For the first time in Russian - the newest novel by Stuart Turton, author of the international bestseller The Seven Deaths of Evelina Hardcastle, translated into 30 languages and awarded the prestigious Costa Prize for best debut. If “The Seven Deaths of Evelina Hardcastle” was called “a puzzling yet completely organic mixture of Downton Abbey and Groundhog Day, Agatha Christie and TV series like Quantum Leap” (Sunday Express), then The Devil and Dark Water is “the brilliant crossing of Conan Doyle with William Golding” (Val McDermid). So, welcome to 1634. The East India Company's galleons carried nutmeg and black pepper, spices and silks from Batavia to Amsterdam. The route from the Pacific Islands to Europe leads around Africa and takes eight months. Not everyone made it to Amsterdam: fierce storms and formidable pirates took their toll. And now the Saardam is preparing to sail from Batavia. Among the passengers are Governor General Jan Haan with his family and mistress; the famous "alchemical detective" Samuel Pepys, shackled on an unknown charge; his partner Lieutenant Arent Hayes. The signs of fate are ominous from the very beginning. On the pier, the leper proclaims: “The cargo of the Saardam is marked with the seal of sin, and a terrible death awaits all who dare to board” - and bursts into flames. When the sail is raised on the mainmast, everyone sees a tailed eye drawn in charcoal on the white cloth - a symbol of the demon known as Old Tom. And although there were seven ships in the convoy that sailed from Batavia, an eighth lantern periodically lights up in the night ocean. And when a murder happens on board, Arent, nicknamed the Bear, is forced to take on the functions of a detective, instead of Sam, nicknamed Sparrow, who is imprisoned in the closet.