Rich fantasy with complex characters - mystery and imagination to the extreme. Take the logic and interplay of Holmes and Watson in a world of augmented abilities, leviathans, kings and slaves, secrets and betrayals and you will be tucked into this richly developed world, and complex plot. Bennett never disappoints and really delivers in this second installment.

Sometimes the second book in a series will suffer from the sophomore slump. Not so with A Drop of Corruption! Ana and Din have been expanded upon and their characters have grown so much in this second book. I loved seeing that they haven't just grown in good ways, but also bad. They feel real. I'm thoroughly. enjoying this series and hope to see another installment soon!

I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

I was so glad to get to dive back into the lives of Din and Ana! I have missed them since The Tainted Cup! This fantasy/mystery is just as good as the first in the series. Din and Ana are sent to Yarrowdale to solve another mystery. The cast of characters is unique but full of life. The storyline flowed quite well and I didn't want to put it down. It is outside of my typical genre, but the writing is very good and draws you right in. I remain in awe of authors who create an entire world in their brains and are capable at putting out there for the rest of us to enjoy.

After the harrowing case and succeeding events in the opening book, The Tainted Cup, Din and Ana are faced with a new macabre case that is only the tip of the tentacle and has ramifications for the whole empire. A Drop of Corruption was one of my most anticipated reads of the year and my expectations were high, but RJB met that and raised the bar even higher.

A Drop of Corruption is book two in the Shadow of the Leviathan: Ana and Din Mysteries set in a fantasy world. The set up of world and characters was strong in the first book so they really need to be read in order.

Din is sent ahead for this latest case to get started on the case preliminaries of visiting the crime scenes and meeting the local officer in charge. He’s unhappy because he wants to be a soldier on the front lines defending the empire and doesn’t see himself as very useful working as Ana’s assistant on criminal cases. On top of this desire to do something glorious, he’s being pressured even harder by his deceased father’s creditors who gouge him for even more each payment and are bleeding him dry.

Still, Din is diligent and even apart from his memory adaption that allows him to memorize and recall everything he has taken in with his senses, he observes and intelligently processes the early moments of the case. And, this case is a lulu from the start. A locked room mystery and a victim who doesn’t exist.

He’s also pretty good about getting along with the locals. The region is outside the empire, but tied to it. Things are politically volatile. This case might be the spark that ignites and destroys the tentative peace and negotiations.

Into this situation, Quixotic Ana shows up, here’s his findings on the case and startles every one with her brilliant, but shocking deductions. If she’s right, this simple though bizarre murder is only a small part of a larger well-crafted plot.

A Drop of Corruption is dense reading, but riveting from cover to cover. The world, the characterizations, the plotting and the writing that thrusts the reader deeply into the world of the book are incredible. Ana and Din’s relationship began and strengthened as detecting partners in book one, but book two is what goes to the heart and challenges Din to find meaning in what he does and to get a strong inkling into the mystery that is Ana, his boss.

The plot built slowly, with blips of excitement along the way so that the tension was taunt by the time the climax rushed over the reader in waves of breath-stealing twists and reveals, rather than one big moment. Some I saw coming, and it didn’t take away from the excitement one iota.

Now, I am left satiated, but jittery for the next adventure for this pair. I recommended the first book as a favorite read of the year and here I am, pronouncing the second just as fabulous as the first. Run don’t walk to get this series.

This book was everything I didn’t know I wanted in a sequel and I hope this series continues for a long time. A unique premise, a vibrant voice, and a captivating story all at the same time can be pretty rare. This series has it.

The first in this series, The Tainted Cup, was quite cathartic for it’s bizarrely murdered, privileged nobility and bureaucrats. Rather than up the catharsis (which, frankly, is a shame), this book burrows further into the world building. The mysterious Shroud is the powerhouse of the Empire, where the might and magic of the titanic creatures of the first book are harvested and distilled into the potions and elements that keep things powered. If the Shroud is threatened, the Empire is threatened… and the Shroud is being threatened.

Politics, locked door mysteries, and deadly swamps… what more do you need?

This was one of my most anticipated reads of 2025, and I have a bit of mixed feelings toward it. Mind me, I enjoyed it and I think it is a great book, but still… I think that in this case, my expectations didn’t help me. I think that the first book is, on the whole, better than this one, even if, to be honest, this is still a good book and it does not suffer from second-book syndrome.
It’s just that, for a totally personal point of view, a bit of the sense of wonder that for me was a great component of the first book, is not so present, and I was more involved in the story while reading the first book, while here, something was missing. It was a really small something, to be honest, but still…

That said, I think that this is a solid book, it has a fascinating world-building, and here we get to explore more of this strange and vivid world, and this I really appreciated. The world-building is one of the strongest features of the book, and the possibility of exploring it more, and to see how things work on the border of the Empire was fascinating, and it added more complexity to the story.
And okay, I think I may have lied, because I said that the world-building is one of the strongest feature of the book, and it is true, but it is also true that, aside from personal tastes, this book has a lot of strong features: the characters are over the top, the plot is captivating and complex, and we get a lot of answers in this one, but these answers make you ask more questions so… as you can see, there are a ton of good things going on for it.
Anyway, back to the world-building for a second more. The Shroud is a fascinating invention of the author’s mind, and all things related to it are, in their way, mind-blowing.
The social commentary and the social themes are also interesting, and I was fascinated by them. It offers some interesting points of view, that’s for sure.

Then we have the characters, and as expected, Ana and Din steal the scene. They are not the only characters that we meet here, obviously, and some of them are quite interesting, but they are on another level. I feel sorry for Din quite a lot, because Ana can be a handful in a lot of different ways. And I didn’t remember her cussing so much or being so brash with Din in the first book, and poor Din is, as always, miles behind her, so I can understand the dynamics between them, even if I didn’t always appreciate them.
Anyway, Ana is brilliant as ever, and Din is her perfect counterpoint; he keeps her balanced, and I think he helps with her sanity, too. And what’s more, Ana is just so intriguing and brilliant. And her penchant for dramatic revelation is just so good! It’s like reading one of those mysteries from the golden age, but in a nightmarish world, with impossible murders happening and unexplainable things happening at every turn.

And that brings me to the plot. It is cleverly constructed, it is captivating, and it is full of twists and turns. It is a wild ride but, while in the first book I didn’t have a clue and I was along for the ride, because I wanted to understand what was happening and who was the culprit, here I had a solid grasp of who the culprit was way before Ana’s revelations or Din piecing it all together. I know this may seem counterintuitive, but I vastly prefer to not guess right. It’s that I am usually pretty bad at guessing, and my main reason to read mysteries and the likes is not to guess right before the revelation, is to be surprised by it. And if I guess who the guilty one is, I feel like things were too easy or too sloppy.
In this case, I am not really complaining, because the story is still captivating and interesting, and it is complex and brilliant but this was a small thing that I didn’t really appreciate.

That said, if you enjoyed the first book, you will enjoy this one for sure! (You may love this one more, like a lot of people did, or you can prefer the first one, like me, but in any event, you will have a great time with this one!). And if you haven’t read the first one yet, what are you waiting for??

“A Drop of Corruption” is a sequel to Robert Jackson Bennett’s “The Tainted Cup” from the “ Shadow of the Leviathan” series.

I am definitely enjoying this a lot. It is an urban fantasy mystery with a massively descriptive and detailed world. The characters are vibrant and I find the witty banters between Ana Dolabra and Dinios Kol so humorous. The mysteries were very well-though of, multi-layered and gratifying. It is a perfectly-written complex murder and political mystery that is so exciting to read, There is active tension that hooks the reader until the very last page.

I can’t wait to read the next book.

Thank you so much Net galley and publisher for this brilliant advanced copy. The opinions stated in this review are entirely my own.

A Drop of Corruption by Robert Jackson Bennett is the second book in the Shadow of the Leviathan series. Detective Ana Dolabra and her assistant Dinios Kol are solving another mystery together. When a Treasury officer disappears and then his body is found later, they are called in to figure out what happened. Dolabra is an amazing and unique detective that manages to solve anything that's thrown her way. And this story was full of twists and turns. There were so many characters and so many red herrings. I really enjoyed this story, but I feel like some of it could have been cut. But it was still very well written and fun to read. Thanks to NetGalley for the free digital review copy. All opinions are my own.

The Tainted Cup was one of my favourite books of 2024, so I was both excited and nervous for the sequel. Could RJB catch lightning in a bottle twice?
Turns out, yes.
A Drop of Corruption takes everything unique and wonderful about The Tainted Cup and levels it up. The biopunk vibes are squishier, the villain is more devious, and Ana is utterly fascinating and unsettling.
The core mystery once again has empire-destablising implications, and RJB doesn't shy away from commentary on the perils of both an ancient monarchy and the empire that is trying to replace it. No system is perfect, the narrative asks readers if that should stop us from trying to make things better even if our impact feels insignificant.
The mystery itself is engaging, but true to the Sherlock Holmes mysteries from which the narrative draws inspiration, it has been made twisty enough to require Ana's unique deductive capabilities. This isn't a mystery I could have solved as the reader, but the resolution is the perfect mix of surprising yet inevitable and the clues are all in the text, so the more observant reader may have solved this themselves.
I suspect this will find its way into my top books of 2025. RJB's worldbuilding and imagination are unmatched, and reading something that feels so gleefully weird is a delight.
Now excuse me while I go sit in the corner and wait for the next book to come out.

I loved this!! Such an interesting format for a fantasy mystery novel that kept me interested from the jump. I had a moment of being a bit confused, and then I realized I was reading the second in a series - but I feel there was enough background that I caught up quickly enough. There is banter, there is fun, there is humor, intrigue, and overall an interesting mystery to keep you going. I really enjoyed the magical elements and the world building, and truly felt transported to another time and place. Highly recommend. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to provide my honest review.

4.5⭐️

This series was literally made for me. Fascinating fantasy world ✅ complex characters ✅ intricate political scenes ✅ Agatha Christie level murder mysteries✅

Seriously I need the next one now.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for an arc in exchange for my review. This series was one of my favorites last year, and is a contender already for one of my favorite books of the year and I am very thankful!

I could happily read about Din and Ana for years and never be bored. Bennett's world-building skills are unmatched when creating the magic system and intricate political factions. Just like the first book in the series, Once again, I was sucked into the mystery, trying to figure out the identity of the killer. And, while I figured out some plot twists early, I was so invested I didn't mind continuing the journey. The book was perfect from start to finish. I give A Drop of Corruption 5/5 stars.


Thank you to NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group for the opportunity to review A Drop of Corruption by Robert Jackson Bennett. All opinions are my own

This sequel to The Tainted Cup, somehow manages to top it! I love this world, the characters, the plot, and how it wrapped. If you enjoy sci-fi thrillers, this is the series to read for sure.

Thanks to Del Ray and NetGalley for an ARC of this book.

A Drop of Corruption is the second in the Shadow of the Leviathan series, and I enjoyed it even more than the first!

Problem being, this world that Robert Jackson Bennett has fleshed out in The Tainted Cup is now so built up and dense, it would be impossible to talk about the plot in depth here, because it wouldn't make any sense and would likely be very long. It was a murder mystery of course, and Ana and Din are dispatched to do their usual thing. More of Din's backstory is shared and Ana just seems to get more and more mysterious with every paragraph. She's eccentric, dramatic, brilliant and sometimes even pathetic. Her skills cannot be denied though, and in some ways these two still remind me of Sherlock Holmes and Watson.

I've read mysteries for years, but for some reason with this author I can never seem to figure them out. I usually just forget about solving them and go along for the ride. I have to say that I wish this ride were a little bit shorter because sometimes I seemed to make no progress at all. In the end, that was really nothing because this story has everything that I love in dark fantasy. The worldbuilding, the intricate politics among independent countries and empires, two main characters that are fascinating, brilliant and funny, and what is up with the mysterious leviathans? I need to know!

One last thing, this is book two and it likely will make no sense to you if you haven't read The Tainted Cup first. So if you haven't, you should go do that!

This was absolutely terrific and has my highest recommendation!

*ARC from publisher

I was so happy and excited to get back to Ana and Din and their relationship. I love this series and loved this installment in the <i>Shadow of the Leviathan</i>. The author's skill at creating plot is unbelievable, and in addition he also created believable characters in a fantasy world. The two MC's (Ana and Din) are sent outside of the Empire to find out about the death of Treasury official. But what they end up having to do in their journey is much more than I considered it would be. There is another rather mysterious death, but our Ana has no qualms about figuring it out and does so in the blink of an eye.

The world of the Leviathans in which Ana and Din are a part of is The main suspect is very adept and skilled at doing what he/she does with no real trace of evidence left behind. This makes the investigation more intriguing and how easily Ana figured it out baffles me. I loved the bantering between the MC's which made the book just so fun to read. I also enjoyed learning quite a bit more about both Ana and Din, but there is definitely still much more to discover (in book 3?).

If there was anything to fault this book for, it would be that (for me anyway) it could've been more of a page-turner. Obviously it wasn't so slow that it prevented me from rating it with five stars, but there were some scenes that I felt dragged a little. I was too anxious to know what was going to happen next though for it to matter.

Thank you NetGalley and Del Rey for an eARC in exchange for an honest review!

Man, I love this series so much. I love Ana and Din and their relationship, but I especially love the absolute wild situations they always seem to find themselves in. I enjoy mysteries but I’m often not the type of person to try to solve them on my own; I prefer to be led on the journey. That’s just the kind of reader I am, I will not be trying to piece things together on my own. So it’s absolutely wild to get taken down all the same rabbit holes Din is taken on, and I think the author does a good job giving hints to what the ultimate reveal would be, because by the time I got to the end I felt quite satisfied and like everything slotted into place like it was supposed to.

I love the worldbuilding and politics of this series and how messy it is to try and navigate the empire. I loved getting a better look at the leviathans and I really hope the third book will continue this trend. I could read about these weirdos forever, and I think there’s tons of mysteries for Bennett to tackle. A Drop of Corruption does a wonderful job blending the mystery with the deeper exploration of the world while also giving more information about who Ana is and how Din operates in the world, and it’s a genuine delight to read about them.

This is a book that I fear if I write a review for, my thoughts may inadvertently spoil the story - purely because of how incredible this series is and I may have no self control to stop myself from discussing it.

Din and Ana are an iconic duo that I never expected to work but just... do. Read this if you love the stories of Watson and Holmes or stories where the subplots are just as good (if not better than) the overarching tale.

A Drop of Corruption is the sequel to a The Tainted Cup and takes place about 18 months after.

It seems to be a 'simple' murder mystery of a treasury officer in an area that is not quite part of the empire. But of course anything that Ana gets send to is never just that simple as figuring out how the murderer got in and out. It is only a small part of a bigger plot.

Even that isn't what truly stands out in this book. There were twists and turns but the bigger ones I could call beforehand. But the characters and the writing is what captivates. Then it doesn't really matter if you can call any of the twists.

Din seems to have taken a bit of a hit. The events in the first book and all of the cases that he saw with Ana after, seems to have dropped a nerve. All the death and killing has left its mark and he seems to be suffering from a little bit of ptsd.

It's an interesting mix of mystery, fantasy and a personal search in a variety of characters. Din is feeling mixed up about what he truly wants and feels forced into his current position. While Ana might not seem like she is forced into anything I feel that what is revealed about her does show that. I think that is why she sees it in Din. The feelings at least. I'm glad she made sure that Din had a choice.

Seeing Ana through Din's eyes does add something to this. If this was written from Ana's pov, a character so smart and sees through things, it would only dissapoint. You can't ever truly write such a smart character that would live up to our expectations, lets be real. Din isn't stupid, not at all, and the more time he spends with Ana, the more he seems to be able to see her way of thinking. But he is more on our level which also makes it easier to connect wit him as the main character.

I feel like this might move beyond a trilogy? I'm not sure but I also feel like we are slowly building up to a bit more in each book when it comes to a bigger something that will be very big for this world. However it is so slow that there is no way that is going to work to come forward in one book.

4.5 stars, rounded up because I already can't wait for the next book

I am a huge fan of the classic mystery genre, and this series is a worthy nod to another duo, Holmes and Watson. Ana is as secretive and a genius as Holmes, and Din is a worthy narrator who acts as Ana's eyes and ears, usually quite literally. The mysteries are complex, multilayered, and full of twists and turns, and while Bennett does lead us to the conclusion when we finally get there, I am often more like Din than Ana, being able to see part of the picture, but not all. I absolutely love their interactions with each other, and it's as much as the character building as the mystery that makes me love this series so much. Without revealing any specifics, we finally find out more about Ana, although much of it is still shrouded in mystery. While each of these books could be read as a standalone mystery, I would recommend starting from the beginning. However, as much as I can't wait for the next book, each book satisfies as you learn the solution to the mystery. While there are many series I don't like starting until they're complete because I'm not a fan of cliffhangers, this is not one of those. But while I wait, I may end up rereading the first book (for the third time) and this one--for me, it was that satisfying.

I received an advance review copy for free from NetGalley, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

Thank you NetGalley and the publishers for an eARC in exchange for my honest review. “The Tainted Cup” was one of my favorite reads of 2024 and this sequel is a strong contender for 2025. Set in a high fantasy world, this book follows Ana and Din into another shadow of the Empire-- namely, Yarrowdale, an independent sector poised to be taken by the Empire. Filled with political scheming, snarky remarks, and hairbrained schemes Sherlock Holmes would be proud of, the duo race to solve another murder.

In addition to the central murder mystery, this book touches on many questions posed in the first novel. (What are Ana’s grafts? Where do Din’s loyalties lie? What is the Empire and their origins? What are the Leviathans?) Bennett’s worldbuilding is stunning, investing readers not only in Din and Ana’s story, but the Empire at large. I would happily read another 10 novels set in this world.