Okay, so I thoroughly enjoyed this one once I got into it, and I think it would be a good “starter” fantasy for readers who aren’t sure if they like the genre - it’s more detective/mystery novel than fantasy, with the plot centered around a string of murders and our MC being the assistant investigator assigned to the case. The magic system is fairly accessible (you “get it” but much is left intentionally unanswered/unexplored), and the world building is done in a manner that gets you up to speed quickly but leaves plenty of room to play with in later books. This one also wrapped up the main mystery nicely thanks to our eccentric Sherlock-esque investigator (no frustrating cliffhangers here) while still leaving me interested and ready for the next one. I’ll definitely continue the series, now I just need a title and release date!

Pub Date: 2/6/24
Review Published: 1/5/24
eARC received from NetGalley and the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

In this mystery begin in Daretana’s mansion where an imperial officer dies from a tree break out from the body. His death is strange “The Man in the Tree”.. Ana Dolabra is called to investigate this death. Ana has eccentricities and her brilliant intelligent help in her investigate. Diniois (Din) Koi is the engraver and Ana's new assistant. Din has a perfect magical memory and his own eccentricities.

Ana and Din both have their own secrets throughout this story.

Throughout the story, you can see a beautiful world building with the characters as the mystery unfolds. Twists and turns as the mystery is revealed in the narrative where Ana wear a blindfold when she solves this case with the help of Din the engraver..

Holmes-and-Watson partnership as the classical is being retold, also I see Agatha Christine in the The Tainted Cup . Agatha Christine stories with detectives Jane Marple and Hercule Poirot. Elementary the TV series.

Highly recommend this book for The Tainted Cup. Robert Jackson Bennett wrote a beautiful magical world with good mystery. This is my first book by this author. I look forward to reading the next chapter in the Shadow of the Leviathan series and Foundryside series.

Thank you to NetGalley for an advanced copy of this book.

Reviewed The Tainted Cup by Robert Jackson Bennett. #TheTaintedCup #NetGalley

Thank you to NetGalley, the Publishers, and Robert Jackson Bennett for an ARC of The Tainted Cup. This was honestly a fantastic book - mystery with fantasy. The fantasy wasn’t overwhelming, which was great for a little dabble into the fantasy world. It took a key role, but it wasn’t overwhelming to the point where you were totally lost. If that makes sense? lol! If you’re a fantasy reader - you’ll love it. If you’re new to fantasy and love mystery - this is right up your alley. I am obsessed with Ana - what a wonderful character. Din’s character is superb. I was worried at the beginning of this, but so excited for the 2nd!

The Tainted Cup

3.75 ⭐️

I don’t think fantasy/mystery is a dual genre storyline I’ve found before, but this book is definitely right in the middle of those two!

Ana and her assistant, Din, are tasked with uncovering and extremely unconventional murder where a plant like tree has sprouted out of someone. Deaths like these start occurring more and more as they try to uncover the much bigger motive behind the murders. Meanwhile, the entire Empire is fighting a war with leviathans, enormous creatures threatening the land.

I genuinely loved Din and Ana so much as characters. They were so authentic and made me laugh out loud at times with their back and forth as they investigated. The plot and the types of magical abilities were a little hard to follow at times. I still thoroughly enjoyed the mystery and reveal!

I say this every time I read a Robert Jackson Bennett book: he is one of my favorite authors. Invariably, I get sucked in into each and every one of his stories - thankfully, he is quite a prolific author, and he completes his trilogies (this is his third one) in a timely manner, releasing on average a book a year (no need to fear being left hanging).

I consider Bennett an excellent gateway into fantasy literature (especially if the traditional swords and sorcery genre of it does not appeal to you). His 2014 "City of Stairs" is a novel that opens with a murder mystery (an excellent one at that) and before you know it you are reading epic fantasy.

"The Tainted Cup" mirrors that, in fact. A very strong murder mystery introduces us to the protagonists who then slowly reveal the fantasy setting and magic system that permeates it. The magic system in this book is far from traditional, and rather subtle.

Nothing is straightforward about this murder. A high Imperial officer is killed when a tree spontaneously erupts from his body. The primary investigator assigned to the case is Ana Dolabra, a brilliant detective - but one that is *highly* eccentric. Among her quirks are her insistence on wearing a blindfold at all times (which strengthens her senses) and her refusal to step outside the walls of her home.

Due to these unusual requirements, Ana employs an assistant, Dinios Kol. In many ways, we get to know Ana alongside Din, as he's only worked for her for 4 months and is discovering her eccentricities - and deducting prowess - as the novel progresses. Din is extraordinary as well. He is an Engraver - an investigative officer who was magically altered to possess a perfect memory.

I won't reveal the particulars of the plot, other than to add that the stakes of the case rise sharply when the murder mystery turns out to be central to the safety of all of the Empire and its people. The land is tyrannized by magical leviathans, who cyclically crawl from the depths of the ocean sawing death and destruction. The officer killed by the erupting tree was an engineer highly involved in the protections designed to defeat the Empire from these monstrous creatures. Ana and Din fear that his death was part of a larger plot.

Characterization is the strongest element of the book. Both Ana and Din are neurotypical, and it's a pleasure to see them written as leads. The development of both over the course of the book is filled with insight and revelations, although plenty has been kept under wraps (especially regarding Ana) to look forward to in future books.

I also expect that the fantasy element, especially the mystery of the leviathans and their magical impact on the land is something to be further developed as the series progresses.

I highly recommend this book.

-- Name of the publication/blog/outlet where review will be published/posted: Goodreads
-- Run date for when the review will be posted/published: January 5, 2024

Of the books that I have read by Robert Jackson Bennett, this has become my favorite. The world he has created in The Tainted Cup is fascinating!

The land is divided by rings - the innermost is the safest (populated by the wealthy) while the others are in danger from enormous leviathans that attempt to come on shore during the wet season. The bodies of these leviathans are harvested and their blood is used for the creation of augmentations that are applied to every aspect of society — people, agriculture, medicine, weapons, etc.

Our main character is a young man that has been altered to be an Engraver. He imprints everything that he sees and can recall the smallest detail. He’s been chosen as an assistant for an eccentric, extremely intelligent older woman who has difficulty with overstimulation so chooses to blindfold herself. She can draw accurate conclusions from what she allows herself to experience from the world around her and the information Din (her assistant) collects. They become embroiled in a grisly murder investigation that has far-reaching consequences for the Empire.

In addition to the setting, I loved the two main characters! They possess distinct personalities that complement each other perfectly. While I predicted the whodunnit aspects of the story, their dynamic makes what could’ve been a dry murder investigation into an immersive and entertaining read.

I want more from this world and our dynamic duo. I can’t wait to continue this series!

What an interesting start to the year!

The Tainted Cup is the first book in the new series by Robert Jackson Bennett, Shadow of the Leviathan. The story follows Kol, an assistant investigator with a perfect memory, and Ana, an investigator for the government, as the two of them are tasked to solve a murder via the spontaneous growth of a plant from the body of another government official, and things turn out to be much more complex than they initially seemed.

I don’t want to say much more about the plot because of fear of spoilers, but what I will say is that this book gives Sherlock Holmes vibes. The writing is very methodical and there are some jumps in logic that I didn’t quite see coming but make sense in retrospect. Some of the descriptions toward the end of the book get a bit gruesome, which I thought contrasted the rest of the writing a bit, but it was nothing crazy. I will say, this book took me a hot minute to get into; there is so much world-building toward the beginning that I spent the first third of the book always slightly confused, but once I began getting it, the story flowed better and captured my attention more. Ultimately, I don’t think this book was really for me, but that doesn’t mean it’s not for someone else, rather there were things I tend to look for more in my reading (like more character relationships) that weren’t there. I think the plot left off in a good place for the rest of the series to continue.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for an early copy for review!

This was the first book I've read by this author and it definitely will not be my last!

I wasn't sure what to expect going into this one but found the synopsis intriguing--A murder mystery where the cause of death was a tree sprouting out of a person...

Set in an interesting world where we have leviathans that come during the wet season and people with magical enhancements to give them abilities (such as perfect memory, impossible strength, etc) We follow Din as he serves as the apprentice to a quirky, brilliant investigator named Ana as they look into the death as well as bigger mysteries to be unfolded.

I highly recommend this one to both mystery and SFF fans, especially fans of the Justice of Kings. Some similarities include the mystery focus in a fantasy setting with magical enhancements aiding in the investigation, told by the apprentice.

I'm looking forward to hopefully learning more about the leviathans in the next book (I have theories!) and more about Ana's backstory as well. Eagerly awaiting the next installment!

I would put it somewhere between a high 4 to a 5--rounded up to a 5

I have missed RJB's inventive world-building and masterful craft of blending it with superb characterizations and commentary on empire and colonialism and all its flaws and foibles. City of Stairs remains one of my all time favorite fantasy books that I still force people to read to show what this genre can accomplish when deployed with careful craft, nuanced social commentary and extremely well-rendered characters and relationships. Ana and Din remind me of same chaotic symbiotic dynamics as Shara and Sigurd, but with so much more humor than the previous series. The murder mystery aspect of this is kinda predictable but follows the same beats as a classic Sherlockian unfolding, therefore not the most interesting part of this. It reminded me of Alexis Hall's own Sherlockian fantasy novel, so no new ground broken on that front. But as I said, it's the larger world-building that sneaks up on you fast and will keep you coming back for more in this world, even though the story works perfectly well as a standalone. But I NEED more of this world that is very reminiscent of Attack on Titan, and whatever scrapes the mutually exasperating and wry humored investigation duo get up to as they move through the rings of Ba Sing Se, I mean, the Empire of the Khanum.

This was astoundingly entertaining in ways that I was not expecting. I requested a copy of this book simply because I adored the first two books in Bennett's last series. (I was disappointed by the last book, but that's neither here nor there.) ANYWAY, I was excited to see what he could do with a murder mystery, and I WAS NOT DISAPPOINTED.

Bennett is a master of world building, and boy does that shine through here in The Tainted Cup. This is a beaten-down world hanging on by its fingernails. Every wet season, there are leviathans that breach the world's walls and threaten to end life as everyone knows it. It's not a world I'd want to live in, but despite that, Bennett makes you want to keep reading to see what else he's layered in! Among other things present in the novel -- people use the leviathan's blood to alter themselves into superhumans. Our main character, Din, has been altered to have a perfect memory. Other characters have been altered to be geniuses at math, have super strength, can see in the dark, etc. This was SO cool, and really made for interesting twists as the book went on as sometimes these alterations have no visual hints.

The murder mystery itself is just phenomenal, and I'm not going to spoil it for you. You do find out ALL the answers by the end of the book, so don't be worried about cliffhangers. I really hope that Bennett writes more in this world, because it is just plain fascinating. Not to mention the characters themselves are just endlessly entertaining. I loved Din being confused, but willing to help, and I loved Ana for being just batshit insane and three steps ahead of everyone else most of the time.

Fantastic. If you're looking for a wildly original book to grasp your attention, look no further than THE TAINTED CUP.

The Tainted Cup is a murder mystery set in a fantasy world. I will first try to describe the world. Firstly, we have Leviathans, which are huge creatures from the sea. There is a wall that is there to protect the Empire. There are engineers and people who work at the walls to protect everyone. There are also big strong families that have a say in politics and how things run. There are also different alterations that people can have that give them special abilities. Our main character is an engraver for an investigator. An engraver is able to memorize everything and spew back out the information. He is the assistant to an interesting investigator that is brilliant and quirky. They are sent to the wall to investigate a murder.

This book is like Holmes and Watson but in a unique fantasy world full of beasts and alterations. I enjoyed this book. I don't read a lot of fantasy, but I liked this one because of the murder mystery aspect. The mystery itself had a lot of different twists and turns that I did not see coming. I liked how Ana (the investigator) slowly unraveled everything. I feel like the world itself is very interesting in this book. Who doesn't love big sea creatures and a wall that keeps them out? I also enjoyed the different abilities and alterations that people had. It made for an interesting cast of characters. I liked the relationship between Din and Ana, they had some banter back and forth but they solved mysteries well together.

I do feel like the world building was just a bit too much for me. I don't read a lot of fantasy so that may be the reason why. People who read a lot of fantasy and are used to world building might not be bothered by it. I also found it just a bit too political for my liking. I don't tend to like stories that involve politics and powerful families.

I did like this story and the characters in here. I am excited for the next book to come out and follow these two as they investigate more! Thanks so much to Net galley and Random House for the arc of this book in exchange for an honest review! This book is going to be released on February 6th, 2024!

This book was so interesting and kept me intrigued and on my toes for the entire story! It is a perfect fantasy mystery, with a complex fantasy world and a convoluted murder mystery! The murder of a senior official by the spontaneous sprouting of a tree out of their body sends the main characters into a mystery that could expose high levels of corruption that threatens the Empire. It is such a wild way to start a story, but led to a great mystery and incredible reveal! The fantasy world was well developed and easy to understand since most of the world building was described as they investigated the murder. I also loved the neurodivergent representation. I absolutely loved this story and I can’t wait to see what mysteries the characters uncover next!

Thank you to NetGalley and Del Ray for this ARC in exchange for my honest review. This is the fist book I’ve read by Robert Jackson Bennett and I can’t wait to go back and read more of his fantasy novels!

THE TAINTED CUP was one of my most anticipated reads of the year but unfortunately it wound up being just okay to me.

Here is what I liked:
- The mystery itself was intriguing. I wanted to keep reading to know what happened, and the reveal was great and was surprising but made sense in context.
- I enjoyed the various aspects of the magic system.
- All of the characters were enjoyable and interesting.

Here is what I didn't like:
- The world building was nonexistent regarding the Leviathan. These were ATTACK ON TITAN-like creatures that attacked a wall around the city. They had almost no impact on the story as a whole, and the main plot could have progressed without them existing. In other words, they acted like a red herring. I found it incredibly unsatisfying to not know more about what was going on with them, especially because they were not critical to the unraveling of the mystery.
- I found the book to be far too long. I wish it was about 100-150 pages shorter.

Overall, I might give the second book a chance, but if we don't learn more about the Leviathans in a way that hooks me, I do not think I will continue after that.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for providing me an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

The Tainted Cup looked like a great fantasy romp from the description and with the majority of reader reviews being positive I was excited to dive into it. Unfortunately, this was a DNF for me. I got about 30% of the way through and had to put it down.

I can see why folks are loving this book-the world building is tremendous. However, because the story starts off immediately with the investigation of the initial murder, you as the reader are left playing catch up trying to figure out the world that you have been placed into. The two main characters have potential, and I can clearly see the Holmes/Watson comparisons that are mentioned in the description of the book. Ana and Din have a great chemistry and Ana has some great snark about her character. I also appreciate that Din has dyslexia and you see how he struggles and creates ways to adapt to it. All this being said, it wasn't enough to keep me engaged to keep reading.

Overall, I think it boils down to this one wasn't for me, but I'm sure that avid fantasy readers will love it.

Amazing world building. Though it did start out just throwing you into the story, once you started getting through the story, it sucks you in & you don’t want to put it down. Phenomenally written, well explained & the characters (Din & Ana) were amazing. I will definitely be recommending to everyone.

Thank you, Net Galley & Robert Jackson Bennett the opportunity to read this ARC. I loved it

5/5 ⭐️
Holy crap! We better get more stories involving these characters cause they were absolutely enjoyable. Each and everyone was weird and complex but had me completely invested, most especially Din and Ana. The latter was brilliant. She was such a great mix of Sherlock Holmes and Ms Marple and Detective Benoit while making me genuinely laugh out loud. Meanwhile I loved the subtly of Din being dyslexic but excellent at memorizing & remembering to the point of being one of the rare specials in their society as an engraver. I also loved how our narrator finds his way of life & beliefs & values tested while assistant to Ana.
It’s when you read books like this that you realize how inadequate some other fantasy worlds are. This goes down to the smallest details to create such an interesting merger between a classic murder mystery and fantasy. I feel like most fantasies nowadays take place in the center of power. But I liked this focuses on a lowly guy from a lowly part of the empire. Then peels back the layers to show the complexities of running such an empire.
This story was absolutely brillant. It was thought provoking. It was unique with its merging of two different genres. It was bingeable with how the plot unraveled with characters I hope will become canon like those they reminded me of. I cannot recommend this book enough.
Thank you to NetGalley and PenguinRandom House Publishing Group - Ballan for providing an advance reader copy of this book for my honest review.

4.5
This book started out pretty slow, but it gradually unfurled into a really interesting mystery. I enjoyed the way I was just thrown into this world with seemingly little explanation, and I just had to figure out bits and pieces of the context, magic system, etc. as I went. Plot elements were introduced very naturally. The way there's no explicit exposition was reminiscent of Emily Wilde and Gideon the Ninth, both of which I tremendously enjoyed.

Though this book is a great standalone, I think I was sucked in enough to be interested in any that may follow. What a pleasant surprise and start to 2024!

Received a free copy from Netgalley.

The Tainted Cup is my first read of 2024!
We follow Din an assistant investigator trying to solve a gruesome death of a tree growing out of a man. What the heck.

This book reminds me of cyberpunk due to the different augmentations with flare of body horror. Throw in AOT and tada! You’ve got Tainted Cup!
I absolutely fell in love with the banter between Ann and Din. Possibly the highlight for me!

This murder mystery has amazing world and character building. Would highly recommend!

This is my first RJB book and can’t wait to read more!

Intriguing worldbuilding, memorable characters, and a mystery to unravel. I was eagerly looking forward to reading THE TAINTED CUP and I was not disappointed. This is one I'll be recommending to readers interested in cool magic systems, murder mysteries, and fantastic character dynamics.

[NOTE: Unless otherwise stated, my NetGalley feedback is not a blurb or endorsement. If a publisher wishes to use any part of my comments for promotional purposes, please contact me or my agent via email. I would prefer not to include star ratings but NetGalley won't let me post without one, so all will be 5 stars.]

Thank you @delreybooks @netgalley for the #gifted copy of this ebook!

WOW! Be ready to be whisked away to a magical world filled with adventure. The book starts out with a member of the high court murdered. What makes his murder so strange is a tree with roots and branches sprout immediately from the man’s body. How strange! This causes a further investigation because of the weird manner in which he died. Anna Dolabra swoops in as the lead investigator along side of Dinios her assistant. Anna is known for her unusual processes in how she goes about searching for clues including wearing a blindfold to try and make her senses more astute. Her assistant Dinios is one of a kind as well as he uses his photographic memory and his ability to recall exact conversations overheard making it easy to piece together clues. Together they work as a team to get to the bottom of the strange crimes and occurrences happening in this world!

Thoughts: I am just starting to get more into fantasy and this book was so unique! I feel the author created a world that was filled with distinctive and eccentric characters making it very easy to become immersed in this story. The storyline was very entertaining and I adored both Anna and Din’s ways. They truly were the perfect pair! The murder mystery, world of plants using mushrooms 🍄 and magical fantasy swept me away and didn’t let me go! I feel this is a perfect book for someone wanting to dabble in fantasy as it had a solid story without being overwhelming to dive in! I am truly excited to see what happens in the next book!