It’s a tad Holmes and Watson, a touch Treasure Island, but there’s so much else, too; the lives of women at the time, the contemporary obsession with witchcraft and most of all the authentic stink, creak, superstition and slop of life on board an Indiaman, roaring sailors and all. If you read one book this year, make sure it’s this one

Brilliant… intoxicating… There are some great villains and terrific heroes, especially the gentle (and gory) giant Hayes…The Devil and the Dark Water overflows with wonderful descriptions, neat similes, and enough horror, mystery, and crime to keep anyone enthralled

Think of a Holmes and Watson-style duo operating in a Pirates Of The Caribbean-style universe, complete with a demon with a love for Faustian pacts, a secret invention called The Folly and a leper who has seemingly survived being consumed by flames … A rollicking adventure yarn

The Devil and the Dark Water is all about narrative pleasure … The locked room murder meets a Michael Bay movie, by way of Treasure Island; you can’t know what’s going on, if only because the author won’t let you know until he’s delivered the final surprise – and another one after that. The effect is irresistible. Turton has got his world up and running inside the first two pages; thereafter, deceptions and diversions multiply until the ultimate, outrageous reveal, at which point the dark water turns out to be rather darker than you imagined

[Turton’s] second book is an even more exuberant demonstration of his storytelling skills … Wildly inventive, Turton’s tale defies definition as either historical fiction or crime novel, but provides all the pleasures of both genres and more

A rollicking tale of devils, lepers and witchfinders

An imaginative tour de force

Turton’s prose is jaunty and vivid. And unlike most whodunits I wouldn’t recommend it for pre-lights-out reading – not just because of the spooky bits, but because such a lovingly complex construct needs readers who are fully awake

A genre sampling epic that sets outrageous traps for the reader and builds an atmosphere of dread up to an operatic final twist

A glorious mash-up of William Golding and Arthur Conan Doyle

Stunningly good. A page-turning mystery on an epic scale, intricately plotted and expertly landed

No novel this year was more fun to read than this baroque tale of adventure

A superb historical mystery: inventive, twisty, addictive and utterly beguiling. I fell for this book (and its characters) in a big way. Beautifully crafted escapism for fans of Sherlock and Master & Commander. A TRIUMPH

Stuart Turton has done it again. The Devil and the Dark Water is mind bending, genre bending, intricate, vivid, intelligent and with one of the most gloriously grizzly cast of characters ever. An absolute razztwizzler of a novel!

The desperate life on board an Amsterdam-bound Dutch Indiamen has never been so vividly painted. Throw in a demon (who may or may not exist), a cast of beautifully realised, compelling characters along with a series of locked room mysteries and the result is one of the most extraordinary books being published this year

An absolute treat from the most original voice in crime fiction

Turton ?its between characters with trademark intricacy, the plot tossing around on the high seas. Each crest and fall adds to the bewilderingly compelling story, culminating in a completely unpredictable yet thoroughly satisfying ending

I can think of few writers who conjure up twists and mysterious happenings with such unflagging gusto and sheer infectious pleasure … It’s a great read

Turton’s debut The Seven Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle was a hard act to follow, but lightning has struck twice … A genre-sampling epic that sets outrageous traps for the reader and builds an atmosphere of dread

A fiendish maritime mystery, [involving] a lot of secrets and a great deal of swash and buckle

Stunning historical fantasy set at sea … Holmes and Watson meets Treasure Island