Robert Jackson Bennett is such a genius I swear. I found RJB through Foundryside and was blown away by his complex worlds, intricate characters, and mind-blowing world building; andTHE TAINTED CUP is no exception to RJB's intimate writing style but -- BUT --- I LOVED THIS ONE. LIKE LOVED IT.

I devoured this in only a couple of sittings and was pleasantly surprised at how difficult it was to figure out what the F was happening. The murder mystery truly was a mystery and when reveals did happen, I gasped along with the characters especially as our voice-y and foul-mouthed Ana laid out everything.

But Dinios Kol <3 I love him so dearly. He is a disaster but in the best way because he is a competent disaster with drive and purpose and conviction. RJB expertly layers and weaves his story, his difficulties, his disabilities, and his intelligence with expert care.

Honestly, one of my favorite aspects of this book was that every character was nuanced, no matter how big or small -- and the nuance extends to not just the characters but the world and the magic!! Which!! The magic is so freaking cool!!!

Ugh, no spoilers but I AM ITCHY for book 2 because of the ending and how RJB layered so, so many threads to be unraveled and revealed and this book is just so so good!!

Thank you so much to Del Rey and Netgalley for an early copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Din has been hired as the apprentice to the strange Investigator Ana Dolabra. He has taken grafts to be an engraver. One does as one must to support their families. Typically their investigations are of the tax fraud variety. However as the story unfolds, Din finds himself investigating a murder. And the cause of death is gruesome. As Din and Ana continue their investigations they realize this not an isolated incident and the repercussions could ruin the entire Empire. Will they be able to catch the culprit before more are killed?

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

I found this book hard to get into as it was a little slow to start and very detail-oriented. However, as the action picked up, I was hooked and the last quarter of the book, I couldn’t put it down as I needed to find out the ending.

This is a fun twist on the Holmes and Watson dynamic. The characters are well developed and dynamic and you know I love an irreverent female lead. Ana gives zero fucks and everyone accepts her as she is.

That being said there were plenty of loops and twists that I wasn’t expecting, hence why I was on the edge of my seat as all was revealed at the end.

The world building was done nicely and I was intrigued by the background of the leviathans. I would love a story about who they are and where they are coming from. I thought there might be a teaser in this book but could be wishful thinking.

All in all I highly recommend this book to mystery and fantasy lovers alike. I, of course, am both!

Oh no! I fear I'm the outlier in this situation! Please take my review lightly as it seems that most people loved it while I struggled through it.

My two main issues were with the fantasy world as well as our two main characters. This is ironic because I've seen several people say this is their favorite parts of the story. While I saw one reviewer say that this is an easy fantasy read for those who don't often read fantasy, I felt the opposite. It took me ages to get into this universe. I think half of it was the fantasy world itself, the other was the writing style. I felt like I was trudging through it, never feeling fully immersed or entertained by it. My other issue was the two main characters. I just didn't...really....care for them? I kept waiting to form some kind of attachment or to even care for what they were doing, but I was never sold on Ana and her eccentricies and I couldn't care less for Dinios. For a murder mystery, I felt very little suspense and mostly just impatience.

Again, I have to say I feel like I read a completely different book than everyone else. It's a little mind boggling honestly. I'm not sure if it was just me and the genre or perhaps the writing style? Maybe the characters? Either way, this wasn't the most enjoyable or immersive read for myself. But, as with most books, this is subjective. I encourage other readers to check out other reviews as it does seem that there were TONS of people that enjoyed it and I am clearly on the outskirts of it all.

A big thank you to PRH Ballentine/Del Rey for the chance to give my honest feedback!

Loved this. Fun & different fantasy world with amazing characters!! Definitely going to be looking up more by this author. Thank you Random House Publishing and Netgalley for this gifted ebook!

Robert Jackson Bennett will forever be an insta buy author for me. He creates worlds and stories that I would consider almost high fantasy but makes it so easy to read. This book sucked me in and kept a toght hold on me until the end. I truly cannot wait until his next book.

I found this to be incredibly entertaining and I finished this book asking myself why haven't I read the rest of Bennet's backlist? Now I will! I am so thankful that I got a chance to read this immersive story. I should've joined this bandwagon a really long time ago!

While The Tainted Cup is a mystery, unlike Robert Jackson Bennett's other books, it is well written and an entertaining read. I didn't like the characters in this book as much as I wanted to which was a bit disappointing, but it was well done in other aspects and there are plenty of things I'd love to find out about this world in future books.

What a fun read! The Tainted Cup is a classic whodunit with a totally unique fantasy setting, told from the perspective of the investigator's assistant rather than the investigator herself. As the narrator, Kol was fantastic. Unlike his boss, Ana, he's new to the business of investigating murders, but he grits his teeth and does his best to get the job done despite Ana's eccentricities.

In this world, people can be "enhanced" with alterations that allow them to see in the dark, or grow enormous muscles, or have the nose of a bloodhound. But the alterations come at a price, both physically and mentally, and ultimately anyone who undergoes the process is dedicating their lives to servicing the empire. Kol is one such individual. He is an engraver, someone with the ability to remember everything they see and then recite or write it in exact detail. It's such a unique take on the concept of genetic modifications, and it gives the world strong sci-fi vibes, though I think this is still firmly rooted in the fantasy world.

Bennett has also crafted a very intricate world in which the story takes place. For the most part, the setting is in one city. I could have used a map to help me visualize the way the city is laid out (it seems to be made up of rings) but honestly the story was so engaging that I didn't feel bogged down by my confusion. You can tell Bennett has put a ton of thought into the structure of his world. It's detailed, precise, and totally different from anything I've read before.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for my advanced e-copy!

This was so good and I'm really looking forward to the next books. Great world-building, characters, and overall plot.

Wow this was a really good read, very Sherlock Holmes-y. I've read some of his other works and this is very different in comparison. Love this world building In this fantasy world, wish I could find more about her mysterious career and the leviathans as it seems more like a the boogeyman in which we all know if but never see. But the twists and turns kept me on my toes loved it!

In another departure from my usual genres, I finished "The Tainted Cup" by Robert Jackson Bennett. Big surprise to me was how much I really enjoyed it!
From the first page, Bennett is a world builder. While moving the story along at a decent pace, so many details of this absolutely foreign world were explained, without details weighing it down. That is magic in itself, am I right?!
Now, the story itself... think of everything you know about your classic whodunit murder mystery, but then throw the old rules out of the window and mix it all up into a fantasy world. A high officer is found dead, killed from a contagion, a tree growing out of his body to be precise. Our eccentric detective, Ana Dolabra (who I couldn't help but to picture as Emma Thompson, go ahead make the movie, you are welcome) is on the case (wearing a blindfold no less), and not leaving her home. With her trusty new assistant Dinios Kol to help. Kol has been magically altered to become an engraver, one who retains every single detail/thing they encounter with the help of some tricks of his own. The mystery takes them across this mysterious land and its people's and is equally mysterious and thrilling as it is hilarious.
Not only are we treated to a murder mystery, but also getting to witness the new relationship between detective and assistant grow itself. Bennett also gives us a story of different backgrounds working and coming together to save a city. A little something we could all use a little more of these days.
I'm leaving a lot out here, because I don't want to spoil the fun ride for all of you! Unfortunately you have to wait until February, but hey, something to look forward to in the new year!

This was quite the unique fantasy read. If you love dangerous fantasy worlds with a touch of horror elements and murder mystery, then you should pick this book up. The blend of genres made this a gripping read that made it unlike other murder mysteries.

The world was standout in this for me. The murder happens in an empire that is fighting to keep leviathans from the sea out of its walls. But when giant plants grow out of a few important people, part of the walls fall, a leviathan breaches them, and an investigation into the murders begins.

This isn't a cozy mystery. No, the murders are gruesome and so is the world, but it was so fascinating. Add to it that our lead, Din, has an alteration that gives him a photographic memory to help his eccentric mentor, I never knew what the world might throw at me next and I liked that. Because of this, however, some mysteries are impossible to solve yourself because you don't have the full world building yet, but I liked that this wasn't an easy to solve mystery.. The world kept me reading, and the murders were more of a vehicle for exploring the dangers of the world and what Din and the empire itself are up against from murderers to sea leviathans. The monsters, contagions, and magical grafts done to alter people gave this a memorable world that left me wanting more books so I could keep exploring it.

new-series, first-in-series, Sci-Fi-Fantasy, criminal-acts, detective, botany, apprentice, investigators, investigations, adventure, mystery, magic, nonbinary, unputdownable, fast-pace, suspense, sly-humor, poisons*****

I usually don't have the right sort of imagination for things like this, but I had no trouble comprehending and sometimes visualizing this one (swords!). The story is quick, full of twists, and more. LOVED IT!
I requested and received an EARC from Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine/Del Rey via NetGalley. Thanks!

The Tainted Cup is a spectacularly inventive fantasy murder mystery by Robert Jackson Bennett. Right from the intriguing first line, I was hooked on the story of a high imperial officer bizarrely murdered by a tree erupting from his body.

The world-building is outstanding, with vivid details about the fantasy empire of Khanum and its walls protecting citizens from monstrous aquatic leviathans. The magical system of enhancements or "grafts" that give certain citizens special abilities adds additional flair. Our main character Dinios Kol has been altered to have a perfect photographic memory which assists his mentor, the eccentric genius investigator Ana Dolabra.

Bennett has crafted a puzzle-box of a plot, with twists and turns that kept me guessing until the very end. Just when I thought I had it figured out, a new wrinkle would emerge. The witty banter and warmth between Dinios and Ana as they unravel the conspiracies make a great odd couple crime-solving team.

For any fan of inventive fantasy, mysteries, Sherlock Holmes, or magical world-building, I can't recommend The Tainted Cup highly enough. It's one of the most unique and compulsively readable novels I've had the pleasure of experiencing this year. This is fantasy at its finest, and I can't wait to return to the world of Khanum! Five stars.

This one didn’t do it for me. I love plucky, intelligent investigators (Veronica Speedwell), but this one was more “manic-pixie-dream” investigator. She lacked charm. I also felt like she knew way too much and solved problems way too quickly. Part of the fun of a mystery/investigator novel is trying to solve it as a reader. This book didn’t really allow for that. In the first few chapters, the investigator solves some mysteries with background knowledge not available to the reader. It makes it less fun. It was like deus ex machina for every clue. The fantasy world building wasn’t that compelling, either.

Incredibly entertaining, well-written and just a delight to read. It reminded me why I love fantasy. I will be recommending it to everyone for sure.

Thank you NetGalley and Penguin for an eArc in exchange for an honest review. Robert Jackson Bennett has done it again. Dystopian magic systems that are easy to understand but also beautifully complex. This novel follows a murder investigation from the perspective of the head investigators assistant, Dinios Kol. Din as an engraver has the magical ability to remember absolutely everything he sees and hears. I'm serious, he can repeat it verbatim. If you loved the world of Foundryside, then you will absolutely love this novel. RJB pulled me in from the first chapter. I cant wait to read more about what adventures Kol has to come. This novel was a great reminder that we don't always have to be the "picture perfect fit" to be the "perfect fit" for the job we want in life.

5 stars

Wow this book was enthralling! Just the right mix of really intriguing mystery and somewhat weird fantasy. There was so much I really loved about this. The world building was really unique and very deeply imbedded, yet it was done with such a deft hand that by the end of the first couple chapters any brief puzzlement I felt trying to settle into this story's place had fallen away. I never felt the infodumps as such even though new and interesting facets of concepts kept being introduced.

I really cannot adequately express how intrigued I was with this worldbuilding. It was very different from anything I'd read before and yet put together so consistently that it was delightfully believable. But if the worldbuilding was beautifully done, the mystery was deep and intriguing enough to match it and the process of the characters navigating it felt so interesting and real. The pacing was just right and if I had figured out a few bits of it ahead of the reveal I was only pleasantly surprised to find out I was right and that despite all the very intriguing worldbuilding the bones of the mystery were equally solid.

I really want to read another of these. I really enjoyed the main character too. He had some mysteries of his own and those too were brought to light at just the right moment and revealed just enough that I hadn't already discovered. Din was such a good window into this world and these places, a little bit at sea himself in some ways and incredibly clever in others. And though I would say this is more plot than character driven I really liked a number of the side characters as well. Ana I just found interesting. I am not really sure I liked her but I am also not very certain one is supposed to like her, precisely. She's a force of nature and she was interesting to read and though she was eccentric and keeping secrets I never once doubted that Din could trust her.

The resolution of the mystery was so satisfying when it finally came. It felt like a proper end to the book, no awful cliffhangers, though there are plenty of other mysteries left open for the next one I'd love to read. I even quite enjoyed the little romance that happened and only wish there had been a bit more. I hope we will get to see more of the two characters together in future books.

Overall I really can't think of anything negative to say. I thoroughly enjoyed this and would definitely recommend it. I will be looking anxiously for any successive books in the series because this was such a fun and absorbing mixture of fantasy and mystery without doing any disservice to either.

This is not the sort of book I would normally pick up, but I'm glad the publisher invited me to read an eARC of it. Part Agatha Christie, part Sherlock Holmes, part Game of Thrones, The Tainted Cup was a good murder mystery with just enough fantasy to keep it interesting.

I'm not a big fantasy person. Too many characters, too much weird stuff about worlds I don't understand -- it's a lot to process before you can even get to the actual story. The Tainted Cup was just the right level for me -- definitely a lot of characters, and definitely a strange world I had to learn the rules for, but not overwhelming for someone who's not a fantasy fan.

I loved Din and Ana and their relationship. Din is just figuring out who he is and what his strengths are, and Ana is a great mentor, in a strange Sherlock Holmes sort of way. I hope future books tell us more about Din's background and family, and what Ana's mysterious job is. I also liked Captain Strovi and his relationship with Din -- I hope we see more of him too.

On the down side, the whole "monsters outside the walls" thing feels overdone to me. We don't really even get a sense of what these monsters even look like, or what damage they can do. They're just a big scary boogeyman out there to keep things menacing. Maybe we'll find out more about the leviathans in future books of the series.

I didn't realize this until I'd finished the book, but Robert Jackson Bennett also wrote American Elsewhere, which I loved. It's a totally different genre than this one, but good writing is good writing. I look forward to the next book in this series!

In a unique world where survival depends upon your rank and location in the safest rings of the city something has gone terribly wrong. Investigating the unusual murder of a high ranking officer and the deaths of 10 engineers whose duty it is to keep the walls surrounding the city intact leads Ana and her assistant into a web of lies and tangled leads. In this world, plants can be as deadly as the leviathans that attack the walls. Knowing how to use these deadly plants and who stands to gain by eliminating high ranking officers will lead them to the truth. The growing relationship between the characters is well executed, Secondary characters are also well developed and not just names in passing. The idea of a world that survives by dealing with threats both from nature and its citizens is intriguing. Sort of a mash up of ancient Roman Empire and high realm fantasy. I look forward to more adventures with these characters.