The Tainted Cup by Robert Jackson Bennett – Review

Published: February 6, 2024

Publisher: Del Rey

Series: Shadow of the Leviathan #1

Genre: Fantasy

Pages: 432 (Kindle)

My Rating: 5 Stars

A copy of this book was provided by the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

Synopsis:
In Daretana’s most opulent mansion, a high Imperial officer lies dead—killed, to all appearances, when a tree spontaneously erupted from his body. Even in this canton at the borders of the Empire, where contagions abound and the blood of the Leviathans works strange magical changes, it’s a death at once terrifying and impossible.

Called in to investigate this mystery is Ana Dolabra, an investigator whose reputation for brilliance is matched only by her eccentricities.

At her side is her new assistant, Dinios Kol. Din is an engraver, magically altered to possess a perfect memory. His job is to observe and report, and act as his superior’s eyes and ears–quite literally, in this case, as among Ana’s quirks are her insistence on wearing a blindfold at all times, and her refusal to step outside the walls of her home.

Din is most perplexed by Ana’s ravenous appetite for information and her mind’s frenzied leaps—not to mention her cheerful disregard for propriety and the apparent joy she takes in scandalizing her young counterpart. Yet as the case unfolds and Ana makes one startling deduction after the next, he finds it hard to deny that she is, indeed, the Empire’s greatest detective.

As the two close in on a mastermind and uncover a scheme that threatens the safety of the Empire itself, Din realizes he’s barely begun to assemble the puzzle that is Ana Dolabra—and wonders how long he’ll be able to keep his own secrets safe from her piercing intellect.

Featuring an unforgettable Holmes-and-Watson style pairing, a gloriously labyrinthine plot, and a haunting and wholly original fantasy world, The Tainted Cup brilliantly reinvents the classic mystery tale.

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There are a few tropes and subgenres that I will always jump at the chance to read and a good fantasy-mystery is one of those things. Much to my delight, The Tainted Cup is a return to the investigative bureaucrat theme that I so loved with City of Stairs. Robert Jackson Bennett has knocked it out of the park with yet another series opener, introducing readers to an incredibly unique fantasy world that begins with gruesome murder.

I think the official synopsis is quite thorough, so I’ll largely skip the usual summary I do and skip straight to the good bits. When Din and Ana are assigned to the murder investigation of an Imperial officer who spontaneously grew a tree, the duo quickly begin to uncover a case much deeper than Din could have ever anticipated. Though the empire they live in is structured and highly centered around the upkeep of the sea walls, there is plenty of room for corruption and graft by the wealthiest families. The crime initially appears to be one of targeted assassination and possibly even domestic terrorism and the investigation takes Ana and Din to the largest city in the next province. Closer to the sea walls, where the horrifying leviathans move toward the sea walls as the rainy season begins. 

The foundation that makes for such a darkly engaging story has to be the lush, vegetal world this book is set in. So much of the empire centers around plants – their modification, their ability to mutate and create contagion, and even their heavy use in everyday life for something as simple as building materials. And did I mention the leviathans??? The giant horrors that rumble beneath the sea and move toward the lands of the empire during the rainy season, destroying the sea walls and then the cities beyond. The defense of the land from these unfathomable titans is also a major, grounding feature of this story and makes the murder of the imperial engineers a weighty, significant event meriting this deep dive investigation.

I loved both Din and Ana and the Holmes and Watson vibe mentioned in the synopsis is absolutely spot on. Ana is brilliant, so much so that even leaving her home could overwhelm her mind and cause that sharp mind to cut itself and she’s definitely not above engaging in questionable practices. Din, engraved to have perfect recall, acts as her eyes and ears and does the leg work required on such a complicated case even if that takes him into dangerous territory. The reader is following Din, so I felt the most connected to him and loved that though nervous about screwing up his first ‘real’ assignment, Din wasn’t above a legally gray decision either! 

I completely loved the mystery element and I didn’t feel like there was some brilliant, totally unguessable reveal at the end. In hindsight, I felt like there were hints about what was actually going on and who was responsible for the multiple deaths throughout the book. Robert Jackson Bennett didn’t just yank away a table cloth, reveal some unknown killer and wham, magical murder reveal! This was good stuff. There are so many layers to this mystery that just kept getting peeled away until the reveal at the end. I can’t wait to see what cases Ana and Din will tackle next.

Though this doesn’t release until February 2024, I couldn’t resist reading this early and it made my list of Best Books of 2023. I wholeheartedly loved the story for all it was – beautiful, terrifying world, the characters, the compelling mystery plot. This is a book I will be purchasing a physical copy of and I’m hoping The Broken Binding will be doing a special edition because the UK cover is awesome. I can’t recommend this enough – get your pre-orders in so you can jump on the hype train for this expertly plotted Holmesian mystery.