I am not an avid fan of fantasy books but I love mysteries. However, this book blended both together with such smoothness that it was a very enjoyable read. The author did an outstanding job of creating a fantasy world with such great details that you could almost believe you had been there. The main characters that reminded you a lot of Sherlock and Watson were super investigators who solved the mysterious deaths that had confused others.
This is a great standalone book but I think that it would also make a great series.

Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for the opportunity to read an ARC of this novel.

I tend to keep my fantasy and mystery stories separate so it's a refreshing change when I find a book that does both really well. The world-building so familiar to readers of fantasy is some of the best I've read, and the mystery is tightly plotted and laid out with some cleverness.

I hope to see more blends of genres in future releases from this author!

Immensely readable murder-mystery/fantasy combo featuring characters I can't wait to read more about in sequels!

Frankly, this book fucking rocked. I am not the target audience for mysteries normally but I really got into the way the mystery(ies) at the center of this story pulled you through learning about the world, which was FASCINATING. I am also terrible at translating visual descriptions in text to anything worthwhile in my brain but I spent the time to attempt it with this book because it really laid out a sense of place. I have every intention of reading it again when it comes out because?? I cannot wait until the next one!! (And yet I must). I haven't even gotten to the characters yet, but this book did a great job at filling out a pretty large cast. Our two main investigators in the center were both great, and I especially liked that I felt Ana's eccentricities were humanized, rather her just being ~quirky~ for quriky's sake. Also, and this always helps, it is gay. Have I mentioned?? that I want!!! the next book!! now!

PS I made a joke close to the end that I was too quick to decide who the culprit is of the mystery but it turned out!! That I guessed correctly and I feel very chuffed by that and think it's the mark of a good mystery that you have any chance of solving it yourself. :D

This is SUCH a cool new world! I went into this book with no expectations or knowledge of Bennett as an author. I simply thought the description of this book sounded cool and interesting and different and I was right! It is a murder mystery at its heart, but the methods used are extremely unique. The characters are all extremely well written and developed, and the world! the world is incredible.

Its a complex and often complicated world, with what I would call magic at the center of it, but Bennett does a wonderful job introducing the reader to each aspect of the world until it really sinks in and makes it easy for the reader to simply exist in the world. The things they talk about don't seem fantastical; they seem like they could be every day occurrences.

Part of the appeal of the description of this was billing it as a bit of a holmes and watson buddy novel, and boy let me tell you, it WORKS. neither character, Ana nor Din, truly resemble those counterparts (not only because Ana is a woman) but you can understand the logic. Ana, as our holmes stand-in, is incredible. She is such a unique character and she is hilarious, often because of how other characters react to her. She spends a lot of time talking/explaining, but it doesnt feel like information dump. It feels like someone who is smarter than you taking you to task. It just works so well.

There are still so many questions I have about this world and I hope they get answered in subsequent books!

Anything I finish reading and want to read all over again deserves five stars, right? Having patiently waited for RJB to finish up his YA series that began with Foundryside, when I learned his newest was a mystery wrapped in a fantasy, I was at Netgalley two seconds later. I found it to be an utterly absorbing mystery that kept shifting, RJB-like, under my feet. A murder investigation. No, a coming-of-age. No, a political fantasy. No, a murder investigation. No… well, I don’t want to spoil it. Let me just say that I found it rather delightful how my expectations were simultaneously met and thwarted.

In the afterward, RJB writes, “I’d had the idea of writing a fun murder mystery novel for a while, and then I sat down and pumped out something that was very decisively not a murder mystery novel… I then had to go through the rather tempestuous process of chucking it in the garbage and starting over.” But I find myself wondering what remained from that early process? Was it a full on, ecological-disaster fantasy novel? Was it this strangely genetically-obsessed culture, that had no problems with modifying the life around them in service of their needs? The giant mushrooms as room air purifiers and sheets of fernpaper leaves as housing material (useful in a tremor-quake prone land) were just the tip of the fascinating iceberg in this world. The story is told from a first-person point of view, and while immersive, I thought it did a nice job of providing information and contextual clues without overwhelming with weirdness.

I thought the characterization was well done. More than a couple passages brought me back to a post from K.J. Charles about indirect characterization. Din is our narrator, a young man who has finally been selected into the ranks of the Sublimes a mere four months ago. He has been assigned to Ana, a somewhat eccentric new Investigator, assigned to Din’s very outlying district in a very new position. Din finds himself wondering if she’s been exiled from the Empire’s center.

“She went totally still. And for the first time that day, all the wild madness in her eyes went dead. ‘My goodness gracious,’ she murmured. ‘Did you hear that, Din?’ ‘Hear what, ma’am?’ ‘That emotion,’ she said. ‘Pardon?’ ‘That was the most emotion I’ve ever heard in anything you’ve ever said, Din! This must be a real corker of a death if it’s cracked your dull demeanor and summoned forth such wild passion.’ She pulled on her blindfold, grinning. There was something unsettlingly predatorial about her grin: too many teeth, and all too white.”

Judging by other reviews, I imagine negatives would be a great deal of what I found attractive about this story: the intriguing interplay between the immediate murder and the larger context that continues to ripple out as the investigation continues; the neuroatypical leads; the world-building questions raised with a population that has to deal with regular disaster (oh, now I get it. No parallels here, RJB, none at all). My own most nagging issue was the cursing. I have absolutely no problem with cursing (ask my friends), but all the words used were oh-so-common ones, including a ‘goddamn,’ that was really quite puzzling when we didn’t have any theology anywhere I can recall. I wasn’t quite sure if this was a far-future sci-fi dystopia, where we could allow for some language anachronisms, or pure fantasy, but at the end of the day, I decided to let it go. Still, it was one of those niggling things, a small stone in the shoe.

“So instead of committing robbery, I made tea.”

Despite that, I found it absorbing. The sense of a larger puzzle being completed, Din’s growing confidence; Ana’s entertaining deceptions. I also love the underlying messaging in the book, a point periodically needed to be made in a society where genetic modifications determine options and profession.

“And we get some say in what kind of person we are, Din. We do not pop out of a mold. We change. We self-assemble.”

As I was unable to immediately start the next book in the series (RJB hints he would like to write more in the afterword; I dearly wish he’d get on it), I had to content myself with a leisurely re-read. This time the pieces fell more clearly, enabling me to see, with Sherlockian-clarity, the complexity slowly being unveiled. Truly a delight.

Many, many thanks to NetGalley and Random House Ballantine for an advanced e-reader copy of this book. Of course, all quotes are subject to change in the final edition, but I feel that they’ll give you a good flavor of the voice.

What a fascinating twist on Sherlock and Holmes. I liked most of the story but would've liked more world-building. Overall very successful though.

Loved it! Who can resist the charm of an Agatha Christie and Sherlock Holmes kind of murder mystery transported into a dystopian world where plants provide humans with more secure, healthy, and higher quality life sources? These plants not only provide light and clean air but also serve as a complex security system!

I read this a couple of weeks ago and tried to give my brain enough time to percolate all the strange "other world" characters and organization. I did not realize this was going to be a fantasy book as I do not read books that fall in that category. Thus I do not wish to detract from someone else's enjoyment of this world building that was all very strange to my thinking. This is original and creative and I would not hesitate to recommend this book to those who appreciate fantasy. There is a murder mystery to solve and I guess that is why I opted to try the book. Do rely on other readers who are more familiar with fantasy.

A Sherlock and Watson mystery thriller with a fantasy setting - fast paced, entertaining, complex without being totally overwhelming. I admit I was lost in a couple of places but found my way back, and not so lost that it ruined the experience. There's just a lot to keep track of along the way, but it makes for a fun read. Excited to see what happens next in the world.

Thank you to the publisher for my arc.

After having this for a couple of months, I finally finished trudging through this extremely boring story. At a glance this seems right up my alley. A murder mystery with fantasy elements but what I got was a boring Sherlock Holmes and Dr Watson mess that lacked all the gravitas that Arthur Conan Doyle wrote in the original stories.

If you want nothing but info dumping and two really annoying characters. Look no further

The Tainted Cup is a fantastical twist on an ages-old winner formula: Sherlock Holmes and Watson.
It is truly as magical and entertaining as it sounds.
Robert Jackson Bennett captured a truly twisted mystery in a unique fantasy world. The worldbuilding is nothing short of stellar and mystifying. Meet the gorgeously described technology with a F/SF feel. His prose is beautiful and absolute completely horrifying and graphic.

Meet Dinios Kol, the apprentice assistant to the investigator, who remembers everything he sees, hears, smells, or feels. It is he who is sent to investigate a murder in the most gruesome form.
The victim was killed by a plant blooming from his body.
Ana Dolabra, the eccentric investigator who insists on wearing blindfolds is on the case. Which leads them to the kingdom walls where Titans wait for the opportunity to strike.

I would recommend this story to lovers of mystery novels and fantasy tales alike. This story was riveting and witty with humor that had me actually laughing aloud.

This Tainted Cup gets a solid 4/5 bejeweled chalices from this ARC reader.


Huge thanks to Netgalley and Random House Publishing Group—Ballantine for granting my wish and giving me the opportunity to read this story.

This Tainted Cup will be released Feb 5, 2024.

4 stars...Thank you to NetGalley for allowing me to read this ARC. I quite enjoyed this and I don't normally read murder/mystery type books. This book had a little bit of everything: murder, mystery, mayhem, magic, even Lethiathans. It was fast paced and the character and world building were great. Din and Ana are a great team in uncovering the mystery. I definitely recommend this if you like a little murder mystery with your fantasy. Look forward to reading more from this author.

This was an interesting story! It’s fantasy with a mystery element. The characters were interesting and the plot was complex. I wish there was a bit more world-building earlier in the book and also I didn’t feel very invested in the main character. But overall this was a good read and I think fans of fantasy will enjoy it!

It took me awhile to get through this book but I don’t know why. I loved it the whole time I was reading it.

This book is a fun blend of a murder mystery and political fantasy. I loved the characters and world building. Ana is definitely the stand out character. I’d love to have gotten a better look into her brain although I’m sure that would be a hard task to accomplish. I thought the augmentations were so interesting. And then add in some leviathans! Such a cool world. Can’t wait for the next book.

I received an ARC through #netgalley of this book.

This book was simply amazing and unlike anything I've read before! It was the perfect mix of fantasy and mystery. I was immersed in the story and transported to another world. I found myself not wanting to put The Tainted Cup down.

“The Tainted Cup” (Shadow of the Leviathan #1) by Robert Jackson Bennett ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Genre: Fantasy/Classic Detective. Location: The border country of the Empire of Khanum. Time: The Wet Season when Leviathans awake.

THE SERIES: Tall, yellow-eyed, white-haired, eccentric Ana Dolabra(40s-50s) is a brilliant detective. She almost always wears a blindfold, and solves impossible cases without leaving her book-filled room. Dinios Kol (20) is Ana’s new assistant. Din is an engraver, magically altered to remember everything he sees and hears. This makes him the perfect Dr Watson for Ana’s Sherlock Holmes.

THIS BOOK: In the city of Daretana, a deadly tree erupts from a high Imperial officer’s body. It’s terrifying, even in Daretana, which is full of contagions. Ana and Din uncover a scheme that threatens the Empire. They head to Talagray where a Leviathan (mountain-sized sea creature) breached the sea wall. Ana’s mind works amazingly fast. Din is perplexed, infuriated-and in awe of her. How long will he be able to keep his own secrets from her?

Author Bennett has created a Sherlock Holmes and Dr Watson duo in a land full of magical enhancements. He builds an amazing world full of shaped life-root and branch, flesh and bone (fernpaper houses, giant mushroom air conditioners). Bennett includes a map and a list of military ranks. His book is an homage to classic murder mysteries in the most glorious, magical way.

It’s 5 stars from me🌵📚💁🏼‍♀️ Thank you Kathleen Quinlan, Del Ray/Penguin Random House, NetGalley, and Robert Bennett Jackson for this early copy. Publishes February 6, 2024.

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.

I loved this book - the characters, the magic, the mystery - it all worked for me. I love RJB’s writing and this is another home run.

This unusual tale blends mystery with fantasy, set in a heavily fortified empire run by characters who are altered to possess unique skills. The plot involves the apparent murder of a group of Engineers whose purpose is to ensure the security of the empire. Investigating their gruesome deaths is a clever Investigator (who prefers to work blindfolded for maximum concentration). Her rookie assistant, an Engraver, is able to remember everything he sees and hears in minute detail. They uncover clues along the way leading the reader on a who-done-it journey through one of the most inventive settings I’ve ever encountered. Maybe it’s greed. Maybe it’s power. Maybe it’s sabotage or betrayal, or a combination of motives. But the body count is rising, the Leviathans are threatening to breach the walls and the plot could not get thicker! Great read!