Review by Booklist Review
The eight-month voyage from Batavia to Amsterdam in 1634 is always perilous, and, as the Saardam prepares to sail, a leper sounds a warning that this trip will end very badly for all aboard. Passengers include Governor General Jan Haan, who is intending to be made a ruler of the United East Indian Company in Amsterdam; his wife, Sara Wessel; his daughter, Lia; and mistress, Cressjie Jens. Also on board are noted mystery solver Samuel Pipps, currently imprisoned, and his bodyguard and apprentice, Lieutenant Arent Hayes. The ship soon appears to be inhabited by the demon Old Tom, whose sign--an eye with a tail--was on its sail and now is found everywhere aboard, as the demon whispers nightly to crew and passengers, offering to fulfill their desires if they follow him. The Saardam faces natural as well as supernatural forces as a mysterious ship trails it, and the body count mounts. A marked departure from Turton's debut (71/2 Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle, 2018), this is a rousing, action-filled mystery. With a reading-group guide and a short author interview appended, it's tailor-made for book groups with a taste for bloody adventure.
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
Set in 1634, this outstanding whodunit from Turton (The 7½ 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. Agent: Harry Illingworth, DHH Literary Agency. (Oct.)
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Review by Library Journal Review
The year is 1634. A ship heading to Amsterdam with important passengers and cargo is under siege. Even before the voyage begins a leper threatens the passengers and ship, then bursts into flame. But once the ship sets sail, he keeps appearing. Strange symbols pop up all over the ship. And rumors begin about an old devil who has come back to collect his due. The world's greatest detective, Samuel Pipps, along with his faithful bodyguard, Arent Hayes, are on the passenger manifest. Unfortunately, Pipps is in manacles, leaving Arent, who insists he isn't in Pipps's class, tasked with solving the case. If Arent, and Sarah, one of the important personages, aren't able sort fact from fiction, the ship and all aboard are doomed. Narrator James Cameron Stewart imbues Turton's story with constant tension, relying on pacing and accented characterizations to bring the story to its unnatural crescendo and satisfying conclusion. Hearing Sarah blossom under Arent's genuine interest; feeling the fear when the ghost ship appears nightly; listening as allegiances break and old grudges are satisfied--Stewart has much to work with here and he masters it. VERDICT A successful novel that will be welcome in all fiction/mystery collections.--Jodi L. Israel, Orlando, FL
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Review by Kirkus Book Review
After an outbreak of ghastly events aboard the Saardam, a merchant vessel returning from the East Indies to Amsterdam in 1634, fear spreads that an evil spirit is responsible. Before the ship's departure, a leper issued a stark warning about the "merciless ruin" that awaited it--and then burst into flames. Only prisoner Sammy Pipps, an alleged British spy with uncanny powers of deduction, took the threat seriously. Soon enough at sea, on a vessel populated by "murderers, cutpurses and malcontents," throats are slit, bodies are stashed, and dark secrets are exposed. Ultimately, a monster storm upends the Saardam and destroys two other ships in the fleet. Amid the evil doings, human decency is largely limited to Sammy's bodyguard, Arent Hayes, a physically imposing specimen with a kind soul and a "poisoned" past, and healer Sara Wessel, abused wife of soulless Governor General Jan Haan, who happens to be Arent's uncle. With their congenial Holmes and Watson act, Sammy and Arent seem on track to emerge as the heroes of this perpetually revealing tale. But Turton, who brings a pointed social conscience to bear in his commentary on the ill treatment of women and the exploitation of the lower class, has something else in mind. With all its characters, hidden identities, and backstories, this epic sometimes sags. As one character declares, "There are too many damn secrets on this ship, and I swear all of them are marching toward him with swords in their hands." But Turton, whose brain-twisting first novel, The 71/2 Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle (2018), posed knotty challenges for readers, has a colorful tale to tell and does so in highly entertaining fashion. A devilish sea saga that never runs out of cutthroat conspiracies. Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
