It was an interesting story but occasionally had trouble following the switching back and forth in time.

This was a wonderful book but not an easy one to read.
This book also moves from the 21st century with William Constable's story and the 10th century about the battle of Malden, Swein Blackbeard, Ealdorman Byrhtnoth and most especially the fated love story between Ingfrid and Wilhelm.
I have always felt sad about people who suffer from severe depression and this is the case here. It feels very dark at times. William Constable works for the Metropolitan police as an SIO and is in charge of a major criminal case involving international drug smuggling. The case also involves the Danish police as the route of smuggling goes though Danemark.
When we meet Will he is at the end of the roll, driving to a train track to commit suicide. He is that depressed. But something unnatural happens that changes his plans. He doesn't die and has to go to work to take care of the smuggling investigation. The op fails, further damaging his credibility and intensifying his lack of confidence and self-loathing. He also seems to suffer from social awkwardness badly. He is demoted to a patrol officer at his hometown and he starts to feel better as the level of responsibilities he faces is more manageable. Life, although not perfect, starts to be enjoyable. However fate has other plans for him, some tough ones. And emotions go up and down like a rollercoaster in this book. One minute you feel great, the next you feel sorry and sad. But the tale is so well written that you just cannot put the book down. It was that riveting.
The historical story revolves mostly about the battle of Malden, when it happened, the brutality of the Danes and how Wilhelm wants to find and save his lover Ingfrid.
This book deals with depression and hope, greed, hatred, fanaticism, and some very interesting history about the battle of Malden which I didn't know about.
This is a well researched book. I would highly recommend it to anyone who likes a good mystery and also some good historical background.

Thank you for NetGalley to provide me with a copy of this book in return for my honest opinion.

#the blackwater#NetGalley

Thank you Netgalley and Matador Publishing for the eARC.
As much as I wanted to like this book, I just couldn't.
The premise sounded great, but the style of writing and the lead character just didn't appeal to me. The setting is very interesting and the historical events harrowing and obviously well researched. The protagonist in 2014, DCI William Constable, came across to me as a bit weak, I couldn't connect with him at all. Sorry!

This was a super interesting book - not my usual read but i loved it! It was a really great escape and i loved every page!

I received a free electronic ARC of this historical novel on June 29, 2021, from Netgalley, Paul
Smith, and publisher Matador. Thank you all for sharing your hard work with me. I have read this novel of my own volition, and this review reflects my honest opinion of this work. A great deal of research is evident in this glimpse into the Blackwater, both in the summer of 991 AD and again in
Spring and summer of 2014 AD.

The setting of Blackwater Estuary is presented as spooky, both in the tenth century and the twentieth. Located in Essex at the vergence of Blackwater River with the North Sea with several islands peppered among the wetlands, Blackwater is a birdwatchers haven. It has actually been designated as a Ramsar Wetland of International Importance and Special Protection Area and a Natural Nature Reserve. The city of Maldon is a centuries-long center for sea salt collection and the area has a history going back well into the Anglo-Saxon period. Paul Smith wraps all that history around the wetlands with a well-developed mystery and personable characters well defined. The Blackwater is an excellent introduction to this author and this unique seat of Norman history.

I have worked in the Maldon area for the past 15 years and it was exciting and invigorating to read a book set in an area I know well, the story is engrossing and is as a much thriller as is it is a history lesson, the characters were believable and thankfully not your archetypal superhero cop which was a real pleasure

The Blackwater by Paul Smith
What drew me to this book was the location , having lived there for 10 years.
Maldon on the Blackwater estuary.
The book begins in 2014 and a follows DCI William Constable who is trying to catch an international drugs ring and help bring them down. It fails, and the case is put on the back burner, and he finds himself sent back to his own town of Maldon back on the beat.
We are then taken back to Maldon ( Maeldune ) in AD 991 , and follow the life of Wilheim . He works on the Salt pans for his slave master. ( Maldon Sea Salt ! )
What I really loved about the book was the way the story unfolds and interweaves through the two timelines and I found myself really wanting to know what happens in both their lives.
A very cleverly thought out story . Well done Paul Smith a master storyteller !