This was so much better than I was expecting! I wouldn’t have picked this up if I hadn’t got a copy for free but I might read Turton’s other book now. I’d recommend reading this when you have a bit of time on your hands because of the slow pacing: I took it on holiday and it was great for that!

 This book started with a bit of a bang, meandered around for a few hundred pages, and then made me stay up late to read the last two hundred pages all in one go. It also seemed to alternate between moments I loved and lines that made me cringe.

 As an example, the female main character is in a difficult life situation, which she mostly handles with intelligence and determination, but occasionally lapses into a modern feminist complaint about the plight of women in society. I wanted to tell her a couple of times "Your problem isn't society as much as that your husband is a jerk!"

 I was also not pleased with the author's overall attitude toward God and Christianity, especially in one blasphemous line toward the end. 

Michelle Obama voice: Stuart you have done it again, constantly raising the bar for us all, and doing it flawlessly.

I shouldn't be surprised that this was my first 2021 5 star read, but I'm just so blown away! I say it all the time, but I'm not big on murder mysteries, but this one really had everything, I don't know where to begin. The setting was so vivid and well developed. The atmosphere and culture of the world and setting was conveyed very naturally without blocks of exposition. The characters we were supposed to like were charming, and the characters we were supposed to hate were loathsome, but neither in a heavy handed way. I did find some of the dialogue to be a bit rushed and unnatural, but it was easy to look beyond. There were a few underlying themes around sexism and class disparity that were touched on in interesting ways. The author did a great job of painting a more... gritty? realistic?... picture of sailors than the oft romanticized versions we see today. This added to the danger and suspense for the female characters of the book, without using needless violence towards women as a tool for character development.

It goes without saying, but if you liked Evelyn Hardcastle, or if you like Agatha Christie-esque murder mysteries, you'll love this. I can't recommend it enough.