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle and knew I had to read this immediately, hoping I would love it as much as I loved the previous book. Though the setting, the plot, and the characters are all well developed, I found myself loosing interested in the middle section of the book. The rhythm of the events is a lot slower than I anticipated, so the mystery doesn’t feel as engaging as one would hope. Despite some faults in the construction of the mystery, I enjoyed the book, and found the prose elegant and captivating.

Not as good as I wanted it to be

I really liked 7 Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle and I was sure that I am going to love this one, but the book was rather a disappointment.
Partially it was due to the narrator. He was mumbling at some points and I had problems with understanding him.
But honestly, plot was also not to my liking - I found it quite unbelievable. Also, characters were not really well developed and - apart from Arent - they seemd inconsistent in their behaviour.
I didn't care about the ending either. Seriously, what was that?

The story is amazing but not in audio format

I cannot precisely pinpoint what it is with this narrator but I cannot follow the story he is telling me. It might be because of the wide range in dynamics he uses, meaning all the soft voices get lost for me. Listening at full volume is not good for my ears and the ordinary voices don’t need full volume but the soft voices are inaudible for me and even on full volume difficult to follow. It also might be all the Dutch names of people and places that I cannot recognise when he pronounces them. Either way I couldn’t follow the narration.

I was intrigued nevertheless and picked up the kindle version, reading through it (from the very beginning again) I raced through the story and fully enjoyed it.

Derivate and unengaging

Beside the fact that this is essentially Sherlock Holmes fan fiction, it also demonstrates a fundamental lack of understanding of how both sailing ships and human beings function. If you like the setting but would like something well written and researched, read some Patrick O’Brian instead.