I was so excited for this book after reading Turton's debut, and in a lot of ways it was similar (still a clever complicated mystery, and again things and people not being what they appear), but it also was just less my cup of tea. I didn't quite take to all of the violence, and the ending had more predictable elements than the last as well as just being far more chipper than I thought was appropriate or reasonable so it didn't feel satisfying.

Also, as much as I genuinely enjoyed and appreciated the note from Turton at the end commenting on his deliberately taking liberties with accuracy regarding history, boats, language, etc., it does make it harder to stomach the choice to include so much sexual violence against women, especially after I already felt uneasy about it used as a minor plot point in his other book (though there it was treated in such a way that I felt I could let it slide). The only justification I can imagine for including it so prolifically here is to be "realistic" about the attitudes that might be held in that setting, but if you're going to go ahead and give women pockets can you also give them some other characterization beyond either being one of three brilliant female main characters, or otherwise being background characters existing solely to function as mothers or victims? At this point it feels like a pattern and I'd actually be surprised if a third book of his *didn't* feature sexual assault in some way shape or form, leaving me with a bad taste in my mouth and making me reluctant to read more, despite really enjoying the craftsmanship of the central mysteries.