An offbeat historical fantasy mixed with a Sherlock Holmes style murder mystery isn’t something I’d normally gravitate to, but I’m so glad I picked this up because I really enjoyed it!

I loved the world building and creativity in this, but it did take me a lot of time to wrap my head around it. I was happy to have the digital copy so I could search in the kindle to try to remember what terms meant or who people were. I started this on audio but found it too complicated to follow in that format and did the majority of this with the ebook.

My world building cheat sheet: There are titans (also called leviathans) that attack the Empire lands during the wet season and they have built walls to protect the 3 rings of the Empire. There are augmentations people get for magically enhanced abilities, as well as augmentations used on objects/plants/animals. There are also military rankings and organizational divisions along with character names to track. Maybe now you can see why I struggled a bit here. All that being said though, it was worth the struggle to grasp it! I love when an author has a new idea and unique concept that feels like nothing I’ve ever read before.

It took me awhile to warm up to the two MCs, Din and Ana. Din is an uptight rule follower who shows little to no emotion while Ana is a very eccentric woman who came off a bit cartoonish with all her maniacal grinning, F-bombs and over the top antics. The writing style is formal in dialog with sir and ma’am used a LOT (408 ma’am and 185 sir uses). Even if it’s realistic due to the military style reporting, it became very repetitive along with some other over used words that stood out.

The murder mystery itself was unique in the ways that characters died, but the villains were fairly easy to identify and predict. I wish the reveals would have been more than just one person reveals all, but I appreciate the complexity to the various aspects of the mystery. I can’t say more than that about it without giving anything away!

I went into this mostly blind based on a recommendation from a friend and I’m really happy I read it! I always love a creative plot and this definitely fits the bill, so in spite of some issues I had, I’d still recommend this for sure! I’m excited to see it’s the first in a series and will definitely plan to continue reading the series. Thanks Del Rey and NetGalley for the DRC!

I really mean it when I say that this has become one of my favorite books. I don't know if I'm more excited that it is part one of a trilogy or disappointed that I now have to wait a while for the next one!

The Tainted Cup is a fantasy murder mystery. The book starts with an investigation of a high-ranking official's death. The death, however, is quite unusual: a tree has burst from his body. What follows is a Holmes and Watson like story, with "Watson" as the main character. Din has been altered to have a perfect memory and his job is to report back to Ana, a brilliant investigator tasked to solve the murder. All of this is happening in an Empire that is at the same time being threatened by Leviathan creatures.

This was a really fun read, and honestly just such a creative story with magically augmented humans, amazing world-building, and an intriguing mystery. Without giving anything away, there were some moments where I was like, who thinks of this?! I mean this in the best way possible. I personally thought that this book was really well done and really enjoyed my time with it.

This would be a really good entry into fantasy for someone that enjoys a good mystery and wants to read more fantasy.

Thanks so much to Del Rey, Penguin Random House, and NetGalley for my digital review copy in exchange for an honest review.

The first in a series, The Tainted Cup is a delicious murder mystery set in a fantasy world full of terrific characters. The story engages you right from the first chapter where you are introduced to the murder victim and the main character, Dinios Kol. Din is an engraver; with the use of scents, he is able to remember scenes and conversations in perfect clarity later. He is the perfect assistant to lead investigator Ana Dolabra, a brilliant but incredibly quirky individual who refuses to leave her house. The world created here is built around a society which is forced to try and prevent huge sea creatures from coming ashore and wreaking havoc. As Din and Ana work their murder case, they find themselves unraveling long held secrets which put many people in danger, including themselves.

*Special thanks to NetGalley and Random House for this e-arc.*

An unusual story.
This is not one of the typical type of books I read, but I did enjoy the combination of mystery and fantasy.
Our main character, a bit of un underdog at the start, blossomed into a full investigator under the guidance of his new eccentric boss.
A woman who likes to blindfold herself to heighten her senses of observations. Dinios, our main character, is an engraver magically altered to obtain the perfect photographic memory. Good to have in an investigation. And it all starts with a body of a man killed by a fast-growing tree sprouting from inside his body.
This is a fast and interesting read, so much is going on that it will keep you engaged through the whole storyline. The soldiers are trying to safeguard the town from the sea monsters. The wealthy society that will stop at nothing to increase their wealth, and schemes that go all the way to the imperial family.
Even if you do not read fantasy stories you might give this one a try.

RJB has concocted an interesting fantasy world in which to tell a tale of murder and mystery. The main characters are very interesting and play well together. The plot is a little twisty - enough to keep you interested - though fairly straight forward. The world building is done well and is a great backdrop for this story.

Five stars for “The Tainted Cup.” It is unusual for me to get two five star books back to back, but here we are. I’m not mad about it. My thanks to the author and Del Rey publishing for this ARC. All opinions are mine and offered freely.

#TheTaintedCup #RobertJacksonBennett #Netgalley #fivestarread #kindlesallthewaydown

The premise of this book was really interesting, unfortunately it just didn’t capture my attention as I’d hoped. I’ve heard this book compared to both House and Sherlock Holmes, but in a fantasy setting, and I feel that this is 100% accurate.

A spin on the classic, Sherlock and Watson meets magic in a well-written story. I'm looking forward to the next book in a new series.

The Tainted Cup by Robert Jackson Bennett blends fantasy with a mystery. When a high Imperial officer is found dead in his home in Daretana, investigator Ana Dolabra is called in to determine how this happened and who killed him. It’s not every day a tree erupts from a body even in an empire where contagions are plentiful and the blood of Leviathans corrupts the land. Was this an accidental contagion or was Commander Taqtasa Blas assassinated? Ana is assisted by her new apprentice assistant, Dinios Kol, an engraver magically altered to possess a perfect memory.
However, the case is even bigger that the death of one officer. The safety of the Empire is at stake.

Ana is brilliant, but eccentric, easily bored, and often incites outrage in others. She insists on wearing a blindfold most of the time and doesn’t often leave her home. She also actively seeks knowledge in between cases, disregards politeness, and makes unusual but often accurate conclusions. Dinios has secrets, has a dull demeanor at times, doesn’t come across as friendly, and is somewhat baffled by Ana’s actions and deductions. Their interactions enlivened the story. However, don’t be fooled by your initial opinion of him. There are a lot of characters to keep track of, but they are introduced gradually and that helped. A list of ranks is provided, but a character list would have also helped.

The story immediately grabbed my attention with a riveting mystery and quirky characters. One question came to mind quickly. If Ana is such a brilliant investigator, why was she assigned to the small community of Daretana? The plot is complex, twisty, and multi-layered. The world-building is well-developed as readers learn more about it throughout the novel. While there are a few slow spots, I was rewarded by an enjoyable read as I persevered through them. I also wanted a little more suspense throughout the book. The ending of the book includes the highest level of action in the book and then sets the stage for book two. What will their next case entail?

Overall, this engrossing fantasy mystery has good characterization, even with a main character that wasn’t always likeable, and great world-building. The mix of mind and physical enhancements combined with sea monsters, sword fighting, contagions, and mysteries in this fantasy world made for an entertaining and fun read. Themes include wealth, power, greed, murder, secrets, revenge, betrayal, friendship, bureaucracy, and much more. Readers who enjoy a murder investigation set in a fantasy world will likely enjoy this novel. I’m looking forward to reading more from this author.

Random House Publishing Group – Ballantine, Del Rey and Robert Jackson Bennett provided a complimentary digital ARC of this novel via NetGalley. All opinions expressed in this review are my own. Publication date is currently set for February 06, 2024. This review was originally posted at Mystery and Suspense Magazine.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for the advance reader's copy of the book. This book is fantastic. The world building and writing are creative and immersive. I couldn't put this book down. I loved it so much. The story sucked you in and you just wanted to know how everything is going to tie up. This is the first time I've read anything by this author, and I'm quite enthusiastic to read more. I cannot wait for the next book in this series and I will recommend this to everyone I know who reads. One of the most original and best books I've read in a while.

Robert Jackson Bennett takes the classic pairing of irritable genius detective and neophyte assistant and transplants it to a wild fantasy setting in The Tainted Cup. Sometimes when I read a book, I get the feeling that the author knocked their own socks off while writing it. The world Bennett has created here is a feat of worldbuilding. The scenes exude a sense of history and the descriptions bring everything to vibrant life in my mind’s eye. This book is a fun ride, even if some characters aren’t as fully realized as the settings.

Our narrator is Dinios Kol, a man whose mind has been altered so that he can remember everything. This makes him the perfect assistant for the wing of the empire’s government that handles policing and law but, like all other engravers, he has to finish his apprenticeship before he can officially join the Iudex. Once he’s done that, he can finally start earning enough money to relocate his family from the dangerous outskirts of the empire to the safer heartland. The woman he is currently assigned to—an irascible genius who rarely leaves her quarters and often wears a blindfold to block outside stimulation—might make that task difficult. Ana Dolabra has even fewer social graces than Dinios. Because Ana refuses to actually visit crime scenes, all of the legwork falls on Dinios.

Dinios’s first official crime scene is utterly bizarre. The victim has been poisoned with something that caused a tree to violently grow out of his chest, killing him nearly instantly. There are a few longshot suspects but it quickly becomes clear that something larger is afoot, to paraphrase another fictional detective who clearly inspired Ana. Much of the book shows Dinios investigating and then reporting his impressions and findings to Ana. I was thankful that Dinios was our narrator. Exploring the world through his eyes is much more interesting than staying with Ana while she ratiocinates—although I was entertained by her delightfully rude questioning of various witnesses and suspects. Ana’s ability to make stunning intuitive leaps allows the investigation to rapidly progress even though there are only the few clues Dinios’s eagle-eye found to really go on. Thankfully, Ana is trusted enough by the people running the show that no one tells her to stop investigating. She and Dinios have almost complete carte blanche to follow the trail wherever it goes, at least until they run up against a spectacularly wealthy and well-connected aristocratic family.

The Tainted Cup gallops along through crime scenes and interrogations and stunning revelations. Victims and accomplices pile up. The plot twists and turns all over the place, keeping me guessing even while I was inhaling the amazing descriptions of a world where chemistry and botany have been developed to the point where humans can be altered mentally or mentally for all kinds of purposes. I’m glad that this book is a series launch. I can’t wait to dive into Dinios’s next adventure because I just can’t get enough of the world Bennett has created here.

3.5 stars rounded up. This was a fun murder mystery in a fantasy world. The first half was a bit slow and I felt like there could have been a bit more world building, but it picked up speed in the second half of the book. Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the ARC.

I really like Robert Jackson Bennett’s style of writing. He starts all his books right in the middle of the action. I liked how quirky the detective was and how the main character just went along with it. The world building was a little confusing, but some fantasy books are just like that. My only problem with this book was trying to keep the people straight. I got lost for a time when they rapidly started naming new characters and I could never remember who was who. I still like his previous series, The Founders Trilogy, more, but I will definitely continue on with series as I see some real potential.

The Tainted Cup by Robert Jackson Bennett is a very solid first entry into a new Fantasy Mystery series. This reads very much like a "whodunnit" but with fantasy elements. The world building is fantastic. You can clearly see the scenes in your mind as Bennett paints the luscious picture. The characters are very distinct and flushed out. For me personally, whodunnit's are not my favorite types of stories. If you loves books/movies like Clue, Knives Out, or anything by Agatha Christie, I think you need to check this out. You will love it!

Thank you to Net Galley, the publisher and the author for the ARC. I literally screamed when I got the email that my ARC request had been approved. This was one of my most anticipated books of 2024. If you are like me with your favorite genres being fantasy and murder mysteries you should definitely add this to your TBR, this book is absolutely magnificent! The story follows Dinios Kol, who is an assistant to the detective Ana Dolabra, a brilliant and eccentric detective who can solve cases without even going outside. I loved Ana so much, she was honestly quite relatable yet a million times smarter than me. Din is an engraver, which means that he has been magically enhanced to have a perfect memory. Ana does not venture outside too much, due to the outside world being overstimulating, plus her personality being a little unsuitable for interviewing investigators, so we follow Din going to all sorts of places and doing lots of investigation. The book is really fun, the worldbuilding is phenomenal which makes all the smaller pieces of investigation and gathering evidence so interesting. I also loved the magic system. As this is a mystery, the book definitely did a good job of keeping me on my toes, eagerly turning the pages with revelation after revelation and many big secrets being revealed. There were moments I was literally scared for the characters lives, the stakes were high, I literally could not stop reading and then the moments where I had to pay attention in class and stuff, I was constantly thinking about this book, wondering what would happen next. Overall, this was amazing, and I really hope there are more books in this series.

Thanks, NetGalley and Del Rey Books, for the digital review copy. Thanks, @PRHAudio, for the #gifted audiobook. #PRHAudioPartner #sponsored

Inventive and spectacular world-building combined with a Holmes and Watson-style mystery-solving team? You had me at “Hello.” I’m excited this is listed as “Shadow of the Leviathan #1” because I need more stories like this one.

“In Daretana’s greatest mansion, a high imperial officer lies dead—killed, to all appearances, when a tree erupted from his body. Assigned to investigate is Ana Dolabra, a detective whose reputation for brilliance is matched only by her eccentricities. At her side is her new assistant, Dinios Kol, magically altered in ways that make him the perfect aide to Ana’s brilliance. Din is scandalized, perplexed, and utterly infuriated by his new superior—but as the case unfolds and he watches Ana’s mind leap from one startling deduction to the next, he must admit that she is, indeed, the Empire’s greatest detective.”

Wonderful and witty, the author shows us a bizarre world threatened by leviathans who attempt to breach the city walls and people who are augmented or supplemented to have super-human qualities. Din, for example, is an Engraver, able to recall anything he sees or hears in exact detail. The mystery is well plotted, the characters fascinating, and the dialog zippy. “I do so admire,” she said, “How you can be a flippant shit with a mere handful of syllables. Quite a talent.”

Narrator Fallaize delivers a spectacular performance with a wide variety of accents and dialects, making each character memorable and Technicolor-brilliant.

If you’re looking for an exceptional fantasy-mystery mashup, get your hands on this one on 6 Feb 24.

5 🌟
0 🌶️

I grew up loving Sherlock Holmes. I think what I always liked about him was his weird brilliance and the characteristics that made him Sherlock. I have devoured the books, movies, and TV series, always enjoying the recreation of solving mysteries with the enigmatic Holmes and Watson. Now I have Ana Dolabra and Din Kol. Set in a land where everything from people to plants has been biologically enhanced or mutated, and not always in good ways. We start with a murder, as always, and a particularly gruesome one at that. Kol is sent as an Engraver to begin the investigation. The author shows us how biological enhancements are used and slowly introduces us to more as the novel proceeds. I enjoyed how I was shown the scenery and atmosphere of the novel. Kol is young and a brand-new Engraver, and we discover he is quite good at it as the novel progresses. Ana is unique, with a colorful vocabulary that she shares with everyone she meets regardless of their status, which adds a lot of humor to this mystery of murder and governmental shenanigans. It did drag a bit at the beginning, which I believe was due to all the world-building that needed to happen, including a complex political structure. It may have been my imagination inhabiting the story, but I pictured this world with a distinctly Asian feel. I am unsure if that was the author's aim, but I would be curious if anyone else envisioned the scenes similarly. Great action sequences and memorable characters. To say I loved the book would be accurate. I have a new favorite detective who I find delightfully weird and brilliant, and I look forward to more adventures. Please have another one soon; this was so much fun to read!

The Tainted Cup A Novel by Robert Jackson Bennett was received directly from the publisher and I chose to review it. I had never read this author before but I certainly will read more of his works. This book took me back to my childhood. A time when books were not woke and authors could write a good fantasy fiction story. This book fills that bill, as it is filled with clever plotting, wrapped around a murder mystery that is a delight to read. The world is a world filled with mysteries, with many oddities thrown in. The characters helped me not get bored, nor did I skim any pages. If you or someone you buy gifts for likes a murder mystery taking place in a fantasy world, I highly recommend this book.

5 Stars.

If you've ever wanted a whodunit but make it fantasy, this novel is for you. The Tainted Cup is about Din, an Apprentice Assistant Investigator and his superior, Ana, as they investigate an odd and alarming murder within the outer rings of the Empire. All is not as it appears, and they slowly realize the murder is part of a great conspiracy within the Empire.
The world building and details in this book are excellent and initially I thought I would be lost and potentially confused, but RJB presents everything so well with such great detail, that I was along for the ride from the beginning. I enjoyed that the murder and conspiracy plots were well detailed and laid out, but at no point did I feel that I understood the full extent of who was responsible. I hate when books are predictable and plots are easily solved, and this one met all the requirements to keep me intrigued and surprised up to the very end.
The cast of characters is varied, but everything is told from Din's perspective, which I found particularly enjoyable since it was his first murder investigation as a young apprentice, it made the grand reveal a surprise to him as well. I've seen multiple reviews compare Ana and Din to Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson, and I certainly appreciated and understood that comparison as I read further into the book.
I definitely recommend this for readers who enjoy fantasy fiction, but also enjoy murder mysteries and clever plotting and writing.
Thank you to Random House Ballantine Books and NetGalley for the electronic ARC of this novel for review.

TL;DR

The Tainted Cup by Robert Jackson Bennett is a delight to read. It’s an innovative world filled with mystery and oddity. The characters are wonderful; the mystery is excellent; and the setting is fantastic. Highly recommended.

Disclaimer: The publisher provided a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. Any and all opinions that follow are mine alone.

Review: The Tainted Cup by Robert Bennett Jackson

Some books just click with you. The plot, the characters, the setting, the mystery, the themes, etc., all just work together to make a truly wonderful reading experience. The Tainted Cup by Robert Jackson Bennett did that for me. It’s a book that just hit on all cylinders, and I cannot wait for the next one in this promising series.

The world of The Tainted Cup is strange in the best possible way. It reminded me a lot of the videogame Against the Storm. (Probably because I’m addicted to that game.) The world incorporates plants and biology in wonderful ways. For example, the people who work for the Empire are ‘enhanced’ in certain ways. Din, the main character, has been altered so that he cannot forget anything…ever. He is apprenticed to Iudex Inspector Ana Dolabra, who is enhanced in unknown ways herself. Din does the legwork, and he acts like the Watson in this duo. Ana is definitely the Sherlock character. She’s voracious in consuming knowledge and excels at piecing things together. Logic and deduction are her tools, and she’s a master artisan with them. As a downside, she can’t handle much stimulation. In fact, she spends most of the novel with a blindfold around her eyes. It isolates her and lets her think. The downsides of Din’s alterations won’t come until late in his life when his brain is full of memories. But he also harbors another secret. He’s dyslexic. Not a concern in our world, but it’s one that he hides from everyone for fear of being drummed out of his apprenticeship. When a particularly gruesome murder happens to a high ranking Engineer in their town, Ana and Din must investigate. The death is caused by sudden plant growth from the torso of the Engineer in the home of one of the richest and most powerful families in the Empire. Soon, the death leads them to others in a city that protects the Empire from the Leviathans that emerge from the sea during the wet season. The investigation is also conducted in a town under evacuation warning as the leviathans rise from the sea. Can Din and Ana figure what the murderer is trying to do before the town is destroyed?

The Tainted Cup by Robert Jackson Bennett is a first person point of view novel that puts a mystery in fantasy clothing. It’s an engrossing read that gets better with each turn of the page. Bennett layers all the elements together to make a story that grabs you and won’t let you go. Highly recommended.

Setting

Bennett is wonderful at creating worlds. His Divine Cities series were set in a weird and interesting world. As much as I loved those settings, The Tainted Cup surpasses them hands down. It’s a verdant setting. Leafy greenness suffuses the book, and reagents open doors that are blocked by plants. Plants make up much of the building material and, in some cases, technology. There’s a fungus that acts as an air conditioner.

Then there’s the leviathans themselves. Their threat hangs over the novel throughout. The novel takes place in the Titan’s Path. It’s where the Titan’s emerge from the sea and walk on land. When they die, the magic in their blood and bodies change the very landscape itself. This creates the magic of the world and the modifications that people live with here. Bennett never explains them or their purpose, and that’s perfect.

Characters

Din is the main character, and he’s wonderful. In the beginning of the book, he’s more unsure of himself; he’s worried he’ll be found out and lose his lucrative position. Coming from a poor family far from the center of the Empire, Din sends his money home to his family in the hopes of moving them to safer locales inland. He’s insightful and improvises well. The novel treats him as an extension of Ana’s will in the world, but he very clearly surpasses that at various points throughout the novel.

Ana, on the other hand, is a wild character. She has zero f’s to give. It’s clear that she’s a woman used to money, and readers learn that she may have been sent to the outer lands in disgrace. She cares about Din in her own, and we see that throughout the novel. Later on, we get to see her mentoring him, and it’s clear that she’s training him for something great. The more the reader learns about her throughout the novel, the more she grows on you.

Themes

The themes of this book hit home. I’d love to discuss them, but the ones that stuck with me are spoilers. I can say one that that Bennett gives us at the end of the novel that struck a chord deep within me. To paraphrase Bennett, the more people think society is broken, the more broken it becomes. Anyone in the U.S. has to feel this. Trying to encourage people – regardless of party – to vote is often met with what’s the point? And it’s hard to argue with that. Bennett’s novel is filled with people trying to improve and better society. It also contains some who are willing to do what it takes to improve themselves. There are Engineers literally trying to patch a breach in the walls that protect society. I’m looking forward to discussing this more with others when they’re read it.

Conclusion

Robert Jackson Bennett’s The Tainted Cup was a pure delight to read. It introduces a wonderful world with excellent characters. I cannot wait to return to Bennett’s world and follow Din and Ana on their next investigation. Highly recommended.

The most intricate, ambitious, labyrinthine SFF mystery I’ve read since Gideon the Ninth.

Leviathans threaten the shores of the empire every wet season, and every year the citizens fear the sea wall, the legion troops, and the artillery won’t be enough to hold them back any longer. In a society shaped by elaborate plant manipulation, the people regularly undergo grafts and suffusions, altering and enhancing themselves in strange ways to better serve the empire and its wall. And among the rich and influential clans of this land, political schemes and conspiracies run deep.

Among all of this, our protagonist Din is called on to solve a highly gruesome and unusual murder on a lavish estate.

This story is so strikingly original, so vivid, so satisfying. It’s built on the bones of the classic murder mystery formula, but the stakes are dialed up to 100 as it gradually expands in scope to a grand political affair. The worldbuilding is a little bit dark fantasy, a little bit weird fantasy, a little bit Sci Fi and steampunk. The fantasy elements and mystery elements of this book fed into one another masterfully. SFF mystery has so much potential since the author gets to invent a whole new set of rules for the world that can then be played with, manipulated and subverted, and when it’s all married together well and the internal logic tracks all the way through, the payoff is incredible.

I also want to highlight the fact that this book has a queer, disabled main character! Din is now my son and I love him so much. This is a queer-norm setting, but the character does face some ableism.

If I wanted to poke holes, I could find elements of this novel that weren’t quite as impactful as I hoped they’d be and knock this down to a 4.5 or a 4 star. But the thing is, I don’t want to poke holes, because it’s been ages since I’ve had this much pure fun reading anything. At one particularly shocking point, I was reading this book while I stood over the stove cooking pasta because I genuinely couldn’t put it down to make myself dinner. I was dialed in.

Absolutely can’t wait for the next book! Thanks to Netgalley & the publisher for providing me with an eARC.