Set in 1634, the narrative follows the Saardam, an East India Company merchant ship traveling from Batavia to Amsterdam. Onboard is the world’s greatest detective, Samuel Pipps, who is being transported in a cell to face execution. When a series of impossible occurrences and grisly murders plague the voyage, his loyal bodyguard, Arent Hayes, must lead the investigation. The crew believes a legendary demon named Old Tom is orchestrating the chaos, signaled by a mark appearing on the ship’s sails and the slaughter of livestock.
Readers who enjoy locked-room mysteries and historical seafaring adventures will find this a dense, atmospheric puzzle. It appeals to those tired of conventional detective tropes, offering a plot where logic clashes with the supernatural. After finishing, the reader understands how mass hysteria and superstition can be weaponized to hide human greed. They walk away with a complex solution to a riddle that utilizes the claustrophobic constraints of a seventeenth-century vessel.
- Published
- 2020
- Language
- EN
