Am I years late? Yes. Was this one of my favorite reads of 2025 so far? Also yes. The follow up to this book A Drop of Corruption was also fantastic. These books follow a complex set of characters focusing on 2 MCs that solve unsolvable problems in their world. I love the blend of classic fantasy word building, a complex murder mystery plot and humorous characters/banter. Cannot wait for book 3! Thank you to the publisher, Robert Jackson Bennett and NetGalley for the eARC.

I very much enjoyed my time with this! I have to tip my hat to Andrew Fallaize, the audiobook narrator, because I think he did an incredible job. He has so many different accents in his toolbox and different shades of his voice that he uses to bring this huge cast of characters to life, and I think he just gave a really wonderful and engaging performance.

This was such a fun fantasy mystery story. It took a while to figure out how the story’s overworld with these huge walls and leviathans tied together with the ongoing mystery, but I think when the two finally connect, it’s really satisfying, and it also opens up the door to some exciting possibilities in future installments. I’m excited to see how the series expands on the world being built in this first book. And I think the magic system of characters being able to “enhance” themselves with superhuman abilities is also really interesting and brings a refreshing edge to this case.

I also absolutely love the Holmesian dynamic between Ana and Kol. Their dialogue is sharp, it’s funny, it’s eccentric, and it’s just really entertaining to see how delightfully mismatched they are in some ways, and yet also the perfect complement to each other in other ways. I think when we talk about Holmes and Watson pairings, we forget that a key component of that classic dynamic is having a character who is incredibly eccentric, sometimes to the point of annoyance, and who’s operating on a completely different level compared to everyone else. Inspector Ana beautifully fulfills that role, and in doing so makes the mystery itself feel very classic. The story has those moments where she already has everything figured out based on observations only she can make, and the question becomes less about who did it and why and instead becomes about how the puzzle pieces fit together to construct a clear narrative.

Neither Ana nor Kol truly fits the image of that an “authority figure” might be. They both have their own moral compass and ways of doing things that don’t always align with the norm. But again, that’s what makes their investigations so fun and dynamic.

Thematically, I also appreciate how this story is asking the bigger question of what does it mean to pursue justice when both working within and living at the mercy of an empire that is inherently unjust? There’s a tension there, there’s an easy pathway to cynicism laid at these characters’ feet. But we see again and again how they choose to walk a different path and choose instead to focus on what they can control and change within the system, even if it’s on a smaller scale than they might like.

I’m really glad I finally started this series. With its unique blend of a fantasy elements and classic mystery tropes and stylization, it was very much up my alley!

Really good. The world building is fantastic and the characters were wonderful, so interesting. My only quibble is that I did figure out who the culprits were, but then I have read a LOT of mysteries. And I did not get all the details of the mystery on my own—the plot was very good. A good start to this series!

I really don’t have much to say about "The Tainted Cup," the first book in Robert Jackson Bennett’s "Shadow of the Leviathan" fantasy-mystery series, other than it’s excellent.

The detective duo of Investigator Ana Dolabra and her assistant, Dinios Kol, is pure entertainment on the page. Din’s straight, play-by-the-rules persona is the ideal foil to Ana’s abrasive manner and unconventional methods of investigation. Their interactions are so fun to read, especially when Din doesn’t quite know how to handle Ana’s eccentric personality – she loves to tease him.

Hats off to Bennett, too, for plotting a mystery this complex and layered while also building an intricate fantasy world from the ground up. A challenging puzzle alongside murderous plants and deadly contagions, humans altered by magic, and monstrous creatures – gimme all of it.


My sincerest appreciation to Robert Jackson Bennett, Del Rey, and NetGalley for the digital review copy. All opinions included herein are my own.

This book was fantastic. Very "City of Stairs" vibes plus other little elements from "Foundryside" and the like. Loved the idea of unfathomable monsters lurking below the earth, threatening civilization every rainy season. And the plot being magical murder mystery plus giant fantasy world-building was just so genius. I love everything RJB writes, cannot wait for the next.

I won't be reading this because the author doesn't see the problem with ai, and I do not want to read a book by an author that doesn't have a problem with it.

Thank you for the eARC, I will always appreciate it and I hope that I can work with y'all in the future

I didn’t realize this was part of a series, as I prefer stand-alones but it was very fun fantasy murder mystery with Sherlock Holmes and Knives Out vibes.

Loved the quirky/eccentric neurodivergent protagonists!

The Tainted Cup by Robert Jackson Bennett
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An investigator and her assistant are asked to take on a case where a man is dead from a tree spontaneously and suddenly growing from his body.
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I mean wow. That alone should hook anyone, right? I have never read a book about trees suddenly and spontaneously growing from a human body.

And this was a murder.

I really loved Ana and Din. Ana was hilarious and it was even funnier to read Din’s reactions to Ana because I could just picture his side-eye of a face he must have been giving her.

The mystery of this case just kept growing in intrigue as secrets were being unearthed.
I really liked how it ended and am excited to read the next book!
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4⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

I wanted to love this more, but it just wasn’t for me. Interesting characters, interesting magic and world, interesting mystery, but couldn’t get into it like I wanted.

I enjoyed aspects of this book, namely Ana and Din, the contagion elements, and Din's magic as an engraver. The murder mystery was compelling, but I found the world, details, and terminology to be a bit dense.

Worth a read if you like epic fantasy with sci-fi vibes, and a Watson/Holmes dynamic. It gave me Dune and Out of the Silent Planet vibes. I'd highly recommend the audiobook. The narrator was great, and I found it easier to follow.

Thank you Ballantine / Del Rey for the advanced copy!

Robert Jackson Bennett crafted the best blend of two of my favorite genres, fantasy and mystery. He created fascinating world that our main character Din is trying to find his place in. While trying to prove he deserves to be working for the investigator, Din arrives at a murder scene that will change his life. Along the way we meet whimsical and haunting characters that broaden the fantasy world but also add pieces to the expanding murder case. Din is a lovalbe main character, and his boss, Ana, is even more entertaining. Her quirks are some of the best parts of the books.

While I did enjoy reading this novel, it never captivated me. I kept having to remember that I was reading it, signifying it wasn't my favorite.

What a book. Take your Sherlock Holmes and Watson and plop them down into the middle of a Weird Fantasy and you have the Tainted Cup. Body horror, leviathans, and exploding trees this little mystery is bursting with originality and gusto, all leading up to the solve of our elaborate mystery.

First off, huge thanks to NetGalley for the early copy to read and review. I've read Robert Jackson Bennett's Founders Trilogy which I also loved. The author has an amazing talent for creating worlds that are unique and all encompassing in a way that makes it easy to get lost inside, in the best possible way.
This story focuses on a series of murders that Ana Dolabra, an excentric investigator, along with Dinios Kol an apprentice investigator have been tasked to solve. The world they live in is one that most everyone has been augmented in some way, shape or form, to do certain tasks. Din is an engraver. Trained to memorize every word, site and event he tasked to engrave upon his memory. With this ability he can recall with perfect clarity all he has seen and heard. This makes him a valuable assistant to the investigator. The city itself is close to a heavily manned seawall put there to hold off attacks of titans, mammoth sized creatures that come from the sea. If they make it past the wall, there isn't much hope for anyone in the area.
This story was an absolute delight to read and I really feel like this story has much more to tell. I will definitely be recommending this book!

Ana is a brilliant eccentric detective. Din is her new assistant- he’s smart but has issues. Together they must solve the gruesome murder of an imperial officer who is killed by a tree exploding in his body. .. but that’s not even the root of the issue. Magic, body alterations, leviathans that kill populations and more gruesome murders make this Sherlockian like tale into a winner. Thanks Netgalley for the ARC. My opinions are my own.

Likeable characters and interesting story. I stayed interested from the first page until the last. I look forward to more in this series and have already requested Bennett's work be purchased for our college library.

I thought this would be incredibly entertaining. It has the vibes of an Agatha Christie detective novel blended with fantastical elements, and how can you go wrong with that?

Well, for one, the chapters are entirely too long. I am not opposed to long chapters in the right kind of novel, but a mystery needs to be well paced and long chapters hinder that.

Within those chapters is the most drawn out storytelling one can encounter. I was incredibly bored and unable to see it through to the end, as the author failed to entice me. This is such an exciting concept, and I’m sad that it was such a dull execution.

I am immensely grateful to Del Rey Books and NetGalley for my copy. All opinions are my own.

Thank you to the author, publisher and @NetGalley for this ARC in exchange for an honest review!

I really loved this whole premise, but I felt like I just could not get in to this world for some reason. I didn’t get all the Benoit Blanc and Sherlock Holmes/Watson dynamics that others mentioned.

But, I did enjoy the mystery aspect of this novel. So if you’re in to fantasy worlds and solving a murder, this would definitely be your jam.

The second in this new series, Bennett keeps knocking them out of the park. The only request I have is for MORE LEVIATHAN but I feel safe thinking that I'll be getting them. Please keep this one coming.

Wild.

This book is wild in the most amazing way. I loved a good mystery and the way that the author combines a mystery with fantasy is just fantastic. Plus for this being my first mystery with this much fantasy thrown in, my expectations are now high for any others.

You are left on the edge of your seat and begging to have the next book in your hands. I devoured this book so quickly and couldn't run to see if there was a sequel fast enough.

The world building was there and the characters developed well. Like when an Emperor dies from a tree coming from their body and you have to call Ana in to investigate. Well that's just something you don't see or hear about everyday.

This book lit my brain on fire. As soon as I started reading it, I could not put it down--and for months afterward, I was constantly looking for books that would make me feel like this book did. The worldbuilding is incredible, the characters are complex and difficult yet also a delight to spend time with, and the plot was propulsive and suspenseful. I will be reading the sequel to this book as soon as I possibly can. Easily one of the best books I read in 2024, if not the best.