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. It just felt wrong to leave it the way it was left and I guess I wanted it to go a different direction.Sometimes, inspiration can strike, and stick, in the strangest of places. Not, the ending or the big reveal – the part where everything is explained.
If there is any difficulty I had with the book, it is with the ending. A wide cast of characters and a narrator who can bring each one to life will almost always win me over. I learned with the author’s first book that his are almost better on audio because of how it helps the story come alive and at a pacing that I can follow along with. I listened to this one on audio book, which is narrated by James Cameron Stewart. It’s a murder mystery, but it is so much more. When at the end the solution to the mystery starts to reveal itself it amazed me how much detail and thought was given to the overall story. Things you don’t think are important are. Yet, they are all somehow intertwined together within the overall plot and mystery. And there are a lot of different characters to keep up with. Each one has a backstory that becomes important in some way. What fascinates me about the author’s works is how simple and yet intricate they are. And while there are similarities The Devil and the Dark Water is not a retelling or accounting of the actual shipwreck, but is its own unique story. Drawing on this, the author uses people/roles, names, and places to create his story. If you ever happen to read the true account, you might actually think it is a bad plot of a horror novel, except in this case it happens to be true. A shipwreck by itself would be terrifying, but it takes a further insidious and sinister turn even after the survivors find their way to a nearby island. The true story of the Batavia is horrific. The Devil and the Dark Water is a paranormal mystery inspired by the Batavia shipwreck of 1628. The Devil and the Dark Water by: Stuart Turton
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