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.

Truly a spectacular, gripping sequel.

This was an excellent read, even better than book 1, which I loved and gave 5/5 ⭐️.

The reader follows Din and Ana to Yarrow,a part of the kingdom, where a body was found. It is their job to find out what happened and the story unfolds from there.
Time and time again, I thought, I knew what would happen, but was surprised to be far from the truth.
I've seldom read a story with so many well written twists and turns. My head is still spinning from all the secrets and revelations.

I used to read a lot of thrillers and mysteries, but never before was I more shocked to find out had transpired than here. Absolute perfection in a detailed, amazingly written fantasy setting.

Honestly, I want more books like this and I can't wait to dive into the next adventure of Ana and Din.

It was an enjoyable read. The universe is still interesting and the story is very easy to read thanks to the engaging writing. However, the mystery plot was not as gripping as the mystery of the first book was for me. But it was well-developed and well-paced.

Thank you to Netgalley for an ARC in exchange for a honest review.

There aren’t enough superlatives for this book. I have been so engrossed in this over the last 2 days that I’m left with an empty, aching feeling. All I’ve thought about is where the story is going, and now it’s concluded I’m left somewhat bereft.

It is amazing how an empire can feel so similar and yet so different to our world. Both believable and unbelievable. So clever. So enthralling. So remarkable.

Cannot recommend this enough.

I absolutely loved the first of the Ana and Din mysteries, The Tainted Cup, So I had high expectations from the second, which were met and exceeded. A Drop of Corruption is a better mystery; while the first had several twists that seemed there just for the sake of more twists, this one extends organically all the way to the end. What makes the mysteries so satisfying is the fact that they are so deeply weaved into the world building. The crime, the criminal, the way he covered his tracks, everything could only have happened in this world, with its particular plant based science, its empire politics, its enhanced humans. For a small example, when studying the first body, Din encounters a method of keeping dead bodies fresh for a few months, and sure enough that method is integral to the plot later on.

RJB doesn’t waste time re-explaining the main tenets of the world, so you shouldn’t probably read this book before The Tainted Cup. For those who read it, there is more about the leviathans, more about the Khanum, and more about Ana and her abilities. In fact, I predict that the trilogy will end with a mystery involving the emperor’s lineage itself. Maybe we’ll get to see the inner rings too.

But why stop at three books? I could happily read about Ana and Dn for as long as I live!