Signum Dinios Kol is an engraver and apprentice assistant to Immunis Anagosa Dolabra, Iudex Investigator of the Daretanan Canton. This one sentence tells you, into science-fiction land we go. Although, I rarely read science fiction, I was intrigued after reading the synopsis of this book. A murder of the most bizarre kind, schemes and plots to hide the true meaning of the murder and what does the imminent breach of the sea wall have to do with murder? The story has lots of details, interesting plot pivots and turns, as a reader you are not sure who to trust. Din and Ana make a good team and I enjoyed their dialogue. The murder mystery is very detailed and has lots of layers, so no skimming here. Overall, I enjoyed this book, I thought the author did a fine job of describing the setting, the murder mystery was not easy to solve and the secondary characters added to the story. Enjoy!

Imperial fantasy meets Nero Wolfe: A young man with a secret that could destroy him is assigned as the assistant to a disgraced investigator; she stays in her rooms, dealing with her enhanced perceptions, and he goes out and asks the questions. He’s been modified to be able to remember everything he sees, hears, etc., one of the many modifications available to aid the Empire or its powerful gentry. When an Engineer—one of those responsible for keeping out the great leviathans that constantly threaten total destruction—is murdered on a local estate, they’re swept up in much larger conspiracies, with a threat to the very walls that protect against leviathans. It’s well-done, and I appreciated Bennett’s author’s note, which explained that writing a murder mystery is above all about logistics: is everybody in the right place for the setup to work and the clues to come out at the right times? “You essentially become the Jeff Bezos of killing dudes you just made up.” A worthy followup to his previous trilogy; I look forward to more.

The Tainted Cup
Robert Jackson Bennett

This starts a new and exciting series from the author with one of the most imaginative stories and characters! This is a mystery yet so much more! It starts with a body found in a country mansion on this strange world. He dies by having a tree grow straight up and through him!
An inspector, Ana, is called upon but her "Engraver", called Din, is sent to the scene to assess the situation.
Din can view the whole situation, like smells, the feel of things, remember word for word the interviews, and all other visual details then report it all back to Ana.

These two characters and their roles are very strange and intriguing! Ana has bindings on her eyes but seems to see very well. I was fascinated with their jobs and their unique gifts.

So much happens in here! I am definitely going to buy the audio version when it comes out to listen to while I do things. I really loved it. I can't wait for the next book too!

I want to thank NetGalley and the publisher for letting me read this exciting and fantastic book! It is amazing!

This was such an entertaining read!

Going in, I was expecting this book to be in the same vein as Bennett's earlier work City of Stairs, opening with a murder mystery that eventually leads to a fantasy epic. Turned out very quickly that this was not the case. The Tainted Cup is rather the opposite, a proper murder mystery that borrows a fantasy setting, which means we're in for a completely different set of surprises -- a page-turner with lots of puzzles, traps, big twists, and dramatic reveals.

Thanks to the fast-paced plot, this book was a surprisingly quick read for me despite its length. The writing is pretty "light" as far as fantasies go, without too much worldbuilding to slow things down, and once the suspense started to pick up around the 50% mark, it was hard to put the book down. Some of the mystery puzzles were quite clever as well, and my favorite was the search for the paper miller around the middle of the book, which gave me a big "ah-ha" moment.

I did see some of the final reveals coming relatively early though, and I wished more clues could be better hidden and more mind-blowing (or maybe I'm just spoiled by all the detective tv shows that shaped my taste differently). But overall the puzzles and twists were fun, as were the character interactions. I even laughed out loud a couple of times from all the dry humor.

I'm curious to see where Bennett plans to take this series next. In this first installment, the fantasy side of the story mostly functions as a backdrop of the plot (magical animals and plants, people with augmented abilities, etc.), and we only get to glimpse a leviathan from afar for about one page. But as Din and Ana's adventure continues and future investigations ensue, I'm sure there will be more to learn about their world, as well as their own backstories.

Thank you RandomHouse and NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review this book. I love murder-mysteries, I love fantasy, so obviously I’m going to love a fantasy murder-mystery. This was a fun and witty read, reminiscent of Agatha Christie’s Pirot, but taking place in a completely unique world. Din and Ana, an unlikely duo of government investigators, chase the tracks of an unknown killer across the empire, all while dealing with invading leviathans, deadly contagions, and other augmented humans. The world building is unique, but it does come together to make a fascinating backdrop and interesting factor in the solving of the mystery. I loved the dynamic between the two and the relationship we see develop as danger develops and stakes begin to rise. Not to mention the banter between the two. There is a very small romance subplot (not between Din and Ana) that had me kicking my feet and giggling. I will admit that I previously tried one of Bennett’s books; Foundryside, and while interesting I couldn’t really get into it due to the pacing and ultimately left it unfinished (although after this I may give it another try) . This book does not have an issue with pacing, with each moment building to the next. I really hope we see more of these characters and this world because this was a good read, and I think there’s a lot of potential here.

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own. This was a great fantasy book. It was a fun and exciting read.

Loved this fantasy world that was really well developed. I’m really hoping for a second adventure with Din and Ana.

This book is such a fabulous ride. This steampunk-y "Sherlock Holmes set in 'feudal Japan meets Roman legions'" has great character development and world building throughout. I am new to the Fantasy genre and sometimes get lost in all the world building, but the unexpected twists and the well-written crime/mystery kept me turning the pages. And I loved seeing Holmes, Watson, and even Moriarty characterizations in this new world. The entire time I was reading, I knew that I needed to share with my husband, who is the Fantasy and Science Fiction reader in the household. He read this in 2 days and loved it and can't wait for the next book in the series.

Thanks to #PenguinRandomHouse #Ballantine #DelRey #TheTaintedCup for gifting me this ARC and getting it on my radar.

I received this book as an ARC from NetGalley. This book is outside my typical genre but it made me want to seek out more of its kind. It has fantasy laced with old school mystery vibes.

Thank you to Random House - Ballantine and NetGalley for this ARC in exchange for an honest review!

I am so glad that I gave this book a chance despite not having read anything by this author before! The Tainted Cup by Robert Jackson Bennett is what would happen if Sherlock and Watson took place in a world with magic. The story revolves around Din, who has recently taken up a new job as the assistant to an eccentric detective named Ana. When someone is murdered by a tree sprouting spontaneously from his body, it's up to Ana, with Din's help, to find the murderer. As the stakes get higher, and the investigation gets deadlier, it becomes clear that this isn't just a run-of-the-mill murder. Will Din and Ana be able to solve the case?

Here is a humorous excerpt from Chapter 1:

"I cleared my throat in what I hoped was an authoritative manner, and said, "Signum Dinios Kol, assistant to the investigator. I'm here about the body."
The princeps blinked, then looked me up and down. Being as I was nearly a head taller than him, it took him a moment. "I see, sir," he said. He gave me a short bow - a quarter of a full bow, maybe a third - but then did not move.
"You do have a body, yes?" I asked.

Overall, The Tainted Cup is amazing and innovative blend of mystery and fantasy that will appeal to fans of Magic for Liars or Howl's Moving Castle. One highlight of this book is how it effectively combined the genres of murder mystery with fantasy. Another highlight of this book is how funny it is. There were lots of moments of humor, especially the interactions between Din and Ana.

One final highlight is just how much fun this is to read! I was so pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed reading this book. One thing I need to mention is that the book is told from Din's perspective, not Ana's, which wasn't really clear from the synopsis. Anyway, I will definitely be tracking down the author's previous books and will read anything that he writes in the future. If you're intrigued by the excerpt above, or if you're a fan of fantasy or detective stories in general, you won't regret checking out this book when it comes out in February!

Thank you to Netgalley & Del Rey for granting me my wish to read this e-arc...in exchange for my honest review!

I described this book to my friend as pacific rim (minus the robots)-attack on titan-body mod nature magic all had wrapped up in an Agatha Christie/Sherlock Holmes-esque mystery.

This extremely poor description doesn't even hit the tip of the iceberg of how fun and horrifying a time this book was. Despite the murder mystery being complex and the world building extensive it did not feel inaccessible. I didn't feel overwhelmed reading at any moment and was thoroughly enthralled. I found the story being from the perspective of the "engraver" to be an extremely smart choice. It allowed RJB to fill in world building/plot info organically. It didn't feel forced.

Upon finishing this book my exact words to another friend were "I inhaled it. I have like no constructive criticism, my critical thinking skills just *poofed* away -- I just got sucked it. RJB created a really wild ride."

I loved it and cannot WAIT for the next ones.

This book is astonishing on all levels. It’s a gripping mystery, a fascinating character study, and a world building masterpiece. It starts on page one with a body and an assistant investigator, and does not let up until almost the end. Who killed this man by having a tree erupt from his body, and why did they do it at the mansion of one of the empire’s richest families? Why does the investigator herself never leave her house and spend most of her time blindfolded? And what is wrong with her assistant, the narrator, who can remember everything but cannot seem to read or write? After just having finished the Founders trilogy, it appears that Robert Jackson Bennett can write heists (Foundryside), war novels (Locklands), and now a perfectly plotted mystery. I am all ready to follow him wherever he wants to go next.

Annihilation meets Sherlock Holmes in the world of Pacific Rim.

What a wild, unique ride! This is nearly the perfect mix between a verdant, sprawling fantasy backdrop, and Doyle- and Christie-like murder mysteries. With an amazing protagonist with a special set of skills, and her trusted assistant investogator, with a secret of his own, the tension is ratcheted up by an impending walking disaster depending upon the city.

I LOVED this book, and while portions of it did my mind in (hard to do real fantasy world-building while laying the clues for an empire-ending conspiracy), ultimately I cannot WAIT for Ana and Fin to return...

And this one isn't even out yet!

My thanks to NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review!

Thank you to NetGalley and Del Ray for providing me with the ARC

Robert Jackson Bennett is one of my favorite authors and, in my opinion, is criminally underrated as a worldbuilder in the fantasy genre. I absolutely flew through this book and read it from start to finish in a day. The magic system really shines in its creativity, taking seriously the premise of "what if we bioengineered plants to provide all of our infrastructure needs and also used them to bio-hack our bodies to give us superpowers?". Also, there are leviathans.

I found this novel to be well-paced, although the first few chapters were a slow build. This is probably an artifact of easing into the world RJB is creating, and because we arrive in the story just after a moment of violence, rather than during the violence itself. The pace picks up quickly, however, and then moves propulsively through the central mystery.

I really appreciated the character work in this book, which helped to establish strong connections to the two main leads. The relationship between Ana and Din is compelling, invoking the best of the genius detective/long-suffering assistant trope without either of them ever veering into caricature. Unlike the Founders trilogy, which I also loved, but at times found to have a jarring mix of camp humor and violence, the Tainted Cup was able to keep its moments of humor in balance with the darkness of the plot. It would have been nice to get a bit more into the psychology of the central villains and few more breadcrumbs about the broader lore of this world, but hopefully we will see more of that in the next books. The murder mystery plot is intriguing, and the clues are laid out in such a way that an attentive reader can put most of the pieces together before the big reveal without everything being too obvious.

Overall, I enjoyed the heck out of this book, and can't wait for the next in the series.

Ebook/Fantasy: I want to thank Netgalley for a copy of the book. This book doesn't publish for a while, so no spoilers. To me, this was one of the better literally fantasy realms. It reminded me a lot of the Codex Alera by Jim Butcher I enjoy so much. I can actually picture this novel as another part of that world. This book deals with a murder investigation, which always livens a book up.

This is a twisty murder mystery set in a wholly new fantasy world of bio-engineered plants and people, threatened every year by rampaging titans from the sea. The characters were fun and deep, with plenty of flaws and hidden back stories. The mysteries were good and kept me guessing until the end.

I enjoyed it immensely.

RJB is such a good gateway author for people who are looking to get into fantasy, but aren't ready or don't want to dive into the deep end. I'm always so impressed with how accessible his storytelling/writing is. It has a highly immersive quality, but never to the point where you are in over your head.

The particular magic system in this book is subtle. It plays a significant part in the story, but it doesn't demand attention. It feels natural and is integrated very well into the setting and plot. It lends well to the murder mystery atmosphere and provides a good vehicle for the two main characters to really shine.

I also really enjoyed how this feels like a self-contained story within the series. I have no idea if this is going to be the pattern moving forward, or if there is going to be a more central/connected plot across the following books, but I'm super excited to see what mystery Din and Ana are going to solve next regardless!

What a fantastic read! A little bit of Sherlock Holmes vibes but set in fantasy world. Thrilling and mysterious tale of deceit, corruption and murder. And there is Ana and her assistant investigator Din to solve it all. I hope there is another book coming soon!
I received a free copy of this ARC from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

Ever heard of death via plant? Probably. But death via a tree growing from inside someone in a matter of minutes? That's new.

When a high-ranking official is found dead under mysterious circumstances, Ana and her assistant Din are called to investigate. Along the way, they discover that this death is just one in a dozen, and race to uncover the assassin before they can strike again.

This book was absolutely unhinged in the best of ways. Ana is eccentric, cusses like a sailor, and a nuisance to the general population while being absolutely brilliant. I adored her. Din is uptight, black and white, and constantly exasperated with Ana's shenanigans. It was the sunshine x grumpy trope but in a platonic relationship. It reminded me of Sherlock and Watson if you gave Sherlock Holmes an overload of caffeine.

The mystery was very clever and had so many twists and turns. At first, the combination of a dystopian world and plot seemed like too much, but the author did a great job of including both in a way that made sense. The mystery is intricate but entirely plausible and put together in a way that you can combine the clues yourself.

If you love dystopian novels, iconic detective sidekick teams, and brilliant mysteries, I'd recommend this to you.

Thank you NetGalley and Random House Publishing Ballentine for the advanced copy! All thoughts and opinions expressed are my own.

Ana Dolabra is a unique investigator in a world of the impossible. She wears a blindfold to avoid distractions as she “sees” the facts present themselves clearly in her mind. Her assistant, Dinios Kol, is an engraver, a person who memorizes exactly what he sees and hears while seeking the facts surrounding any incident he is investigating as part of his job. Din is Ann’s constant companion while they investigate the strange events surrounding the death of a high imperial officer who died as the result of a giant tree sprouting from within his body, tearing him apart. Just the tip of the story, this death signals a change in the Empire that could lead to its total destruction.

This is a fascinating story of subterfuge and wits battling it out in a world that is, itself, bizarre. A little unsure when I started reading, I was soon engrossed in the brilliant and unpredictable storyline woven by the author, Robert Jackson Bennett. A must-read book for all mystery lovers.

Thank you NetGalley, Random House, and Robert Jackson Bennett for an advance copy of The Tainted Cup. This is my honest review.