Published: August 4, 2026
Publisher: Del Rey
Series: Shadow of the Leviathan #3
Genre: Fantasy, Mystery
Pages: 400 (Kindle)
A copy of this book was provided by the publisher in exchange for an honest review.
Synopsis:
In the canton of Sapirdad, two of the Empire’s most powerful families are moments away from going to war with each other, their hundreds of retainers gathered with swords drawn. If blood is spilled, the whole of the empire may be plunged into starvation and chaos.
To deescalate matters, someone must do the prove that one family’s eldest son is innocent of a gruesome and unforgivable murder, despite the incontrovertible evidence against him.
It is with this undertaking that the great detective Ana Dolabra is tasked, her assistant Din at her side—and the two find themselves racing with great speed and little dignity to the scene.
As ever, the impossible proves little obstacle for the deadly combination of Ana’s intellect and Din’s keen eye, and mere hours after riding into the dusty town, Ana glimpses the greater pattern behind the crime. A deeper, subtler web of death is being woven in plain sight, by a mastermind with an ancient magical technology at his disposal.
But even Ana’s uncanny insight is of little use when each new suspect she uncovers ends up dead–with each new killing calculated to bring tensions between the two rival clans past the boiling point. And as Din pursues their adversary through the canton’s wild ranges, sprawling ranches, and reeking slaughterhouses, he finds his loyalties divided in unexpected ways.
Robert Jackson Bennett’s books are always top priority when I get my grubby lil reader hands on them and I just HAD to read A Trade of Blood right away. This is the third book in the Shadow of the Leviathan series, and it doesn’t seem to be the last, so I’m hopeful for at least one more installment of Ana and Din’s mystery solving. This installment most obviously paralleled our world (factory farming, industrialization) and definitely had a dash of Romeo & Juliet thrown in for good measure.
Ana and Din are rushing toward the canton of Sapirdad, where two rival clans are baying for one another’s blood. The heir to the Armenta clan is accused of the murder of the heiress of the Burav clan and there seems very little evidence to deny this, as the man fled a room he was sharing with her and was covered in her blood. Though at first glance it seemed straightforward, Ana and Din sense there is more going on here, especially when the accused describes an enchanting melody he heard before seeming to lose control of himself and butchering the woman in a brutal fashion. His description seems strangely like a method used to control small cat-like creatures that harvest the food in Sapirdad. Is it possible someone has used this same method to control the actions of a human? Well of course it is! It wouldn’t be much of an Ana and Din mystery if it were just mundane murder without a hefty helping of the bizarre!
I personally think this was the most straightforward of the mysteries we’ve encountered thus far, though by no means did it lack complexity and surprises. I think the motives, the western-like ranch setting, and even the brief similarities to Romeo & Juliet just felt the most familiar out of any of the three books. There is definitely still plenty of bizarre stuff going on, especially within the forest and with the Orbis, who are the unit assigned to protect the agriculture of the empire. They are an unusual bunch, often found tasting and inhaling the material of the world around them in order to detect anything unusual. They’re a key part of the story and I love that Robert Jackson Bennett digs deeper into some of the stranger aspects of the empire’s organizations/divisions.
A Trade of Blood does plenty of commentary on the demands of large-scale agriculture required to feed the hungering masses. There are descriptions of slaughterhouses for the giant cows and the use of a parasitic fungus to mind control the harvesting cats. So many topics are broached here – the lengths people go to for legacy, less than ethical experimentation, and the general cruelty and hunger of empire. History is of course told by the winners. I can’t wait to see where this series goes as it delves closer and closer to the heart of the empire.
Powder & Page 
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