The novel opens with a dead body. It is only the beginning of a mystery. It is a type of Holmes and Watson story with the twist that it is set in a fantasy setting. Well written fantasy detective novels are rare but to my delight this is one. It is a fantastic adventure for all fantasy fans.

I had a great time with this book on my second try! I'm excited for the sequel now. Others have written a lot about this book, so I'll keep my review brief.

I'll admit, this is one of those slower fantasy books. But I'm so glad I gave it another chance and stuck through with it.

The worldbuilding is absolutely amazing. Who doesn't love alien worlds with semi-familiar forms of police governance? (This might or might not be sarcasm.)

And being a huge fan of Sherlock Holmes (the OG and its various iterations), I thought this was a great homage to my favorite duo. Cranky detective and noob assistant? Count me in. I absolutely loved Din's characterization. For technically being the sidekick, he was fully fleshed out and was very relatable. (Who hasn't been the newbie before?)

I actually stopped caring about the main mystery plotline halfway through and just vibed with the atmosphere and the setting. It worked out. The leviathan side plot and the creepy cool trees growing out of the victims definitely kept my attention.

I'd recommend if you're a fan of slower fantasy stories with elaborate worldbuilding (society building?). This isn't a quick read where you're one and done with it. You actually have to think and pay attention.

Thank you to Del Rey and NetGalley for this arc.

This fantasy murder mystery was such a fun and original journey of a book to read. I was immediately immersed in this world and enjoyed every twist and turn that was thrown our way. The characters are fun and memorable and I cannot remember the last book I have read that completely took me by surprise by how original and hooked I was from beginning to end. I could not put this put this book down and am eagerly awaiting the second book of this series. If you enjoy a Sherlock Holmes style story in a fantasy landscape, that is a combination of several genres with fantastic themes, then I cannot recommend The Tainted Cup enough. Thank you to Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine | Del Rey and NetGalley for providing an ARC of this book. My opinions and thoughts are my own. 4.5/5 stars.

What an absolutely fun Sherlock Holmes retelling with one of the most clever worlds I have had the pleasure of reading, with bioengineering that will bring to mind the transformations in the movie Annihilation, mountainous leviathans encroaching on shores, and engineering teams saving the day. The clever assistant and eccentric investigator are sure to charm fans of buddy-cop adventures and murder mysteries.

The Tainted Cup is a Sherlock Holmes-style murder mystery by fantasy author Robert Jackson Bennett, set in a dystopian fantasy world. In the Empire, all civilians live under the shadow of the Leviathans, great sea creatures that seasonally attack the walls and try to come ashore and wreak havoc. Rather than using electricity or metal, the majority of technological advances in this world have been made with plants, whose growth and properties have been altered by the blood of the Leviathans.

After an Imperial officer is killed in a most unusual way — a tree violently sprouting from within his body — Ana Dolabra, a quirky detective with rather unorthodox methods, is assigned to investigate the case. She brings with her Dinios Kol (Din), her new apprentice who is studying to be an investigator.

Ana is a sort of Nero Wolfe -- a recluse who seldom gets her hands dirty with actual in-the-field investigation. She leaves that to Din, who has been biotechnologically enhanced to have perfect recall. (In the Khanum Empire, such people are known as engravers).

Told from Din’s perspective, the reader is quickly immersed in a what he suspects may be a conspiracy as he is sent to the very edges of the Empire. He is completely unprepared for this case initially, but he does his best to relate the facts he has witnessed to his boss, even though he is, I believe, dyslexic. (The word "dyslexic" appears nowhere in The Tainted Cup, but Din's descriptions of his difficulties reading fits the definition.) He encodes memories, recalling them with a smell assigned to each one. This means he can recall with exact precision the way something looks, feels, tastes, and smells, which he then relates to Ana (Think Sherlock and Watson with a much-enhanced Watson).

Ana has her own issues. She is an immensely gifted genius who insists on living mostly blindfolded though she’s not blind. She has a hilariously abrasive personality and avoids meetings if possible. If forced to meet others, she orders them to her home, where she catches and interrogates them like a spider toying with a bug in her web, only releasing them grudgingly.

Din is scandalized, puzzled, and sometimes infuriated by his new superior. But as the increasingly complex case unfolds, he watches Ana’s mind leap from one startling deduction to the next. In turn, he wonders how long he’ll be able to keep his own secrets safe from her searing intellect.

This book took me by surprise. Robert Jackson Bennett is a new to me author who has made me realize that fantasy/science fiction blended with mystery may become my new favorite thing.

The worldbuilding in The Tainted Cup was fantastic. In fact, author Bennett ingeniously uses Ana and Kol's investigation as the primary vehicle through which he develops his world. It's a unique approach that melds the fantasy and mystery genres together in a way I haven't quite seen before.

But the best news is that The Tainted Cup is the first novel in a planned trilogy, the Shadow of the Leviathan series, so hopefully we’ll be seeing more investigations by Din and Ana soon. I’d love to read more and can’t wait to see what comes next.

Thanks to Netgalley and Del Rey Publishing for providing a copy of this book for review.

Atmosphericly, this book delivered everything I could have hoped for. The supernatural and technological side felt very bio-mantically driven with a splash (or gallon) of body horror to color it. Darkly whimsical, we follow Sherlock and Watson-esque duo and they’re called on to solve a series of cases in which trees spontaneously erupt from the bodies of unsuspecting victims. And much like many of the Sherlockian mysteries, the solve is far beyond the typical reader’s capacity to solve, which isn’t my favorite mystery narrative.

Even so I did love the characters, the unique magic, and the dark tinge to the world it takes place in. I’m definitely hooked for book two!

This is a fun murder mystery in a fantasy setting. The story follows Din and Ana as they investigate a series of connected murders. The world-building by the author is fantastic and the alterations of this world are really unique. I loved the relationship of Ana and Din. The characters are so different that they worked well as a team. The humor thrown in made me giggle and was very enjoyable. There is just something about the story that made me not love it. Although the fantasy aspects were great, I did feel a bit confused at times and I thought the story was a bit slow about the halfway point. If you love fantasy and murder mysteries, I think you will enjoy this read.

Do you like Knives Out? Do you like Sherlock Holmes and Watson?

Yes? Then you’ll love this book!

It’s a murder in a fantasy world that focuses on slowly unwrapping the mystery through details not surprising revelations.

While the character development is a little lacking, this book is best taken at face value.

Since Ana and Din are the main characters, if you don’t like their dynamic or as annoyed by their personalities, you won’t like this book.

I want to start by saying I thoroughly enjoyed this book. It was a unique twist on a Sherlock Holmes retelling. I am usually a character driven reader, however the world for this book was very engaging. I loved the use of plants as a form of poison and I genuinely look forward to seeing more from this world and its leviathan.

"We do these ugly, dull things for a reason—to make a space where folk can live, celebrate, and know joy and love."

That quote changed my life, to be completely honest. I’ve never seen the reason for the constant work and suffering we put ourselves through summed up so elegantly, and that is just one of many stunning moments in The Tainted Cup, the first of Robert Jackson Bennett’s newest fantasy series. This story combines everyone’s love for a classic Sherlock Holmes/Knives Out mystery with a lush dark fantasy world, and the meshing of serious plot lines with moments of comedic relief and genuine human connection is signature RBJ.

In Daretana, a city in the empire in which this story takes place, young Dinios Kol is the assistant to the eccentric, reclusive, and overall bizarre investigator Ana Dolabra. When an Imperial officer is killed, the two of them (but mostly Din) are called onto the job. Mixed in with their delve into the schemes and politics of the gentry society is the constant looming threat of leviathans – gargantuan monsters that lurk in the oceans just past the sea walls. It isn’t long before multiple murders become connected to a sudden influx of sea wall breaches, and Din and Ana must work to unravel the mystery before the leviathans make a breach too large for the empire’s defenses to stop.

One of my favorite parts of this story was the magic system. It has two main components: plants that have been altered to serve multiple purposes, such as air conditioning for homes or anti-entry defenses, and then human alterations, known as grafts and suffusions. Din is an engraver, a class of altered human that gives one a permanent eidetic memory. This makes him particularly useful to Ana, as he can be sent out to crime scenes and report back to her without any missing or fallible information. He is exasperated, long-suffering, and, quite honestly, one of my favorite RBJ characters. Din has a dry humor and a soft heart, and is very easy to connect with as the reader. I also enjoyed the other characters – everyone was very memorable and well-crafted, and even those who were already dead when we met them had personalities that showed through in the writing.

The human-based system was very fleshed out, although I do wish there had been more page time for characters who were classes other than engravers, just to be able to see how they all interact in this world. Each engraver we saw had a different method of calling back their memories, which I thought was a very nice touch that gave a bit more identity to each character. The altered plants were another thing I wish we had gotten more of; I expected more prevalence for the plants that, in the beginning, were painted as if they had a lot of relevance to the story.

These are very minor critiques, though, and ones that I am sure will be resolved in the following book. I loved the characters, the magic, and the unravelling of the murder mystery. The Tainted Cup is a great start to an intricate new fantasy series that beautifully intertwines humorous investigator-and-assistant shenanigans with the dark overtones of a greater threat, and as with any RBJ book, I highly recommend it.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for granting me free access to the advanced digital copy of this book.

Robert Jackson Bennett's "The Tainted Cup" isn't just a fantasy novel; it's an immersive experience. Bennett masterfully crafts a world that feels both alien and strangely familiar, steeped in rich history and brimming with fascinating details. From the towering, bioluminescent trees to the intricate political landscape, every element feels meticulously constructed and utterly believable.

The magic system, centered around a mysterious substance called arborium, is particularly captivating. The way arborium interacts with the environment and the characters' bodies is both imaginative and unsettling. Bennett doesn't shy away from exploring the darker aspects of this power source, adding a layer of depth and intrigue to the world-building.

But "The Tainted Cup" is more than just a world; it's populated by characters you can truly root for. Din, the apprentice investigator, is endearingly awkward and relatable. His unwavering loyalty and sharp mind make him a fantastic protagonist. Ana Dolabra, his mentor, is a character unlike any other. Her gruff exterior hides a brilliant mind and a surprising amount of heart. The supporting cast is equally well-developed, each with their own motivations and quirks that contribute to the richness of the narrative.

The central mystery itself is a masterclass in suspense. Bennett lays out clues with a masterful hand, keeping you guessing until the very end. The investigation takes you on a thrilling journey through this fascinating world, unraveling secrets and confronting dangerous forces along the way.

"The Tainted Cup" is a must-read for any fan of fantasy fiction. Bennett's masterful world-building, unforgettable characters, and gripping mystery combine to create a truly immersive and unforgettable experience. Whether you're a longtime fan of his work or new to his writing, this book is guaranteed to leave you wanting more.

Thank you to Netgalley and Del Rey for allowing me to read and review.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for an advanced reader copy of this book!
This was a fantasy type of book that I was less familiar with than the other fantasy type of books and/or other genre books. I have often read fantasy/romance type "romantasy" books, but this book was less romantic than simply fantasy with a world that was richly built and characters with lots of backstory and action and adventure across this story and narrative.

This was such a weird and fun book! The fantasy setting has so many strange elements to it, but the characters are fascinating and the plot is a fast-paced murder mystery. This book feels different from the Foundryside trilogy but some characteristics of the writing are the same (some humor, interesting character interactions, detailed world). I’ll definitely read the sequel! Thanks to NetGalley for an ARC.

This isn't my first experience with Robert Jackson Bennett. I read one of his books several years ago, and it was nothing like this. Although, really, I don't know if there is anything like this. I savored this, and I finally ran out of pages, and I am craving a new book set in this world. Bennett knows how to write a mood, and this world is so dark and strange. Huge monsters are constantly threatening their lives, and the people still have time for all kinds of intrigue.
This is a murder mystery, and it follows all the rules of that genre while offering a world with completely different rules. Din is an engraver; he can memorize an insane amount of details. He is Ana's apprentice, and she is wild, brilliant, abrasive, and mysterious in her own way. They are perfect companions for solving this case, and I really hope this turns into a series.
Thanks to NetGalley for letting me read this.

I finally dove into this Fantasy Mystery and was blown away. Robert Jackson Bennett has created a wonderfully original fantasy world. It has magical creatures and plants, altered humans, politics and dangerous threats from corrupt humans and the natural world. The creativity of this book is OFF THE CHARTS. I LOVED the main character's narrative voice. I LOVED the dynamic he had with his supervisor. RJB has crafted the perfect slow burn mystery. I was SO EAGER to solve the whodunit, but I appreciated that he methodically unraveled the details, lining everything up for the ultimate big reveal. As a reader who consumes 100+ books every year, this is a story that will stand out and that I will remember. I am so happy this is the first in a series, but man how can I wait for the story to continue?

I hate to say it but this one just didn’t work for me. I struggled through most of it and just never felt connected.

This is my first review after a long hiatus from writing them, but I knew that when I came back The Tainted Cup would be one of my first books to tackle. I loved this book so much. So much in fact, I read it as an ARC, and then turned around and purchased it when it came out so that I read it yet again. Our story opens on Dinios Kol arriving at a murder scene. Not your typical murder scene, mind you. Din is presented with a the scene of a man killed by a tree sprouting from his body. Yes, you read that right. Intrigued? What follows is a sweeping story full of magic, intrigue and plenty of danger as well.

I really loved how Robert Jackson Bennett laid out this entire plot. I've already mentioned how quickly it moves, but it doesn't do it at the expense of the reader. We meet Ana Dolabra, Din's boss, and discover that she is an eccentric but utterly brilliant investigator. Our protagonists are tasked with uncovering a most sinister plot, before more people are murdered. If that weren't enough though, Bennett also throws in the very real threat of a leviathan bombarding the city, the further into the rainy season this investigation goes. Ana's intellectual prowess, combined with Din's ability to engrave memories down to the most minute detail, make for a fascinating storyline. This book is impossible to put down once you've started, I can tell you that.

Truly I could gush about the magic system, and the world building, and even the secondary characters for ages. They are all perfectly executed. I'll resist though, and leave all of that for you to uncover. What I will say, is that Robert Jackson Bennett always climbs to the top of my read list because his books are my favorite kind of Fantasy: accessible Fantasy. They are vibrant and fascinating, but also written in a way that any person can come right in and cozy down into. The Tainted Cup is a sweeping Fantasy story, but it doesn't feel cold and unapproachable, and I love it for that.

I am very excited to read the next book in this series! A super unique death, some magic, a fun mystery duo (Ana and Dinios) unlike I have seen in previous detective stories, and good representation. It was well written and generally fast paced!

Thank you Netgalley for this eARC!

I really wanted to love this book but I had a hard time getting through it. I felt like the world building was confusing for me and I had trouble with the characters and the story. The writing as usual was well done.