3.5 stars

I really enjoyed this, but I felt it was a little repetitive. Book 1 was such a breath of fresh air, but this one didn’t quite have the same blow. It felt like the same formula with a different culprit, Din running around asking questions, and Ana with all her bizarreness doing the thinking.

I loved Ana, she’s still my favorite character. The plot was solid, but what felt missing this time was the emotions. There was so little about both of them. I wanted to know more about them, their background stories, their thoughts—something to make me connect more. I’m not asking for romance, just a little something extra to bring them to life. Maybe even bringing back that legionnaire guy from book 1 would’ve added something.

This one felt like a full-blown, fast-paced investigation with no nonsense, which isn’t bad, but I missed the emotional beats. And okay, this is on me, but I was really hoping for some real live Titans this time around.

Still, it wasn’t a bad read. I liked it, but just not as much as the first one.

Note: Big thanks to the author and publisher for giving me this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

The second book of a series of which I very much enjoyed the first, despite the grimness of the setting. I eagerly picked this one up when I saw it on Netgalley, and it didn't disappoint.

The detective duo are kind of Holmes and Watson turned up to 11. Ana is brilliant, erratic and eccentric, and a drug user; she also swears constantly. The rather stolid Kol sees, but he does not observe - or rather, he records his sensory impressions with great accuracy (thanks to his particular neurobiological alteration, something that's quite common in the setting), but only occasionally comes to a conclusion about this evidence. That's mostly left to Ana. Watson, unlike Holmes, had romantic relationships; Kol is popular with both women and men, and uses casual sex to try to deal with his loneliness. He's also not just Watson to Ana's Holmes, but Archie Goodwin to her Nero Wolfe, since she finds sensory stimulation so overwhelming that she mostly stays indoors if she can manage it and sends Kol out to do the legwork.

Normally, a foul-mouthed drug user and someone who uses casual sex as maladaptive coping, working on graphic murders in a bureaucratic and sometimes corrupt empire threatened by horrifying kaiju, wouldn't be my cup of tea at all, let alone a five-star book. But Robert Jackson Bennett does it so well that I can set aside the dark, dingy, dank and dirty setting and characters and enjoy the clever detective story and the over-the-top high-concept worldbuilding - and the dedication of the central characters to justice. It has the same general feel as his Founders Trilogy, which I loved: a dark, strange world in which morally complex people stubbornly pursue what's right.

I mean, this series takes the idea of monstrous kaiju who produce biochemicals which cause drastic modifications in living beings, and makes that the technological basis of the empire that fights the kaiju by, among many other things, deliberately turning some of their people neurodivergent, and then works out rigorously what that would look like. And it looks <i>very strange</i>. It's the kind of thick worldbuilding that I love in, say, Brandon Sanderson, where the world is very different and that means the author can tell a story that could only happen in that world; the setting is inextricably enmeshed with the characters and the plot, rather than serving as scenery flats (that we've seen a dozen times before) behind The Usual Drama. And yet, all of the characters have believable motivations, and ultimately it's a story about humanity, and what's always the same about it even when so much else changes. It's also about the sometimes blurry line between being exploited by a system and sacrificially serving something greater than yourself for the good of all. The villains are on one side of that line, as both victims and perpetrators; the heroes work hard to stay on the other side, and to enable as many people as possible to join them there.

The author thinks this is a fantasy novel, and the level of mechanical technology supports that, but to me it feels science-fictional as well; the technology is just biochemical, and well beyond anything we are capable of, to the point that it's sufficiently advanced to read as magic.

The books I get from Netgalley are not necessarily in their final form, and may get more editing after I see them. This one doesn't need a lot; the occasional missing or added word or missing quotation mark, the excess coordinate commas that nearly everyone puts in, occasionally a singular/plural issue where the phrase is confusing and it might be either one. It's smooth enough that I was able to stay in the story most of the time without being distracted by poor execution.

Even though it doesn't look, at first glance, anything like my normal preferred read (which is cosy fantasy), I'm putting this in the Platinum tier of my 2024 Best of the Year list, because it is ultimately noblebright, the worldbuilding is brilliant and original, and the story it tells has depth and weight and a lot of thought behind it.

An absolutely incredible sequel. I love how everything comes together in a way that makes sense, that some bits you can put together on your own but even the grand reveals feel realistic. I cannot wait to continue with Din and Ana.

5 out of 5 stars.

Thank you to Netgalley and Del Rey Books for the free copy of this book and the opportunity to read it before release.

When I read The Tainted Cup last year, I knew it was going to be one of my favorite reads of the year. While the intriguing murder mystery with a Sherlock-Watson duo is not an atypical plot device, Robert Jackson Bennet has taken this common trope and stirred it into a very thorough thought-out fantasy world full of political intrigue, it results in a series that feels unique and entirely its own.

When I got the chance to read A Drop of Corruption, it also meant one thing for me; I wanted more of what the first book gave me, but with a more in-depth exploration of both the world and the characters, all of which intrigued me. And oh man, did this book just deliver? It does not feel like praise to say that a sequel gives you more of what book one gave you, but when an author takes a premise that works form book one and keeps to it, while giving the reader space for exploration and evolution of everything book one gave you, you just know it is a gift. I cannot help but be awestruck by this series.

Din and Ana have gone to another region to solve another weird murder that’s happened. While the first book took place in Talagray - part of the outer rim and the most important place in the empire, when it comes to defense against the leviathans, this time Din and Ana are visiting Yarrow; a region that is not yet part of the empire, but still plays a key role in the political climate. This also gives the book ample place to explore both the mystery of the murder and the wondrous world without any of it feeling forced or down-prioritized. Instead it is perfectly balanced and keeps the reader on the edge throughout the whole story.

What really intrigues me with this series is the hostile environment that both makes the leviathans the greatest threat and the biggest safeguard for society. Both (current) books are about single specific mysteries, but at the same time they really do highlight the importance of the leviathans to society, as the exploration of this fundamental part of society keeps popping up with a role in the mysteries.

I cannot wait to see where this series go.

If you still have not read The Tainted Cup, this is a recommendation to start the whole series - if you have read The Tainted Cup and also liked it, this is a recommendation to read the second book too.

This was a gem! I really enjoyed this stories. The indepth story was so engaging and the characters were fantastic!

This book follows Din and Ana as they solve another mystery, and I’ll say I enjoyed it even more than the first!

I was instantly intrigued by this new murder mystery that gets more and more complex and bizarre. And these characters! The relationship between Din and Ana is one of my favorite aspects of the book. Din is such a rich character, and I enjoy how he is always baffled by Ana. This book made me laugh out loud numerous times!

The fantasy elements really enrich this mystery, and I love how we get to learn more about the Empire in this book. If you like unique and complex fantasy settings, murder mysteries or great crime fighting duos, this book is for you!

What an incredible sequel (no middle-book syndrome in sight here). This world is so rich in lore and carefully crafted that it was a delight to see a new region unfold through Din’s eyes. The pacing was on point, and the book never lost steam from beginning to end.

I was also really happy to learn more about Ana and see Din's evolution as a character. Some fans may lament that some fan favourites from book one are absent here, but it made sense with the setting, and I feel that their absence in this book will pay off hugely if they show up in the next installment. The new characters we met here were also great (shoutout to Malo), and the banter between them and our main duo was witty.

I ended my review of book one by saying that I wished I could hibernate to spare me the pain of waiting for the sequel, and this sentiment still applies here, I shall wait for book 3 with a ravenous hunger.

Thank you so much to NetGalley and Del Ray for the ARC. Last year, 'The Tainted Cup' was my favorite fantasy book by far, so I was beyond thrilled to read the sequel early. I fell in love with 'The Tainted Cup' because of its mix of fantasy, mystery, thrilled; this book mixes those elements even better in my opinion. The plot of 'A Drop of Corruption' goes so far beyond the initial mystery "whodunit"- delving deeper in the politics and world-building that the first book expertly set up. This sequel was completely addicting to read, and I can't believe this story will somehow be wrapped up in the next issue.

This is the sequel to “The Tainted Cup” in the “Shadow of the Leviathan” series.
We follow Det. Ana Dolabra & her assistant Dinios Kol as they try to solve a crime in the remote canton of Yarrowdale.
As they become closer to the case it seems to them that maybe the killer has supernatural abilities which will make their case harder to solve
This is a fantasy mystery with twist and turns that keep you guessing
If you enjoy mysteries with a fantastical twist, that you can get lost in a world packed with magic and suspense you’ll enjoy “A Drop of Corruption” .Thank You @netgalley

This book basically clinches Robert Jackson Bennett as my favorite author. His books contain the most creative and well-thought-out worlds in fantasy today, and the plots keep me guessing throughout. I loved getting to go back to the world of Ana and Din, and I was actually glad to see that the series will be more episodic. The mystery itself was intriguing, multi-faceted, and handled beautifully. What I'm saying is, I would read this man's grocery list. Please give us more.

Wow, what an incredible follow-up, which can be really hard to do with fantasy sequels. I enjoyed the storyline just as much as the first one and I thought the pacing once again was excellent. I can’t wait to read more in the series!

I requested an ARC for A Drop of Corruption IMMEDIATELY upon reading its predecessor The Tainted Cup. This series is such a fun blend of genres filled with complex and interesting characters. I’m already excited for the next one.

(But maybe don’t read it while eating)

This book took me on a whole mystery fantasy adventure !!! I felt like I was right there in the story being a detective right along side the characters. It was well written and made the story fly by . There is a lot of information given to try and remember and keep up with , but as the story went on that world building slowed down a bit . The struggle for power was found throughout the story. I loved Malo !!! Bring on book 3!!!

Thank you Netgalley for allowing me to arc read and provide my honest review.

I was thrilled to get an ARC of a Drop of Corruption and couldn't wait to get into reading!

I LOVED the first book in the series and honestly had worried that the sequel would struggle to meet the quality of its predecessor; however I can happily say this wasn't the case at all (as another reviewer stated, no middle child syndrome here!) Dinios + Ana were again at their best with a new mystery to solve and boy oh boy did they solve it.

pacing in this book was fab and I never felt a section of the mystery overstayed its welcome. a must read in 2025 for sure!!!

RJB welcomes us back to the lush and opulent empire of khanum, with its fictitious and fabricated richness where we’ll meet a lot of gray-pale sublimes with each different alteration and motive. Bennett certainly doesn’t disappoint with regard to the murder scene at hand. it was graphically gory, perplexing to unravel, and hauntingly poetic, reminding us of its core message—who are we at the end of it all, how small and unknowing.

i find myself enjoyed being played at the hand of master of thread, who already have meticulously knotted everything for our iyalet investigators ana and din to solve. i didn’t mind how formulaic Bennett’s approach to solve the crime after crime that didn't lead to anything but instead raised the stakes and added even more mystery. it neither frustrated me nor rendered all the twists unsatisfactory. i also LOVE ana’s lengthy, paragraphs-long answers to all the puzzles and riddles—and the way she immediately HUMBLED everyone back to their place!!—i generally dislike puzzling methods of seeking answers but everything ties up and comes a full circle at the end. i also enjoyed the new introductory characters as they have a great dynamic that adds to the story and i thoroughly loved every every character’s quip, banter, and the fights between them. safe to say it is as enjoyable as digesting <b>the tainted cup</b> word by word, perhaps the difference is that this book is more about ana whereas the big turning point of <b>the tainted cup</b> was more about din. and that left me wondering what will the third book bring to me?

to all ana & din truthers, you’ve got until 2025 to recover from <b>the tainted cup</b> before dives back into the immersive mysteries Bennett has woven through in <b>a drop of corruption</b>!!

<i>arc kindly provided by del rey, random house worlds, inklore via netgalley in exchange for an honest review.</i>

RJB welcomes us back to the lush and opulent empire of khanum, with its fictitious and fabricated richness where we’ll meet a lot of gray-pale sublimes with each different alteration and motive. Bennett certainly doesn’t disappoint with regard to the murder scene at hand. it was graphically gory, perplexing to unravel, and hauntingly poetic, reminding us of its core message—who are we at the end of it all, how small and unknowing.

i find myself enjoyed being played at the hand of master of thread, who already have meticulously knotted everything for our iyalet investigators ana and din to solve. i didn’t mind how formulaic Bennett’s approach to solve the crime after crime that didn't lead to anything but instead raised the stakes and added even more mystery. it neither frustrated me nor rendered all the twists unsatisfactory. i also LOVE ana’s lengthy, paragraphs-long answers to all the puzzles and riddles—and the way she immediately HUMBLED everyone back to their place!!—i generally dislike puzzling methods of seeking answers but everything ties up and comes a full circle at the end. i also enjoyed the new introductory characters as they have a great dynamic that adds to the story and i thoroughly loved every every character’s quip, banter, and the fights between them. safe to say it is as enjoyable as digesting <b>the tainted cup</b> word by word, perhaps the difference is that this book is more about ana whereas the big turning point of <b>the tainted cup</b> was more about din. and that left me wondering what will the third book bring to me?

to all ana & din truthers, you’ve got until 2025 to recover from <b>the tainted cup</b> before dives back into the immersive mysteries Bennett has woven through in <b>a drop of corruption</b>!!

<i>arc kindly provided by del rey, random house worlds, inklore via netgalley in exchange for an honest review.</i>

After loving the first novel, I was so excited to jump back into this world and learn more about Ana and Din. The development of both characters, and seeing whole new ways to look at them was exceptional. RJ Bennett really writes people well, to the point you feel as if you truly become them as you read. The story is witty, engaging and incredibly stimulating. A fantasy detective story isn't normally my chosen genre but when I read book 1 and now book 2, it is certainly become a firm favourite subgenre for me. A murder mystery with locked windows and doors? Yes please! I look forward to seeing whats next.

Thank you to Netgalley and Random House Publishing for the ARC

5/5 stars
Recommended if you like: murder mystery, locked room mystery, greenpunk, fantasy

This review has been posted to Goodreads as of 12/2, Instagram as of 12/4, and my review blog as of 12/5.

This book picks up about a year after the events of Tainted Cup. This was a bit confusing for me at first because I thought it was happening soon after but Din kept referencing stuff that had happened that I didn't remember, which led to me realizing there was a decent time jump between the two books. On the one hand, I appreciate this because it meant Din and Ana were more familiar with one another and we get to see them as an established investigative duo. On the other hand, Din in particular seems to have changed a good amount and it was jarring to have had that happen off-page.

Din, I thought, seemed settled in his role as an investigator alongside Ana by the end of Tainted Cup. However, this book opens with him wanting to transfer to a Legions division and to help defend against the leviathans that walk from the sea and wreak havoc every wet season. I was definitely thrown off by this and was kind of turned off by it for a bit as well (why would you want to fight leviathans when you could solve bizarre mysteries?!), but luckily it's not really a big plot point. Overall I felt we got to know more of Din in this one than in the first one. He thinks more about his family, as well as his and Ana's previous mysteries, so we get more insight into who he is as a person.

We also get more insight into Ana, both in terms of who she is as well as what her modifications are. I definitely figured some stuff about Ana out waaaay before Din did, but I also have the advantage of reading what's happening and being able to see the big picture, whereas Din is living it and has so much going on. As before, I liked Ana and thought she brought some nice humor to the book. Her investigative methods are definitely a little odd, but damn if she isn't good at figuring things out. She's a fun character to read, and I liked that she was in this one more than she was in Tainted Cup (or at least it felt like she was in this one more).

The mystery in this book is a locked room murder. A Treasury official disappeared from his hotel room when both the windows and doors were locked, leaving behind only a large bloodstain. From there things only become more complicated as the investigation reveals bigger and more complex mysteries the more it tries to find answers.

The setting was interesting in this one and quite different from what we saw in Tainted Cup. Ana and Din are in a city balancing very carefully between local rule and imperial rule. There are people on both sides who want imperial rule to prevail and also people on both sides who would prefer the empire leave the city well enough alone, despite the empire's reliance on the city's exports. Outside of the city is a dense, deadly jungle rife with smugglers who take aim at both local and imperial goods. The political situation is definitely more tricky than in book 1, but I enjoyed getting a bigger picture of the world and found it interesting to learn about the way augments are processed and created.

I think I figured out the mystery around the 65-75% mark. I did guess the answer in Tainted Cup as well, but there were still parts of it that I didn't know in that book. In this one I had pretty much the entire thing figured out and so was less impressed by the investigative acumen of Din and Ana. I would've preferred it being a little more difficult to figure out so that there would still be some surprises left when things were revealed.

Overall I enjoyed this book and think it's a good addition to the world. Despite solving the mystery with much of the book still left, I still enjoyed following Ana and Din as they tried to tie everything together. I know there's at least a third book, and I'm hoping this gets turned into a longer series with lots of different Ana-Din adventures!

Ana Dolabra and her assistant Dinios Kol are sent to Yarrowdale to inxestigate the disappearance of a Treasury
officer who has vanished. Tracking the officer's movements lead to more questions. Whatever is going on relates
to the compound named the Shroud where the dead Leviathans are dissected. More is learned about Ana's
enhancements that make her so different. Ana and Dinios.face a challenging and life threatening task as they
deal with corruption, betrayal and the fight for power.
#ADropofCorruption #DelRey #RandomHouse #NetGalley

A Drop of Corruption by Robert Jackson Bennett is such a captivating story. It's a brilliant novel that will keep you hooked until the very end. Characters are driven not only by external events but by their own internal desires. There are many twists and turns that will also keep you guessing. There are no dull moments, as the story is intellectually stimulating and emotionally engaging. Our favorites, Ana and Din, return in the sequel to investigate a disappearance. They believe they're out to find out where a Treasury officer has disappeared. But really, it's a murder. How would you even begin to solve this when even all the doors and windows were locked from the inside??? Well... I won't spoil it. I definitely came up with my theories, though, and it really does seem like a case that is impossible to solve.

After the first novel, I was hoping to get to know more about Ana and Din, and we did! We get more details about Ana, which I loved. She is usually such a quirky and unpredictable character, but I liked to see this other side of her. We also get more on Din and get to see under his mask, especially since he narrates. I love these two characters. Their personalities are such a good match and keep things interesting. There were characters that I missed that didn't make an appearance, but I understood why it wouldn't make sense for them to be here. However, we are introduced to a new list of very awesome characters. We also explore more of the ongoing conflict within the empire, especially the tough ethical decisions they make.

I don't often read fantasy detective stories that keep me this invested and addicted to the story. It was such a satisfying read and brilliantly written. I definitely didn't want it to end or put it down for a second. Bennett has crafted a world worth exploring, and I’m eager to see where he takes it next in the series. I feel like there is still so much to see and explore.
Thank you so much to Netgalley and Random House Publishing for the ARC.