Most of all, I felt the intense threat of a dark figure lingering in the dark.

I recently watched the BBC series The Terror, a fictionalized account of a lost expedition to the Arctic in the 1800s, which had a very familiar feel to this story, so I could instantly picture the high seas setting and see the conflicts between the passengers and crew. Turton’s descriptions are so vivid that I could taste the salt in the air and feel the dampness of the lodgings, which is exactly what I wanted from this book. It oozes with atmosphere, is brimming with suspense, and is led by a hots of intriguing characters, all of whom have something to hide. Part historical fiction, part paranormal, there’s a bit of everything I love in this book. Could a demon be responsible for their misfortunes?Īn eerie locked-in murder mystery set aboard a merchant ship, The Devil And The Dark Water takes you on a nerve-wracking adventure that you’ll be too scared to step away from. And then three passengers are marked for death, including Samuel. But no sooner are they out to sea than devilry begins to blight the voyage. Travelling with him is his loyal bodyguard, Arent Hayes, who is determined to prove his friend innocent. Published in 2020, The Devil And The Dark Water by Stuart Turton is set in 1634 and follows the world’s greatest detective, Samuel Pipps, who is being transported to Amsterdam to be executed for a crime he may, or may not, have committed. It’s meant to scare us, because scared people will do anything to stop being scared and they’ll do it to almost anybody else.”

The devil and the dark water review