A murder mystery with unique investigators set in a fantasy world populated by murderous plants and the ever-present threat of invasion from massive creatures; how could I resist?

The Tainted Cup is an entertaining story with fascinating characters, clever writing and fantastic world-building. The relationship of mentor and mentee between the eccentric investigator Ana Dolabra and her new assistant Dinios “Din” Kol is both engaging and intriguing, as Din is gripped by Ana’s incredible intuition while contending with her perplexing demands and sometimes overly blunt personality.

The crime that Din and Ana are investigating is detailed and multifaceted and I enjoyed learning new information as Din and the other characters discovered it and tried to solve the mystery along with them.

Din is a wonderful main character and while his ability as an Engraver, a person agumented to recall information and conversations down to the minute detail is remarkably useful, he still requires Ana’s perception and deductive reasoning to help put things together. His desire to follow the rules is sometimes at odds with the unexpected situations he finds himself in and his personal struggles make him immensely relatable.

The Tainted Cup is an excellent novel and if it does continue as part of a series, then I look forward to reading about Ana and Din’s future endeavors.

Thank you to NetGalley, Del Rey Books and Robert Jackson Bennett for providing this eARC. All opinions expressed are solely my own.

4 stars

Hmm, should I have read Sherlock Holmes before this? Or maybe one of the author's other works. Is this his normal writing style?

This story takes place in the Khanum Empire. It is a land that lives with a level of fear of the wet seasons. For in the wet seasons, the chance of having the sea walls breached by a leviathan and contagions spread is much higher. That's right this land is filled with monstrous sea creatures, however you only get one disturbing glance at them. I feel from how it was described that it might come back to be an important fact. The empire is set up in a series of rings of land called Kantons. The outermost kanton is against the sea. The legion there is responsible for the defense of the whole empire. It is only briefly mentioned but there was another species before the human empire. These were the ones that built the sea wall and Titan Road. The people seem to speak of them with fondness and awe, at this, I believe it might be believed that we lived peacefully until they died out naturally. However, that does sound odd for a human civilization.

There is not exactly a magic system here. More like a version of fantasy science. In this realm, the apothecaries use parts of leviathans to change people. Some people are altered to be able to be better soldiers, others to improve memory. The wealthy use these changes to look more appealing and live longer. There are also infusions to protect against contagions. There are several types of awful ways to die that could be spread by spores or plants.

From the description, I had expected two main characters. However, we will see the book only through Dinios Kol. He was appointed to be the assistant investigator to Ana Dolabra only four months ago. Anna is an eccentric genius to be sure. Din has to be her eyes and ears around the kanton as they go about the investigation. Din is also hiding something. He is fearful of anyone finding out and it costing his job. You will find out what it is pretty early on. However, as the story keeps going there will be another layer added to this.

The Tainted Cup follows Din and Ana as they investigate the death of Captain Blas at a very prominent estate. In the Khanum Empire deaths by contagion are mostly contained but not uncommon. The dead captain was a high-ranking Engineer for the Legion and was found in most a disturbing state. As the facts lead our investigators to high stakes it quickly becomes clear this was only part of a larger puzzle. This type of enigma is exactly what Ana wants to crack.

This who did it was masterfully done. We had our suspects to chase all while the threat of the leviathans growing closer loomed. It gave a very different feel to the mystery with this other threat. Then the larger scope of why Ana was placed in that kanton was revealed and it was just the perfect touch to be able to continue the series.

I really enjoyed the book overall. There were times when I wanted the story to move forward at a better speed. We will spend a good bit of time looking at the details, but this is an investigation so those were important facts. This is a series that takes a different spin on mystery and fantasy. I will be keeping an eye out to see how it continues.

This book is available Tuesday February 6th, 2024.
Thank you to Random House Publishing Group Ballantine for sending me a Netgalley eARC in exchange for my opinion.
I devoured this book from the beginning. I wouldn't say it's “fast -paced” but evenly paced enough that I didn't find myself trudging through any moments.
If Fourth Wing was the gateway for Romance readers to Fantasy, then this book is the gateway for Mystery/Thriller readers to Fantasy.
An interesting world with constant Leviathan attacks plus a hierarchy of politics and an interesting magic system. Din's magic as an Engraver is the recalling of a full memory, much like photographic memory, but he is able to achieve this through ability “augmentation” and using vials of scents to associate memories of the moment. This ability is very useful when investigating crimes. I consistently was reminded of Psychology class where we learned about short-term and long-term memory works and how scents naturally can stir up memories, such as an old girlfriends perfume. I thought this particular magic was well thought out pertaining to that.
The mystery itself left you clues, but not too many that you had all the pieces to figure it all out and be disappointed,
Ana and Din were a charming investigating duo to read. I haven't read from this author before, so I don't have a comparison to his previous series.
I only had couple things that were a little confusing as a reader. I had a hard time keeping track of some of the side characters if they went off page for awhile. I could recall them after a few sentences, but I did have that issue consistently. The only other thing was that I felt the romance kind of came out of no where. I'm not sure if it's a started thread to continue later, but it just seemed out of place to me.
Overall, I had a very fun time solving this fantastical mystery and can't wait to see what is next!

I’d like book 2 now please! Interesting magic system where people can be mutated to have superhuman abilities of some sort or another, and the world can also be manipulated and things mutated.. Of course, this means bad things can happen with the manipulations to the environment. The main character is a dyslexic young man changed to have a magically eidetic memory, who is assigned to be the assistant to a woman who serves the empire as a detective/investigator. There’s monsters coming from the sea who could easily slaughter all of humanity but of course humans are also busy killing one another and so crisis must be averted..

Review was posted on StoryGraph and Goodreads on 2/4/24. Review will be posted to Amazon on release date.

When I saw this book was pitched as a fantasy murder mystery I knew I would either love every second of it or it wouldn’t be my cup of tea. I absolutely loved this raucous wild book. The world building is quite excellent and constructed in a way that moved quickly without feeling like the reader was missing information. I loved Din and the engravers. Din was the perfect character to guide us through the novel. He is aware of a lot of things happening but also isn't all knowing which was so fun as the twists and turns emerged. Ana absolutely had me cackling at times with how frank and to the point she could be. I really enjoyed this story and can’t wait to have friends read and enjoy it as well.

I had no idea what this book was about when I decided to read it but I’m so glad I did. Ana and Din make the most unlikely investigator duo to solving murders and outing political deceit in the Empire tormented by titans. Literal titans that break down the empire walls and spread contagion amongst the civilians.

This story grasped me by the neck from the very beginning, reading as if my life depended on it. The world building was beautifully laid out to you so that even if something didn’t make complete sense at the moment you knew it’d make sense later.

If you love political intrigue, murder mysteries in a corrupt empire, and characters that will make you laugh throughout the story then pick this one up.

Can’t wait for the next book in the series! Thank you netgalley for this eARC in exchange for an honest review.

This whodunit set in a fantasy world was such a fun journey and the perfect book to read as a change of pace after my mafia romance binge. It gave gender fluid Sherlock Holmes and his sidekick Watson vibes set in a medieval-feeling fantasy land with poisonous plants, empire threatening giant creatures and murderers around every bend.

When assistant to an investigator Dubois Kol - a young man in his first assignment who struggles to read - is sent to see a gruesome murder scene, he and the investigator he assists, Ana Dolabra, are sent to the most dangerous canton in the empire. There they’ll have to navigate unusual poisonings, corruption in every part of society, and a series of confusing motives to find who has been killing elite members of society in the most gruesome way possible. And they must do it all at the most dangerous time of year, while the giant leviathans beyond the walls threaten the very empire.

This was a fun murder mystery with a fantasy setting instead of just a sprawling fantasy novel. Din is a ruler follower who wants to serve his empire while Ana breaks rules at every single turn, making them such a fun crime solving duo. I also loved Din’s internal struggles with feeling he didn’t belong and how stronger and more sure of himself he got as the book progressed. My biggest complaint is that he got a love interest right and the end and I demand more of this in the next books. Give Din all the hunky soldiers! Overall I loved the world building and the relationship between Din and Ana and I can’t wait to see what other adventures they go on. This comes out 2/6 and if you’re in a Holmes does fantasy mood, I highly recommend it!!

I don't read much fantasy, but I do read murder mysteries as they tend to be my comfort read.

One of the main elements that I thoroughly enjoyed is the world-building. It was intricately woven into the storyline and at times I didn't realize just how much background I knew about the Khanum. Ana at times reminded me of Hercule Poirot and had all the elements of a who-dun-it from that era (but set in an even cooler universe).

I recommend this book to anyone who wants to experience a murder mystery in a different world, or to someone who wants to branch out of the mystery genre.

Thank you NetGalley & Random House Publishing for allowing me to read this novel ahead of its release date.

Well, that was a fun journey through the rings of The Holy Realm of Khanum.

Not only are we treated to a who-dun-it with many moving parts, we are also given the added nervousness of a giant titan out in the sea waiting to strike at any moment. While it took me a couple of chapters to become immersed in the story and gather my wits about me, I totally fell for the characters.
This was a well written mystery/fantasy in the vein of Sherlock and Holmes with a bit more grit and sass and an extremely well thought out world. The combination of Ana and Dol, the main characters, definitely makes you want to know what comes next for them and leaves you wanting to know more about their pasts.

Many thanks to Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine, Del Rey, and NetGalley for the digital ARC in exchange for my review!

The Tainted Cup is the first book in the new Shadow of Leviathan fantasy mystery series. A string of murders are haunting the Empire and the best detectives, Ana Dolabra and Dinios Kol are called to investigate. The pair travel across the land in search of the answers, overturning every rock until they have uncovered the mastermind behind the evil plot.

I have the unpopular opinion of not enjoying this book, so bear that in mind when reading on. I enjoy fantasy to an extent, but I think this book was too much fantasy for me. With a whole different realm that I found confusing, I just couldn’t get into this book. I do think the author did a great job creating this fantasy world, but it wasn’t for me. I found the story to be long and drawn out when I think it could have been half this length and still gotten to the same point. I didn’t like the Sherlock and Watson-esque pairing and thought that added something to the overall mystery, but that wasn’t enough to make the book into something I fully enjoyed. Like I said at the beginning, my opinion is not the popular, so there is a very good chance that you would like this if this is more your wheelhouse. This wasn’t for me, but many other readers seemed to enjoy it.

The Tainted Cup is a fantastic fantasy murder mystery. This is one of my favorite genre crossovers yet is hard to find, particularly done well, so I was ecstatic that this book absolutely knocked it out of the park.

The fantasy world-building is just incredible. It's a key part of the mystery, expertly woven into the story so it never felt like it was being dumped on the reader, and left me wanting to read more set in this world.

This was my first RJB book and I'm excited to go explore his backlist.

Thank you to Del Rey and Netgalley for providing an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Like a who done-it fantasy, the world slowly develops but grabs your attention as you follow main detective Ana and her apprentice type side kick Din solve the mystery of influential people being unalived by mysterious plants. Think sci fi poison with the plants. Be prepared for a very procedural type story but if you enjoy movies like Knives Out and the Thin Man this is for you.
I enjoyed very much how the author explains the fantasy world- the world develops naturally and not feeling as if it is just being explained to the reader. This would have been five stars for me but the pacing at the end was off and the reveal felt pretty rushed for how patient the rest of the story had been.

Thank you to Random House Publishing and Net Galley for my complimentary copy of The Tainted Cup. All thoughts and opinions are my own

The Tainted Cup was just a tad too science fiction for me. The mystery was decent though. I found myself skipping over all the words I couldn’t pronounce so I
should have paired the audiobook.

I have read other reviews and it seems everyone loves this book and the world it is set in. Sadly it was not for me.

Perfect if you like
Science fiction
Mystery

The Tainted Cup was my introduction to Robert Jackson Bennett and this style of fantasy mystery which did not disappoint. There were twists I could see coming and others that I was completely surprised about.

The Tainted Cup starts with a high ranking officer being killed by a plant growing inside of him and then Bennett throw sin a huge wall (Game of Thrones correlation?) that keeps out leviathans out of the towns. But what happens when more people are killed by the mysterious plant and the wall becomes compromised? Ana and Din with their Sherlock/Dr. Watson dynamic come to the rescue! Bennett does a great job at intertwining the stories all together is a nice bow.

Thanks so much Netgalley and Random House Publishing for the ARC!

I received a free copy from NetGalley. The mystery was good. The fantasy world setting required a glossary which was not provided.

The Tainted Cup by Robert Jackson Bennett is a fantasy, mystery, and political thriller all rolled into one. The story starts out with a horrific murder in a manor house and progresses to much more than just a murder to solve. Dinois Kol is the assistant to the investigator and he is tasked with using his engraver enhancements to help solve this murder. Ana, the investigator, is a blind Sherlock Holmes' type investigator who appears to be a bit eccentric but in fact is more of a genius. Together they make a formidable, yet odd team of crime fighters.
The world building and political system of this story is vast and well thought out. The characters are diverse and fully formed. The plot is original and intriguing, although it develops slowly.
I loved trying to solve the murder mystery while at the same time, trying to figure out what political plots were going on behind the scenes. I loved that the solution to the murder was not easy to attain and that everyone appears suspect at one time or another. I loved the character of Dinois, who was strong and vulnerable at the same time. I loved the character of Ana, who is smart, brave, and yet totally crazy. I am eager to read additional books in this series.
Thank you to Netgalley and Ballantine, Random House publishing for the advanced copy of the book. The opinions are my own.

Surprising, interesting, fun. Think of all the good words you know and they would fit to describe this story. It was amazing. Compelling, riveting, unpredictable. I had no idea what to expect when I began reading The Tainted Cup, couldn’t quite fit it into any category. But it’s a good solid mystery. I was kept in suspense right up until the very satisfying end. Every reveal along the way traces back to a solid clue and facts that are uncovered bit by bit.

I love a good mystery, and the idea of a classic crime investigation set in a fantasy world was outrageous and intriguing. Watson and Holmes is a good description Din and Ana, although Din is pretty sharp on his own most of the time. Ana’s brilliant but eccentric and quirky. Irritating yet irresistible. Din is an enigma: on the surface it seems like he landed this job as a last resort, hasn’t been quite enough, hasn’t put in quite enough effort. But there’s a bit of brilliance there, too, and he is quite good at going step by step and putting piece after piece together. And he has some pretty big secrets. I got so caught up in the mystery that at times I almost – note I say almost – forgot about the fantasy. But the fantasy is fantastic. A man wasn’t killed with a knife and left in an alley; he was killed when a tree spontaneously erupted from his body. It doesn’t ever become routine, but instead author Robert Jackson Bennett makes it a normal, necessary part of the story. Of course a tree broke through his body; there’s a clue there and Din will find it.

The Tainted Cup is well-written, expertly plotted, smoothly executed. Multi-layered, deep, fascinating. Unforgettable phrasing, subtle and not-so-subtle humor and twists and turns that keep you guessing. Best of all, the oddities and the everyday are so perfectly blended together that you are absorbed in the people and the events and the anticipation, in an environment described in such detail it’s almost like a movie. You can see it and you can feel it. You can see that tree.

Thanks to Random House Publishing Group, Penguin Random House for providing an advance copy of The Tainted Cup, Book 1 in the Shadow of the Leviathan series. I thoroughly enjoyed it and can’t wait for the next book in the series. I have a feeling this may prove to be my favorite book of the year. I voluntarily leave this review; all opinions are my own.

The Tainted Cup is the first book in Robert Jackson Bennett's new series "The Shadow of the Leviathan". I have read the author's Divine Cities Trilogy before and absolutely loved it, so I was excited to get approved for an eArc of this book and after finishing it I just want the next one, even after some initial worries.

Starting off, I have a very hard time with first-person narratives. I often need a very present narrator, where after just a sentence or two can say "Oh, so this narrator is (insert adjective)". This wasn’t the case here and it took me some time to understand who our narrator was and after I understood that I absolutely loved Din. I really loved seeing the interactions with his mentor Ana and the other side characters (especially one who I won't spoil, iykyk). The way he grew into his own was really fun to see.
The prose style was also easily understandable for me as a non-native english speaker and i didn't encounter any difficult words. Still if you have worries, i would recommend to brush up on some basic vocabulary concerning nature, medicine and technology.

The mystery itself was really engaging and I liked guessing what could have happened. I saw a few things coming, but even when I guessed correctly it didn’t take away from the mystery, as it had some very high stakes that kept me on the edge of my seat.
The worldbuilding itself was also masterful. The way plants, fungus and parasites were integrated into the technology and "magic" was intriguing. Like fernpaper for building houses, so that when the Leviathans come they crumple instead of crash. How vines can be used as gates, which open if you have the right reagent key. All of those details truly transported me into the alien tropical jungle world. A lot of this intricate worldbuilding is also really important to the plot and the case surrounding it. Honestly I am surprised by how interconnected the murder case and the worldbuilding was. Just wow.

All in all a fantastic first entry to a new series that is definitely going on my auto buy list.

Well, this was simply marvelous! Droll, witty, clever, creative, and entertaining, The Tainted Cup is a traditional detective mystery set in a fantastical world that’s constantly under threat from leviathans from the sea and where the people are augmented and suffused to enhance their bodies, senses, and/or minds.

Our main characters are the earnest and endearingly dry Dionios “Din” Kol, an apprentice training to be an assistant detective who’s been suffused to become an “engraver” (think a superhuman kind of eidetic memory) and the foul-mouthed and easily-bored Ana Dolabra, a whip-smart head detective who hand-picked Din to be her assistant and has given him nothing but grief since. These two cracked me up: Between Ana’s color commentary and Din’s naivety they’re precious together. Comparison has been made to Holmes and Watson, but that’s not quite true. This is just experienced, eccentric detective and newbie detective, but the camaraderie the two show and how much their association with one another evolves and grows throughout this book is one of my favorite parts of the story.

The world building is fabulous. This takes place in a world where all building and clothing materials are organic. Houses are made from tough vines. Screens are made from paper. It’s the people and animals that have the unnatural augmentations. They can be made unnaturally large and strong, but it makes their age span shorter. They can be given very strong memories, senses of smell, touch sensitivity, and more. The more money you have and the more important you are the more grafts and suffusions you are likely to have access to and need.

The story is fantastic, full of adventure, action, political intrigue, espionage, and conspiracy. Robert Jackson Bennett left an ending that’s not a cliffhanger but leaves plenty of room for another book for sure. I’ll definitely want to read it!

I was provided a copy of this title by NetGalley and the author. All thoughts, opinions, views, and ideas expressed herein are mine and mine alone. Thank you.

File Under: 5 Star Review/Book Series/Epic Fantasy/Fantasy/Fantasy Series/Mystery

For any mystery lovers looking to try fantasy, or fantasy fans who are looking to delve into mystery, The Tainted Cup by Robert Jackson Bennett is the perfect cross-genre novel. I definitely fall into the mystery lover category, and have lately been stretching my preferences to fantasy, so the description of this book appealed to me, and the reading experience was quite the ride!

Like most fantasy authors, Mr. Bennett does a fantastic job of world building, and the Sherlock Holmes/Watson vibe of Din and Ana left me excited to see what the next book in the series brings. These characters are such a fun pair, and their witty conversation added that little bit of humor that is characteristic of a great detective/sidekick combination. As someone who does not read a lot of fantasy, I struggled a little with the vocabulary needed to understand what was happening at times, but rereading the passages helped, and I was able to comprehend most of the situations. I will definitely read the next book in the series when it is released.

Thank you to Netgalley and Random House-Ballantine for the digital ARC ofT he Tainted Cup by Robert Jackson Bennett. The opinions in this review are my own.