“The way Poirot solves mysteries he would not have lasted two hours in this book,” says Turton. And if Seven Deaths was a modern take on an Agatha Christie novel, The Devil and the Dark Water has more than a nod to Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes mysteries, with (at least) one crucial twist: the Holmes-style sleuth in this case is in chains. It's great fun, a hugely enjoyable and immersive follow-up to his bestselling debut The Seven Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle, which Turton – who previously worked as a travel journalist in Dubai – admits took up all his headspace until 2018.
There is a murder in a locked room … and only reluctant heroes can save the day. Voices in the darkness, apparent demons and superstition blight everyone on board. Also on board are the shamed and manacled detective Samuel Pipps and his bodyguard Arent.īefore long, strange goings on begin to beset the voyage. He brings his wife, Sara, and a motley crew with him in his cramped galleon, as well as a mysterious object, The Folly. The Dutch East India Company has called the governor general of Batavia (present day Jakarta) back to Amsterdam. 'The Devil and the Dark Water' by Stuart Turton. It took 17 years, but The Devil and the Dark Water has eventually been released.
But the idea of a haunted house at sea in the 17th century – that did seem something worth pursuing.” “Well, fun, pacy murder-mysteries, at least. “I write about happy death,” he protests. So, the murder of castaways was too much, even for an award-winning author of books featuring strange murders? “I could not have written that story – it’s too horrible.”
“It’s a brutal tale,” says Turton with a nervous giggle.
Of the 341 passengers, 40 drowned as they attempted to swim to land, and another 125 died – not due to malnutrition, but because they started killing each other. He found himself in Perth's Maritime Museum, ghoulishly entranced by the story of the Batavia, a merchant vessel wrecked on a nearby coral island in the 1600s. Back in 2003, English novelist Stuart Turton was kicking around Australia's west coast, pondering whether to continue his travels to Asia. Sometimes, inspiration can strike, and stick, in the strangest of places.
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