"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"
Wendy Holden, Daily Mail

"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"
Independent

"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"
Metro

"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"
M John Harrison, Guardian

"[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"
Sunday Times