Are you looking for a novel with augmented humans, political intrigue, hidden crimes, a society under threat by enormous creatures rising from the sea, a series of impossible murders, and a prickly, eccentric super-sleuth and her stalwart assistant? Look no further!

This is a complex world of alchemical contagions, leviathans whose blood ruins the land, but who also makes human augmentation possible, a rigid system that does as much harm as good, and an empire trying to stem the tide of giant monsters. :happy sigh:

**I was provided an electronic ARC from the publisher through NetGalley.**

Robert Jackson Bennett presents the first book in the Shadow of the Leviathan series, The Tainted Cup. Marketed as a Holmes-and-Watson style murder mystery in a fantasy world, The Tainted Cup follows apprentice engraver Dinios Kol on his first assignment. Din has been modified so that he can remember things precisely by associating them with a scent. As such, he begins his journey with Iudex Investigator Ana Dolabra and is quickly assigned to the death investigation of an Engineering Commander. Each interview reveals more and more of the web of corruption at the heart of the Empire with Din and Ana leading the way through the unraveling.

My only previous experience with Robert Jackson Bennett is through his Locklands trilogy, which I loved. I am admittedly rather stingy with 5 star ratings, but both Foundryside and Shorefall achieved it for me. And, now, so has The Tainted Cup.

Bennett successfully modeled Ana, our Holmes, in such a way that made her all the things we love about Sherlock while keeping her entirely her own person. Likewise is true for our Watson in Din. As has been my experience, Bennett never shirks the side characters, ensuring to build them out enough to leave the reader secure that they are far more than just a furtherance of the plot. Part of what I loved about Locklands was the intricacy and the uniqueness of the magic system and the world building. Bennett has created something new once more with our world in The Tainted Cup. Couple that with implied neurodivergence in Ana, casual queerness in Din, and the hint of a blossoming romance (that did NOT take over the plot in any way) and I was sold.

The mystery, which was a new addition from Bennett for me, was wonderfully paced and evidence planted strategically in a way that a reader can see what's happening (with help from Holmsian Ana). Strings were neatly tied while plot lines opened up to allow a continuation of the series.

I promptly purchased the book in time to make the preorder campaign and I will happily recommend this to anyone who is a fan of the Locklands Trilogy or who recently enjoyed The Will and the Many by James Islington.

***ARC received from Del Rey and NetGalley in exchange for honest review, opinions are all my own. Thank you!***

I’m going to be honest, I never finished Robert Jackson Bennett Divine City triology even though I truly loved City of Stairs. So I was excited to get the newest book for a new series that was both and amazing read and left me wanting the rest of the series already. Its got great characters, a plot that moves along at a great pace and set up a much bigger world to explore.

The main POV for this book is Din, a new assistant to a bit eccentric investigator Ana and I loved both these characters. Din is new to his job and he got started on a dozy of a case and despite being new to the job he really doesn’t take a lot of Ana’s shit. These two characters have such a fun dynamic with their mentor and mentee relationship, slowly building trust with the other as the book goes on. Din is just the sweetest, I love his almost innocence as he travels to a new city getting to explore new things, build new relationships with people who like him. Even find a bit of love, which I wish and hope will be explored more in the future as I really liked the two characters together.

I was a little worried that Ana was going to try to be the smartest person in the room type character, dismissive of everyone else but she does value others input. She greatly values and respects Din since he is her eyes in the case, knows where her limitations are and when to rely on others. I appreciated that her picking Din was deeper than just you scored the best in your class, she has a connection with him yet to be explored. There is also a lot about her that is only hinted at and left me wanting to know more about her.

There are a lot of secondary characters but it never gets overwhelming. No one ever feels like they are there just to add characters, everyone has a purpose and never felt like they blend into the background even if only there for a few pages.

This is a great entry for people that are wanting to get into fantasy but are worried about complex magic system and an abundance of characters since yeah, fantasy books tend to have sometimes too many characters. Tainted Cup has a good magic system with different augmentations from mental to physical with more to explore in the next book. Not just a great entry but an easy and quick read. For being over four hundred pages it felt like it took no time at all, it is such a fast read. The plot moves along at a great pace, never too quick, leaving enough time for world building that can be carried over into the sequel. There are secondary plots that never overshadow the main murder mystery and build on it. By the end you have a resolution to this stories main plot but there is enough there to carry in on into the second book and now we just have to wait for it.

The Tainted Cup is a great start to a new series that I can’t wait to learn more about.

When Dinios Kol is assigned to help investigator Ana Dolabra, he has no idea what he’s getting into. Stunned by Ana’s unorthodox methods is the first, but the murder they are supposed to solve is another shocker. The death of a man that literally has been killed by a tree growing out of his body. This mystery leads both on a journey that mixes them with some important people and very few they can trust. Will they survive to solve this or will they be the next targets?

The Tainted Cup has fantasy, mystery & suspense. Ana and Din are a duo of opposites that work well together gathering information to catch a killer. It’s exciting to immerse yourself in a new world of fantasy. The novel was creative and different from others I’ve read. There were many new terms and locations to remember and that affected my focus on the story when I had to recheck them.

Thank you NetGalley and Del Rey Books for this eARC.

I enjoyed this mystery and loved the character of Ana. My only issue was it was slow in the beginning and did not grab me right away. Adding a character and some scenes of them battling the leviathan might have made the story more exciting.

This is my third RJB novel (I'm still working on Locklands), and I've enjoyed everything I've read from him immensely. I do want to note that I don't think this novel is on the same level as the Founders trilogy, especially in terms of setting and the magic system. However, I could absolutely be proven wrong in later sequels to this book! And I'm not saying anything against this book at all! It's simply a different kind of book.

Our main character (he's called Din by most people, but he has multiple names, all of which I can't remember right now) is an engraver, or a person supplemented to remember absolutely everything they see. He's an apprentice assistant investigator to Ana (see above about the names lol), who is the Sherlock Holmes of this story. I loved Ana and Din's relationship. It was funny and quirky and sweet. I found myself laughing out loud at quite a bit of this book. At its heart, this is a murder mystery novel, in a unique fantasy setting with the threat of giant leviathans on the horizon. I do hope the leviathans play a bigger role in future books, as I felt they barely played a role in this book, aside from making the setting more dangerous. There are poisonous plants that cast deadly spores into the air, delicious political cat-and-mousr games, and a huge cast of potential suspects. The pacing was perfect, the characters were interesting and fun, the chapters were snappy and quick to read. I can't think of anything I disliked about this book, and I'm very excited to read the next in the series!

Having read Robert Jackson Bennett previously and enjoying his writing style, I was excited to see he was coming out with a new book! First of all, like Foundryside, I was initially drawn to this absolutely beautiful cover. Although I’m not usually into detective type of stories, I decided to give this one a try due to enjoying his writing style and this does not disappoint. It’s more a futuristic novel with human enhancements, different types of societies and ways of life. If you love books where plants do unusual things and quirky characters, you’ll love this!

Thank you Netgalley and Del Ray publishing for an ARC of this book.

First I must say, that this is the first book that I have read by this author. When I received the email that this book was offered to me, I was ecstatic to know that this book was at first, a fantasy retelling of Sherlock Holmes, not only that also a bit of Attack on Titan as well with the Leviathans.

In the beginning we following Din as he investigates the murder of Blas, who was staying at one of the Haza's houses. How he is murdered is shown by some sort of contagion that causes trees to sprout of him. Din is to report to his superior Ana, who as we can tell is Sherlock though this whole story and Din is of course Watson.

The world building was absolutely superb. I loved how the book is mostly plot driven and pointing out character flaws. I look forward to reading more of Robert Jackson Bennett. This was my first fantasy mystery and I am sure I am going to read more books just like this.

Overall I give this book 4.75 stars.

A murder mystery with unique investigators set in a fantasy world populated by murderous plants and the ever-present threat of invasion from massive creatures; how could I resist?

The Tainted Cup is an entertaining story with fascinating characters, clever writing and fantastic world-building. The relationship of mentor and mentee between the eccentric investigator Ana Dolabra and her new assistant Dinios “Din” Kol is both engaging and intriguing, as Din is gripped by Ana’s incredible intuition while contending with her perplexing demands and sometimes overly blunt personality.

The crime that Din and Ana are investigating is detailed and multifaceted and I enjoyed learning new information as Din and the other characters discovered it and tried to solve the mystery along with them.

Din is a wonderful main character and while his ability as an Engraver, a person agumented to recall information and conversations down to the minute detail is remarkably useful, he still requires Ana’s perception and deductive reasoning to help put things together. His desire to follow the rules is sometimes at odds with the unexpected situations he finds himself in and his personal struggles make him immensely relatable.

The Tainted Cup is an excellent novel and if it does continue as part of a series, then I look forward to reading about Ana and Din’s future endeavors.

Thank you to NetGalley, Del Rey Books and Robert Jackson Bennett for providing this eARC. All opinions expressed are solely my own.

4 stars

Hmm, should I have read Sherlock Holmes before this? Or maybe one of the author's other works. Is this his normal writing style?

This story takes place in the Khanum Empire. It is a land that lives with a level of fear of the wet seasons. For in the wet seasons, the chance of having the sea walls breached by a leviathan and contagions spread is much higher. That's right this land is filled with monstrous sea creatures, however you only get one disturbing glance at them. I feel from how it was described that it might come back to be an important fact. The empire is set up in a series of rings of land called Kantons. The outermost kanton is against the sea. The legion there is responsible for the defense of the whole empire. It is only briefly mentioned but there was another species before the human empire. These were the ones that built the sea wall and Titan Road. The people seem to speak of them with fondness and awe, at this, I believe it might be believed that we lived peacefully until they died out naturally. However, that does sound odd for a human civilization.

There is not exactly a magic system here. More like a version of fantasy science. In this realm, the apothecaries use parts of leviathans to change people. Some people are altered to be able to be better soldiers, others to improve memory. The wealthy use these changes to look more appealing and live longer. There are also infusions to protect against contagions. There are several types of awful ways to die that could be spread by spores or plants.

From the description, I had expected two main characters. However, we will see the book only through Dinios Kol. He was appointed to be the assistant investigator to Ana Dolabra only four months ago. Anna is an eccentric genius to be sure. Din has to be her eyes and ears around the kanton as they go about the investigation. Din is also hiding something. He is fearful of anyone finding out and it costing his job. You will find out what it is pretty early on. However, as the story keeps going there will be another layer added to this.

The Tainted Cup follows Din and Ana as they investigate the death of Captain Blas at a very prominent estate. In the Khanum Empire deaths by contagion are mostly contained but not uncommon. The dead captain was a high-ranking Engineer for the Legion and was found in most a disturbing state. As the facts lead our investigators to high stakes it quickly becomes clear this was only part of a larger puzzle. This type of enigma is exactly what Ana wants to crack.

This who did it was masterfully done. We had our suspects to chase all while the threat of the leviathans growing closer loomed. It gave a very different feel to the mystery with this other threat. Then the larger scope of why Ana was placed in that kanton was revealed and it was just the perfect touch to be able to continue the series.

I really enjoyed the book overall. There were times when I wanted the story to move forward at a better speed. We will spend a good bit of time looking at the details, but this is an investigation so those were important facts. This is a series that takes a different spin on mystery and fantasy. I will be keeping an eye out to see how it continues.

This book is available Tuesday February 6th, 2024.
Thank you to Random House Publishing Group Ballantine for sending me a Netgalley eARC in exchange for my opinion.
I devoured this book from the beginning. I wouldn't say it's “fast -paced” but evenly paced enough that I didn't find myself trudging through any moments.
If Fourth Wing was the gateway for Romance readers to Fantasy, then this book is the gateway for Mystery/Thriller readers to Fantasy.
An interesting world with constant Leviathan attacks plus a hierarchy of politics and an interesting magic system. Din's magic as an Engraver is the recalling of a full memory, much like photographic memory, but he is able to achieve this through ability “augmentation” and using vials of scents to associate memories of the moment. This ability is very useful when investigating crimes. I consistently was reminded of Psychology class where we learned about short-term and long-term memory works and how scents naturally can stir up memories, such as an old girlfriends perfume. I thought this particular magic was well thought out pertaining to that.
The mystery itself left you clues, but not too many that you had all the pieces to figure it all out and be disappointed,
Ana and Din were a charming investigating duo to read. I haven't read from this author before, so I don't have a comparison to his previous series.
I only had couple things that were a little confusing as a reader. I had a hard time keeping track of some of the side characters if they went off page for awhile. I could recall them after a few sentences, but I did have that issue consistently. The only other thing was that I felt the romance kind of came out of no where. I'm not sure if it's a started thread to continue later, but it just seemed out of place to me.
Overall, I had a very fun time solving this fantastical mystery and can't wait to see what is next!

I’d like book 2 now please! Interesting magic system where people can be mutated to have superhuman abilities of some sort or another, and the world can also be manipulated and things mutated.. Of course, this means bad things can happen with the manipulations to the environment. The main character is a dyslexic young man changed to have a magically eidetic memory, who is assigned to be the assistant to a woman who serves the empire as a detective/investigator. There’s monsters coming from the sea who could easily slaughter all of humanity but of course humans are also busy killing one another and so crisis must be averted..

Review was posted on StoryGraph and Goodreads on 2/4/24. Review will be posted to Amazon on release date.

When I saw this book was pitched as a fantasy murder mystery I knew I would either love every second of it or it wouldn’t be my cup of tea. I absolutely loved this raucous wild book. The world building is quite excellent and constructed in a way that moved quickly without feeling like the reader was missing information. I loved Din and the engravers. Din was the perfect character to guide us through the novel. He is aware of a lot of things happening but also isn't all knowing which was so fun as the twists and turns emerged. Ana absolutely had me cackling at times with how frank and to the point she could be. I really enjoyed this story and can’t wait to have friends read and enjoy it as well.

I had no idea what this book was about when I decided to read it but I’m so glad I did. Ana and Din make the most unlikely investigator duo to solving murders and outing political deceit in the Empire tormented by titans. Literal titans that break down the empire walls and spread contagion amongst the civilians.

This story grasped me by the neck from the very beginning, reading as if my life depended on it. The world building was beautifully laid out to you so that even if something didn’t make complete sense at the moment you knew it’d make sense later.

If you love political intrigue, murder mysteries in a corrupt empire, and characters that will make you laugh throughout the story then pick this one up.

Can’t wait for the next book in the series! Thank you netgalley for this eARC in exchange for an honest review.

This whodunit set in a fantasy world was such a fun journey and the perfect book to read as a change of pace after my mafia romance binge. It gave gender fluid Sherlock Holmes and his sidekick Watson vibes set in a medieval-feeling fantasy land with poisonous plants, empire threatening giant creatures and murderers around every bend.

When assistant to an investigator Dubois Kol - a young man in his first assignment who struggles to read - is sent to see a gruesome murder scene, he and the investigator he assists, Ana Dolabra, are sent to the most dangerous canton in the empire. There they’ll have to navigate unusual poisonings, corruption in every part of society, and a series of confusing motives to find who has been killing elite members of society in the most gruesome way possible. And they must do it all at the most dangerous time of year, while the giant leviathans beyond the walls threaten the very empire.

This was a fun murder mystery with a fantasy setting instead of just a sprawling fantasy novel. Din is a ruler follower who wants to serve his empire while Ana breaks rules at every single turn, making them such a fun crime solving duo. I also loved Din’s internal struggles with feeling he didn’t belong and how stronger and more sure of himself he got as the book progressed. My biggest complaint is that he got a love interest right and the end and I demand more of this in the next books. Give Din all the hunky soldiers! Overall I loved the world building and the relationship between Din and Ana and I can’t wait to see what other adventures they go on. This comes out 2/6 and if you’re in a Holmes does fantasy mood, I highly recommend it!!

I don't read much fantasy, but I do read murder mysteries as they tend to be my comfort read.

One of the main elements that I thoroughly enjoyed is the world-building. It was intricately woven into the storyline and at times I didn't realize just how much background I knew about the Khanum. Ana at times reminded me of Hercule Poirot and had all the elements of a who-dun-it from that era (but set in an even cooler universe).

I recommend this book to anyone who wants to experience a murder mystery in a different world, or to someone who wants to branch out of the mystery genre.

Thank you NetGalley & Random House Publishing for allowing me to read this novel ahead of its release date.

Well, that was a fun journey through the rings of The Holy Realm of Khanum.

Not only are we treated to a who-dun-it with many moving parts, we are also given the added nervousness of a giant titan out in the sea waiting to strike at any moment. While it took me a couple of chapters to become immersed in the story and gather my wits about me, I totally fell for the characters.
This was a well written mystery/fantasy in the vein of Sherlock and Holmes with a bit more grit and sass and an extremely well thought out world. The combination of Ana and Dol, the main characters, definitely makes you want to know what comes next for them and leaves you wanting to know more about their pasts.

Many thanks to Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine, Del Rey, and NetGalley for the digital ARC in exchange for my review!

The Tainted Cup is the first book in the new Shadow of Leviathan fantasy mystery series. A string of murders are haunting the Empire and the best detectives, Ana Dolabra and Dinios Kol are called to investigate. The pair travel across the land in search of the answers, overturning every rock until they have uncovered the mastermind behind the evil plot.

I have the unpopular opinion of not enjoying this book, so bear that in mind when reading on. I enjoy fantasy to an extent, but I think this book was too much fantasy for me. With a whole different realm that I found confusing, I just couldn’t get into this book. I do think the author did a great job creating this fantasy world, but it wasn’t for me. I found the story to be long and drawn out when I think it could have been half this length and still gotten to the same point. I didn’t like the Sherlock and Watson-esque pairing and thought that added something to the overall mystery, but that wasn’t enough to make the book into something I fully enjoyed. Like I said at the beginning, my opinion is not the popular, so there is a very good chance that you would like this if this is more your wheelhouse. This wasn’t for me, but many other readers seemed to enjoy it.

The Tainted Cup is a fantastic fantasy murder mystery. This is one of my favorite genre crossovers yet is hard to find, particularly done well, so I was ecstatic that this book absolutely knocked it out of the park.

The fantasy world-building is just incredible. It's a key part of the mystery, expertly woven into the story so it never felt like it was being dumped on the reader, and left me wanting to read more set in this world.

This was my first RJB book and I'm excited to go explore his backlist.

Thank you to Del Rey and Netgalley for providing an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Like a who done-it fantasy, the world slowly develops but grabs your attention as you follow main detective Ana and her apprentice type side kick Din solve the mystery of influential people being unalived by mysterious plants. Think sci fi poison with the plants. Be prepared for a very procedural type story but if you enjoy movies like Knives Out and the Thin Man this is for you.
I enjoyed very much how the author explains the fantasy world- the world develops naturally and not feeling as if it is just being explained to the reader. This would have been five stars for me but the pacing at the end was off and the reveal felt pretty rushed for how patient the rest of the story had been.