This book is just as good as the first. Nothing felt repititive from book 1, and the mystery constantly had me on my toes. A murder has taken place, but the victim was somehow pulled from a high tower and taken to a lake to be eaten. All without anybody seeing. Nobody in or out of the doors, and the windows remained shut. The only evidence available is some stains on the bed. Our protagonists, Din and Ana, are assigned to the highly unusual case.

RJB is a phenomenal fantasy writer. The world building in this series is amazing. Every time I pick up this book, I am practically sucked into a whole new world. Plus, I'm obsessed with Din, our struggling bisexual king. He's a bit quirky, yet quick-thinking, and pairs so incredibly well with Ana, the Sherlock-esque officer Din is assigned to.

I cannot wait to read more of this series. In the meantime, I absolutely will be continuing to read other works by RJB.

I am really enjoying this series! The protagonists are strange and neurotic, but with admirable integrity. The world is complex and intriguing, and although the pace of revealing the secrets is slow, it's an interesting and satisfying journey. The characters and quandaries of this series are more like City of Stairs than Foundryside, the kind of storytelling I've been hoping for more of from Robert Jackson Bennett.

It’s always scary to read one of your most anticipated reads of the year… what if it doesn’t live up to your expectations?? That’s how I felt starting A Drop of Corruption– I absolutely LOVED The Tainted Cup and really hoped the sequel would live up to the magic and enjoyment I experienced in the first book. Well friends, I am SO HAPPY to report that this book is JUST AS GOOD (if not better?!) than the first book!!! 😍

Just like The Tainted Cup, A Drop of Corruption features an incredibly layered mystery with great characters and excellent world building. I kept trying to guess the solution with crazier and crazier theories, but I was still amazed by the eventual conclusion that was both wildly intricate and completely understandable. I especially loved all of the political intrigue mixed in to this story! It really added depth and relatability to our world. We are also treated to lots of fantastic character building for both Ana and Din. I feel like I know them even better now and I would happily read ten novels about the two of them solving crimes in this fantasy world.

Overall this was an engrossing mystery with fantastic characters in a highly detailed fantasy world. Truly a perfect sequel to what is quickly becoming one of my favorite fantasy series!! I *highly* recommend this to all fantasy and/or mystery lovers out there!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for this advanced reader copy in exchange for my honest review!

I could not wait to return to Ana & Din’s mysterious adventure and was ecstatic to receive an ARC of A Drop of Corruption. The Tainted Cup was one of my favorite reads last year, so this one had a lot of expectation to live up to for me, and surprisingly I think it’s even better than the first book. I enjoyed the host of new characters that were introduced, each one unique and interesting as we watch the story unfold and learn more about them. But the amount of world building worked into the mystery really drew me into this latest additional to the Shadow of the Leviathan series. The setting was completely new, but pulled in so much history and lore of the Empire as the mystery built and I loved every minute of it. I already cannot wait for book 3.

This book was such a delight to read! I liked it even more than book one.

In this one, we follow Din and Ana to the outskirts of the empire. There lies a region that is very important for the empire but is technically not yet part of it since it's still governed by monarchs. This makes investigating the new case especially tricky that turns out to be a lot more complex and dangerous than everybody initially thought.

I was barely able to put the book down. Once a chapter ended, I immediately wanted to start reading the next chapters. Everything was described so vividly that I felt like watching a movie, and that despite the fact that RJB invented a world that is so incredibly different from our own. The characters had more depth this time, especially Din. But we also learned more about Ana, even though she'll probably always remain a mystery.

The only thing I disliked about the book was the turn the case took towards the end. I understand the purpose of writing the story the way it was written but I would have loved for it to take a different direction.

Still, I very much enjoyed A Drop of Corruption and I am eagerly awaiting the next novel in the series! 4.5 out of 5 stars.

Thank you Netgalley for providing me with an e-ARC.

“… and the drop of corruption that lies within every society shall always persist.”

Absolutely incredible. Striking prose, lush world building and immaculate character arcs and mystery. Dinios Kol is my favorite male main character I have ever had the privilege of reading. His commanding officer, the eccentric and highly erratic, Dolabra, brings so much wit to the duo.

I loved every second of this sequel to The Tainted Cup. I can’t wait to see where Din’s next adventure lies.

Thank you NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Ana and Din are sent to the farthest reaches of the Empire to solve an impossible mystery—one that turns out to be a murder committed by someone who might even outsmart the duo. And, of course, what would a mystery be without the fate of the Empire hanging in the balance?

The second installment of Shadow of the Leviathan had me intrigued from the very beginning. The plot’s pacing was steady, with just the right amount of tension and mystery, slowly revealing pieces of the crime. I was still guessing whodunit until the very end.

I’ve missed the dynamic between Ana and Din, and their relationship only deepens in this book. The side characters were distinct and added their own twists to the plot. I gave this four stars because I truly enjoyed reading it and will be thinking about it even after finishing. However, I did wish for a stronger connection between the first and second books, beyond just the occasional mention of a character or place in the Empire.

The story of Ana and Din continues! I did thoroughly enjoyed the story in this one. Did partly called it about half way through but that didn’t take away from my enjoyment of the book.

The Good: I like the world. It does feel real and well thought out. The tensions between Yarrowdale and the Empire makes sense and the story weaves itself around that well. I like the character dynamic between Ana and Din. The Sherlock Holmes to Watson if Sherlock was even more eccentric and Watson was a young lad.

The Bad: I don’t really enjoy being in Din’s head. He reads YA to me being impulsive and naive. Ana is similarly not the nicest character to be around sometimes and some of the things seem to be there to be extreme rather than serve a real purpose.

The editing in my opinion can be tighter. There are sections and plots that don’t really need to be there (the whole debt story, I’m looking at you).

Thank you to Del Ray Publishing and Netgalley for this ARC in exchange for my honest thoughts. I don’t know why I didn’t like this because I adored the last book in the series. But I could not, despite my best efforts, get into this installment. I may give it another shot in the future, but for now it’s a DNF

5 stars

A Drop of Corruption has stood firm as one of my most anticipated releases of 2025, but I have been holding off on actually reading it out of fear that it would not live up to my expectations. I'm sure that there are other readers out there who might be feeling the same way and I am telling you now that there is no need to fear - Robert Jackson Bennett has knocked it out of the park again!

Everything that I loved about The Tainted Cup is present here in spades - unique worldbuilding, a twisty mystery of the week plot, and plenty of Din and Ana shenanigans. I was pleasantly surprised by the shift from the more militaristic world that we saw in The Tainted Cup to the bureaucratic and political spheres that Din and Ana move in through this novel. It left plenty of room for Jackson to make some wonderfully poignant statements about the nature of empire and how individuals operate within civilized societies. I often found myself having to put the book down despite wanting to read more so that I could really savor the experience of being in this world. Now that I'm done, I will have to wait another year or more to see what new adventures Din and Ana get up to!

Thank you to NetGalley and Del Rey for an ARC of this book in exchange for a fair and honest review!

Thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for an advanced e-copy of this book! I wrote this review voluntarily, and all opinions are my own.

I was pleased that the second book in this series lived up to the first. I enjoyed getting to know Din and Ana better and the newly introduced characters (especially Malo), and exploring more of the world. While the character development is fine, the world building is so strong and a real strength of this series; it really makes the story stand out. The dynamic between Din and Ana is excellent, and their characters are unique enough that it was easy for me to pick up the book and remember who they were.

These books are my ideal mystery series, because they fit so well into the fantasy world, which adds a really fun additional element to the story. The mystery was well done although it didn't stun me - I enjoyed the twists and that all the pieces were there for me to fit together. Overall, I felt it was very similar to the first book; if you enjoyed that, I think this will check all of the same boxes.

It was a fun read overall and this will continue to be a series I recommend to people who love fantasy and are looking for something different!

Ana and Din strike again in this hilarious, twisty fantasy murder mystery! After absolutely devouring The Tainted Cup I was eager to dive into the sequel, and definitely wasn’t disappointed. Din is such a delight to be in his head. I love his pragmatic humour, his silence of duty, and his unwilling optimism even when the case throws curveball after curveball. The worldbuilding was inventive and interesting, just like I’d come to expect from RJB’s work, with a secretive, shrouded city, a human flesh transforming blight surrounded by a soggy, muddy world. The pacing was full of twists and subtle reveals all leading to the big moment of discovery in a way I didn’t expect! And as always, Ana is just the perfect counterpart to Din’s reticence with her eccentricity. Loved this instalment and cant wait for the next!

Thanks to @delreybooks and @prhaudio for the free ebook and audiobook versions of this amazing book! It’s book two in a series, though I think you could easily read it on its own. I absolutely love this eccentric version of the Sherlock and Watson dynamic that Ana and Din have, and this book advances their friendship while still maintaining the mystery and frustration Din feels in his service to the strange creature Ana truly is. I can’t wait to learn more about both of them in future books. And I want to learn more about leviathans and the history of this peculiar world.

A Drop of Corruption is a smart mystery set in a creative and creepy fantasy world. Sometimes the mystery solving reminds me of an Agatha Christie story (but with occasional f-bombs—Ana is incorrigible). I alternated reading with listening so that I could read the book faster; it was so good! The narrator is excellent too..

Poignant thought from the afterword:
“Because all the characters in this story—like all of humanity, apparently—have a little blank spot in their heads that says, “Kings. What a good idea.” The idea is powerful, and seductive, and should not be underestimated. To be a civilization of any worth, however, means acknowledging the idea—and then condemning it as laughably, madly stupid.”

This hit home, and I loved the examination of corruption within powerful people. I loved the portrayal of public service as noble, even if it isn’t glamorous or always satisfying.

I highly recommend this to any fantasy readers or mystery lovers, especially if you enjoy sophistication in both plot and language in your genre reading.

Not only was I utterly captivated by the clever mystery, but I could not help but fall even further in love with these characters. Robert Jackson Bennett has written a more than just a mystery, but an endearing story of friendship and love. I adored the intricate world he has developed and the level of detail that goes into the story. I just have so much fun with the banter and the relationship that Ana and Din. Easily can recommend this book to everyone and want nothing more than to read more about this dynamic duo.

RJB’s Shadow of the Leviathan series is the best thing I have read this year so far guys, let him cook!! I can read a dozen of these books, I loved them so much.

A Drop of Corruption continues with our favorite chaotic duo: Ana, our foul mouthed genuis Sherlock Iudex investigator & Din, her perpetually exhausted, matter-of-fact engraver assistant. I would read this solely for Ana’s unhinged one-liners and Din’s deadpan puns, but there’s more!

This sequel revolves around the mysterious disappearance of a Treasury officer in Yarrowdale, a remote, soon-to-be-annexed(?) province at the edge of the world. I started off this book truly having no idea how Ana/Din were going to solve this mystery, a man abducted from a room locked from the inside on the highest floor of a highly secured tower? But again, I was floored by how the pieces came together and my theories began to form. RJB is able to use the mystery setting and use it to flush out details of the world or further understand the main characters, rather than just including it as exposition. The intricacies of the world-building and layers to Ana (& Din) unravel and parallel the mystery unraveling. I’m glad we learned more about the MC’s in this sequel.

RJB’s prose is dark with some haunting imagery, yet it can make me laugh out loud with it’s one liners. The setting is akin to a botanically sourced, alien, Annihilation world that is unliked any SFF I have read. BRB, I will be going through all of RJB’s back catalog now.
<i>Thank you to NetGalley for providing an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.</i>

Review posted to StoryGraph and Goodreads on 3/14/25. Review will be posted to Amazon on release day.

Holy wow! I had high hopes for this book after loving The Tainted Cup so much and this book blew them out of the water. We are back in the ever rich world of the empire on another investigation with Iudex Din and his Inspector Ana. When a murder of a treasury member occurs in a far off country soon to be incorporated into the empire, no one can quite figure out how the body disappeared and then was eaten but a turtle. We quickly learn that even more crimes have been committed and various government officials on both sides may be involved. Can Ana and Din get to the bottom of this before something that can destroy the empire occurs?
Like The Tainted Cup we’re introduced to a new cast of characters who aid in the investigation and they are so well fleshed out, funny, and bring such light to what at times is a very dark story. I love that we get even more insights into who Din and Ana are in this book. There were moments where I laughed out loud at Ana’s mannerism and way of dragging people along in her quest for understanding what happened. I also think this book was a very clever way of exploring what ruling looks like, what leadership means, and what the cost of an empire truly is. I hope that there are many more books to come following Din and Ana as they aim to hold the empire and its people true.

Ana Dolabra and Dinios Kol are back!! When an empire treasury officer is found dead after mysteriously disappearing from his quarters, Din and Ana are sent in to find the murderer - which uncovers a plot against the Empire! As the case keeps spiraling bigger and bigger, Din is eternally suffering through horrific sights, dangerous jungle expeditions, and lots of politicking. Ana is in top form as always, but is kept on her toes as this murderer seems to know their every move before they make it.

Just like the first book, The Tainted Cup, Robert Jackson Bennett gives us an amazingly creative (yet accessible) world with incredible characters that just keep getting weirder and weirder. In an amazing way! Ana Dolabra is just as whacky and unpredictable as before, this time with more secrets of her own that continue to plague Din as he slogs through the interviews and dangers his Immunis asks of him. I love their relationship, and the platonic love (with great heaps of banter) between them is even better in this book than the first.

We also get new additions like the shit-talking Warden Malo, a good companion for Din through the action. The elegant and secretive head-Apoth Thelenai, working with Iudex while keeping too much hidden. As well as several Yarrow nobles that flesh out the culture of this kingdom. The characters are definitely the main attraction, as they provide levity and humor to this complex detective story.

I always appreciate Bennett's ability to turn something rather complicated and keep the reader engaged and understanding throughout. I didn't have any trouble remembering who was who or what their motivations were, nor was I confused about any of the politics going on. Yarrowdale is a territory-like kingdom of the Empire that is in transition to become an official Canton. There is also The Shroud, a very strange place/thing where dead Leviathans are taken to get blood extracted and create things like Augmentations and grafts that run the Empire. All of which could be very boring, but adds a lot of political intrigue to the case that I loved.

I will say, since the book is split into parts, part 3 and 4 are basically all meetings and talking and explaining. Because it's Ana Dolabra, I was entertained throughout, but I could see some readers getting rather bored until the action picks up again. I was also eager for a change of pace, but the world that's built and the characters we get to spend time with are all worth it. None of the talking, meetings, and explanations felt unnecessary.

Overall a fantastic detective story with an amazing world, characters, and confirms that this is turning out to be a legendary series.

A Drop of Corruption finds our Iudex investigators in a not-so-charming backwater fraught with dangerous wildlife, local raiders, and a king and court full of intrigue. Din and Ana are tasked with solving a missing person case that soon spirals out of control, threatening to pull apart the empire itself. The intense political ramifications combined with Din's inner struggles and Ana's strange appetites make for a twisty whodunnit that will keep readers guessing until the very end. Robert Jackson Bennett once again delivers a nuanced meld of fantasy and mystery with excellent worldbuilding and dynamic characters brimming with life. This series stands out from the crowd, and I can't wait to see what Din and Ana get into next!

A Drop of Corruption is a truly great sequel to the Tainted Cup, which was an incredible genre mixing adventure.

The sequel starts strong with Din and Anna and we dig dipper into there world. Months after the first book, the reader finds themselves at the scene of another murder.. Building on the world-building and excitement of the first book, you find yourself exploring a new region and learning more about the residents of this strange but fascinating place.

Overall, I found this to be a real enjoyable ride that built on the successes of the first novel and really made me want more. Check it out!

This was such a fun return to this world! I really enjoyed The Tainted Cup, and this sequel delivered more of what I loved—clever mystery, sharp dialogue, and that unique, almost Holmesian investigative vibe. Bennett’s worldbuilding continues to be so immersive, and I love how the story unfolds with its mix of intrigue and humor. RJB is becoming an auto-buy author for me :)