The Devil and the Dark Water by Stuart Turton

It is early 1600's and a diverse set of people enter a merchant ship bound for Amsterdam.  There is the captain and crew, a prisoner, Samuel Pipps, and his friend and guardian, Arent Hayse, a holy man and his ward, several nobelmen, including the Jan Haan and his wife Sara, and a motley crew.  Samuel Pipps is a famous, Sherlock-esque detective, but when the ship begins to be harrassed by the ghost of a dead leper, there is not much he can do to solve the mystery, since he is locked up in chains in the hull. It is up to Arent and the clever Sara, to put the puzzle pieces together before the whole crew succumbs to an evil demon, and the darkness in his or her own sole. 

I was excited to see another book written by the same author as The 7 1/2 Deaths of Evalyn Hardcastle, and I enjoyed it a lot.  I wasn't quite as impressed by this as I was by Turton's first novel, but I think there are a lot of people that would like it more.  The Evalyn Hardcastle book was very complex, but Turton's ability to write characters was amazing.  Some people who read it, however, got too bogged down in the complexity.  This one is a little more straight forward, and, I think, more accessible, but the characters are not quite as amazing.  Don't get me wrong, they are well drawn and complex, and the romance between Sara and Arent is sweet.  The plot is also well thought out, though I read a plot summary that ended up being a spoiler, so there was no surprise ending for me.  I think most people will find the ending surprising and satisfying.  This is an excellent historical mystery that has something for both male and female readers; maybe a good choice of something to listen to together on a long car trip. (full disclosure, I listened to it at 1 1/4 speed, and that worked out fine). (2020, 480 p)