The author does a great job of world building and introducing us to that world. They did a great job of giving enough information that everything (mostly) made sense but also not spoon feeding it to us.

This universe has giant leviathan monsters who live in the sea but are not confined to the sea. Their blood has magical properties that humans have been able to harness to modify features of themselves. For example, our main character Din is an engraver. He remembers everything that he sees or hears. Others have calculator-level mathematical abilities or insane physical strength. Within the boundaries of this universe, it all made sense and was logical and well thought out by the author, which I so appreciate.

Din is an assistant investigator to Ana who is pretty crazy/eccentric. She was a very fun character that seemed partially based on Sherlock Holmes. They're investigating a series of murders where trees are sprouting out of people's bodies.

Again, the author did a great job of providing the clues for who dun it, but it wasn't too obvious. I figured out some parts, but missed others. When I looked back, I saw how the clues were there. It was interesting enough to keep me guessing, without being a case where the author gives you clues to one thing, but surprise! it's actually this different thing even though nothing supports it. It was very well done.

The book could have benefited for a little tightening up of the narrative. It seemed slow at parts, especially in the beginning, and I don't think it needed to be over 400 pages. I also was a little confused about how the "grafts" for special abilities actually worked - are they patches that you apply to your skin? To your brain? Is it something you take? An injection? It didn't impact the story but was a little unclear.

Thank you to the author, publisher, and NetGalley for this advance review copy.

The Tainted Cup was such a fun and fantastical read. It was unique. I haven't read anything quite like it. The author did a great job of seamlessly blending various genres that I don't often see paired together.

The characters were top-notch. They were fun and quirky and you couldn't help but root for them throughout the story. I especially loved the character of Ana. While 2024 just started, I have no doubt that Ana Dolabra will make the list of my top literary characters for the year. I love sarcasm. I love spunk. I love attitude. Ana had all of it in spades. While the whole book was great, she was the highlight for me!

I really enjoyed the mystery and how it unraveled through the book. There were plenty of twists and turns and I never knew quite what to expect or how the different murders all came together. It was well executed, fun, and kept me invested right up to the end.

Lastly, the book was fast-paced. There was never a dull moment, which made it easy to cruise through it and get lost in the pages.

The only thing I'd love to see for future installments is a little bit more world building. I want to know more about the Leviathans and their background.

After this delight of a book, I'm going to have to dive into RBJ's backlist of books! This was a fun read that I would definitely recommend. I think it's great for fans of blended genres, Knives Out, Sherlock Holmes, quirky characters, and unique reads!

I know RJB is a favorite fantasy author for a lot of people, but The Tainted Cup is the first book by this author that I've read. I wasn't sure how I'd feel about a murder mystery set in a fantasy world, but I found that I actually really loved it! Dinios and Ana are such eccentric characters to follow, I never knew what they would do next.

Right away you're plunged into a fantasy world that feels particularly alien. Dinios arrives at a manor house to investigate the murder of a high ranking officer who died quite horribly, and things start to unravel from there. What begins as a simple mystery becomes more complicated as the book goes on. I'm fairly certain this is slated to become a series, and I'm excited to see where Dinios and Ana will go next!

Thank you to the publisher and to Netgalley for granting me an e-ARC in exchange for an honest review!

I tried to give this book a fair chance but it was not for me. I DNF’ed around 30%. I couldn’t connect with the characters or the story. Obviously my personal experience does not mean others will challenge to connect with this novel. From other reviews I have seen, I am one of very few that didn’t care for the book.

When a high ranking is officer is killed after a tree mysteriously grows out of his body while staying at an influential family's mansion, investigator Ana Dolabra and her engraver assistant (altered to remember everything he encounters) Dinios Kol are called in to investigate, but neither could ever imagine what their investigation is about to reveal.

This fantasy Sherlock Holmes style murder mystery was quite fun. I liked the characters of Dinios and Ana and their chemistry. He's very patient with his boss's eccentricities and loyal to a fault. The world building was easy to follow and their was lots of tension between the investigation and the danger of the leviathan breaking through the sea wall and killing the citizens and destroying the different cities. The only criticism I have is it is a little slow in some places toward the beginning. I hope this turns into a series, as I'd like to read more about the adventures of our main characters! Recommend for fans of murder mystery and fantasy.

Thank you to Ballentine, Del Rey, author Robert Jackson Bennett, and NetGalley for gifting me a digital copy of this book. My opinions are my own.

And now for something completely different. This is an intriguing murder mystery similar to a Sherlock Holmes novel set amidst a sci-fi fantasy novel. The world building is very unusual with people modified for a variety of reasons, including perfect recall. The empire's primary focus is holding back the leviathans that break through the sea walls and terrorize the population by destroying homes and killing people. When a high level official is found murdered, in a very unusual manner, an investigator and her assistant are called upon to uncover the truth of what happened. However, the truth is much larger than anyone could imagine. The characters are so unique. The investigator is very eccentric and prefers to stay blindfolded. Meanwhile, her very patient assistant, with perfect recall, has plenty of secrets of his own but is very honest and loyal. Together, they are quite remarkable. There are quite a few surprises as this mystery gets larger before it gets solved. While this book stands on its own, I could easily see these characters returning in another novel, and if so, I will be reading it. I would love to see more of them.

My thanks to NetGalley and Random House for an advance copy. My opinion is my own.

This was incredibly difficult for me to get into. The world building was just super slow and the characters didn’t feel compelling or interesting to me. I wanted to like it because the concept was really fun. Maybe I will try it again in a few months and update this review.

Review Copy

THE TAINTED CUP is the first book in a new series by Robert Jackson Bennett. It's a Sherlock Holes style mystery set in a fantasy empire. What that generally means is that there are a lot of made up words. When I read fantasy, that's the one thing that sucks the fun of the book right out for me. Just call a wolf a wolf, 0k? No need to come up with a nsill7y name for us to remember.

That's why I dropped a star. This was a pretty enjoyable book otherwise. I would recommend it to any regular readers of fantasy stories. And if you're a newby looking to try out something new? Why not try a sample first? I(t was a pretty decent mystery. No complaints there!

This book was so good! If you like a classic Sherlock Holmes murder mystery with fun fantasy elements, this will be your new favorite!

Thank you Del Rey and NetGalley for an eARC in exchange for an honest review!!

I really loved Robert Jackson Bennett’s Founders trilogy, so I was excited about this from the start, but the promise of botanical body horror really sealed the deal (assuming you, too, consider trees exploding out of chest cavities to be botanical body horror). I also love weird flora and fauna, so I had a great deal of fun with the world Bennett has crafted.

I really enjoyed the overall feel of the world—it felt very lush and vibrant and also a little anxiety-inducing. The botanical aspects (especially the fungus!!!) were lovely, and on some level I felt like how I’d imagine I’d feel if I lived in the world of Pacific Rim (so, you know: it was very beautiful and also I felt under constant threat!!! perfect, no notes!!!!!). I thought the body modifications in the society were interesting and presented neat challenges/advantages and it was neat to see Din interact with his new environment throughout the novel.

I’m not necessarily the first to reach for a murder mystery, but I’m not opposed to them. I am not the type of reader to puzzle things out as I read (and I am not a plot driven reader; I am, primarily, a vibes reader with a sprinkle of character driven), and so I’m not going to be the best at picking up clues, though I do think Bennett does a very good job at laying the foundation of the mystery. I really liked Din as a point of view character and I found all of the secondary characters to be compelling; I liked Ana and am also quite glad we don’t get this story from inside her head. The pacing was also quite good; there were times where some chapters were a smidgen too long for my liking, but I ultimately found it easy to keep a steady reading pace.

This first book wraps up nicely/doesn’t end on a cliffhanger, which I appreciate, but I’m definitely eager to see more of this world that Bennett has created—I’m curious about the Leviathans and the ultimate fate of the Empire. Overall, I had a great time with this and will most likely end up loving this one more than the Founders trilogy (especially because my biggest pet peeve in Bennett’s previous trilogy was the use of made up swear words, please just let people say “fuck”). Definitely recommend this, and as always what a joy it is to read Robert Jackson Bennett.

The Tainted Cup is another phenomenal book by Robert Jackson Bennett. The world was so lush and different from other fantasy worlds and the mystery at the heart of the novel....made sense and I wasn't able to guess the twists like in other thriller or mystery books. This was very readable and I am excited for more books in this series!

Title: The Tainted Cup by Robert Jackson Bennett

Publication Date- 02/06/24
Publisher- Random House Publishing Group Del Rey
Overall Rating- 3.5 out of 5

Review: Review copy given to me by the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

What a feat this book takes on. The Tainted Cup is a heavy genre bending story weaving in elements of fantasy and mystery almost equally. It’s a whodunit in a sinking city. We follow two detectives that very much resemble a Sherlock and Watson duo (in a good way). The world building is heavy at times but is interesting. You have a city that’s on the verge of collapse due to a mysterious force called The Leviathan. So, while the duo try to solve a mysterious murder they are also faced with the looming threat of the world ending. Both characters are quirky and I found a lot of the scenes to have some comedic relief. At times I was truly laughing out loud.

Now to some things I found more challenging to get through. Toward the 40 percent mark, I found that we just kept interviewing people. Which, in a whodunit that is to be expected however, I didn’t find these interviews interesting and started to feel that the story was repeating itself and sadly this continued until the very end.

There is also a lot of politics in the backdrop and usually that is something I find interesting. However, I was bored and could care less about the politics in this world.

I will own that I think my 3.5 rating will be in the minority. I think most people who love fantasy will enjoy this. For some reason I have struggled to get into fantasy this year. Our reading era’s come and go so I recommend if you are in a fantasy reading mood that you give this a chance. The main characters are interesting enough and the reason for 3 of the 3.5 stars.

After reading the first two pages, I knew this book was something special--the world-building was incredible and it starts perfectly, placing you square in the middle of what can only be described as a visceral, gripping mystery. The pacing overall was stellar--I feel like sometimes characters in mystery novels are almost too mysterious, but even after the first few chapters I was fully drawn in by Din and Ana, who definitely appropriately give off the Holmes and Watson dynamic (IMO, the most fun dynamic for a mystery story). The magic system was woven lightly through the story in a natural way and didn't detract from the narrative at all, as is what often happens with fantasy books (and most importantly to me, it also felt logical). The only thing I personally felt detracted from the story is--and I don't consider myself super squeamish--but the graphic descriptions of the crime scenes (especially that first one) or even certain settings were so visceral that it got to the point where I was anxious to pick up the book. On a technical level, it was a genius choice as I think that leant itself very well to the ecological dystopian/disaster-esque feel, but I also spent a significant amount of time worried about what sort of description I'd come across next as opposed to the characters. Even if this wasn't intentional, the ability to place you into the world of a novel to the extent that almost feels disturbing at times speaks to Robert Jackson Bennett's unparalleled mastery of prose. Since this was solely a personal problem and not anything to do with the technicality of the writing or the story, it deserves all of the praise as a great read that will enthrall mystery and fantasy readers alike. While this felt like an appropriate self-contained adventure--and I greatly appreciate that since many mysteries leave too many threads loose at the end--I really hope that Robert Jackson Bennett will go the Sir Arthur Conan Doyle route and write more tales about Din and Ana in the future (even if I'll need to take Xanax to read them).

When a tree erupts from a man's body, probationary Assistant Investigator Dinios Kol is sent in. Kol is brand new to the position and has never investigated something of this manner. He heads to the home of a wealthy clan member at the behest of his commanding Investigator Ana Dolabra. Dolabra is as brilliant as she is peculiar and Kol has to manage her as much as his new job. When similar deaths occur in a nearby Canton, Dolabra and Kol are sent into a vipers nest of conspiracy at the eve of disaster. The wet season has nearly arrived and the fate of the empire rests on if the walls hold and the leviathans stay out.

The Tainted Cup is a fantasy murder mystery story. An entire world has been built that seems vastly different from our own. There are some mild similarities such as The wet season. It makes me think of hurricane season if instead of hurricanes, the Kaiju from Pacific Rim appear. Humanity isn't helpless against them, but the odds are not in their favor. There are grafts that alter people in all sorts of ways from enhanced smelling, seeing in the dark, increased strength, and impeccable memory. Probationary Assistant Investigator Dinios Kol has been granted an impeccable memory with such grafts and is considered an engraver. His mind and memory can be used as evidence in investigations. Engravers can remember perfectly everything they see and hear.

Dinios Kol is the stories sole point of view character. He is serious and dedicated while possessing a secret he fears will get out. Kol is more capable than even he realizes.

We see many other characters throughout the book, but the next main character is Investigator Ana Dolabra. She is someone who would be considered eccentric by those being kind and absolutely insane by most others. Her abilities to interpret information seem to be second to none yet she chooses to stay away from people and to wear a blindfold to hone her senses. She sends Kol to investigate various matters and to bring back the evidence she needs to figure out what truly happened.

Murder mystery certainly is not my genre of choice, but I enjoyed The Tainted Cup. I enjoyed Kol's character and his interaction with others especially Dolabra. Dolabra was a bit too brilliant for me to outright enjoy, but her quirks helped. If/when there is a sequel to The Tainted Cup, I'd certainly read it.


3.5 out of 5 stars

I received this ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

THE TAINTED CUP is an amazing book that kept me interested the entire time I read it. It is as if Knives Out had a baby with BBC Sherlock, told through Waston's point of view, and took place in a fantasy world. Everything about this book was pure perfection and I loved reading it.

Honestly, there isn't much I didn't love about this book. I think the concept of the story was so much fun. It drew on parts of murder mystery stories that the public loves so much, while redefining it to make it new, interesting, and engaging. There was fun banter between Ana and Din, the story's Sherlock and Watson. There were fun reveals, There was gore. There was magic. There was a complex fantasy world that we as readers were introduced to. There were twists and turns. Altogether, it made this story worth the read.

The pacing of the story itself was also well balanced in creating a world that the reader is having to explore and learn the nuances and facets of, while furthering the mysteries that surround it. Many fantasy novels can get bogged down in creating that world. But instead, the readers are introduced to the larger picture while still understanding the world, without having to learn EVERYTHING about that world. I'm sure that the world building is going to continue as our characters navigate through it, but it felt really balanced, which I loved,

Overall, this book is a must read for me and I think for you too. If you love fantasy, murder mysteries, Knives Out, Sherlock Holmes, neurodivergent characters, and unique stories, this is a book you shouldn't miss.

Thank you to Del Ray Books and NetGalley for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review!

The tainted Cup is perfect for those who would enjoy a sci-fi fantasy murder mystery. it has Sherlock and Watson vibes but is much stranger. It was a fun read, with more world building and depth than I expected from a murder mystery.

The Tainted Cup by Robert Jackson Bennett

Ana Dolabra is an eccentric investigator. It's not clear what her alterations may be but she wears a blindfold, although it seems she might be able to still "see"? With her assistant's help, she is better at "seeing" than anyone who is traditionally sighted. She lost her last assistant four months ago and now has a new twenty year old assistant, Din.

Through alterations, twenty year old Dinios Kol is an engraver, which means he possesses perfect memory. With the help of various scents from vials, he can sniff the scent and store away what he learns in his memory. Just smelling that scent brings all the memories back to him which makes him well suited as an assistant for an investigator such as Ana. Din is lucky to have his job but he has secrets that cannot get out or all will be lost for him.

The Empire is a dangerous place, with the danger coming from enemies, from those coveting money and power, and from the constant threat of a breach of the walls holding back what is on the other side. Contagions are an ever present danger and now a high Imperial officer has died, standing where he was struck, a tree spontaneously having erupted from his body.

Ana isn't likeable but she doesn't care. She knows herself, she has a wealth of knowledge of almost everything, she's a wonder of talent, and speaks her mind at all times. Din must defer to all that are over him, even servants will look down on him at times. He's cautious but smart, it's obvious he thinks he's hanging by a thread, could take a wrong step at any time. But that has been beat into him during his training where it seemed he could do nothing right. Now he has a chance to get out from under the pressure of his training, hopefully to come into his own as Ana's assistant.

The story got away from me pretty quickly. I dabble with fantasy at times, usually enjoying it more in games than in books. I couldn't really connect with this world or those in this world enough to be too concerned about what was happening. I was hoping the mystery and investigation could carry me through the strange surroundings and events but just felt too out of this world to enjoy the journey. Readers of this review should read other reviews because many people understood and enjoyed the book better and more than I did.

Thank you to Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine, Del Rey, and NetGalley for this ARC.

3.5/5⭐️

This is the first in a detective mystery/fantasy billed as having a Holmes/Watson feel.

While I was not bowled over, it was a decent read for me. I was a bit overwhelmed getting into the world-building and keeping some of the terms straight, and there were definitely some slow spots, but I enjoyed the dynamic between the young investigator Kol and his seasoned, eccentric and often blindfolded boss Ana. Lots of dry and tongue-in-cheek humor there, but I could have definitely done without the gratuitous bad language…why??! Is it really necessary?

My thanks to NetGalley and Random House Publishing/Ballantine/Del Rey for the free early arc of The Tainted Cup for review. The opinions are strictly my own.

My first Robert Jackson Bennett title - and what a book to start with! I instantly fell in love with the witty, pacey narrative style, unique magic system and hilarious cast of characters. I saw this described as a Benoit Blanc adventure but if he was a sassy older woman with a bit of a filthy mouth, and I have to say that is SPOT on.

I was absolutely cackling at so many instances in this book and genuinely enjoyed every second. The murder mystery elements were so well done and the perfect mix between twisty and not *too* convenient conclusions. I also really enjoyed the elements surrounding Din’s struggle with reading and writing, and loved how delicately and compassionately that was handled. The magic system was so fascinating and I can’t wait to see how the story develops. I flew through this book in two sittings and, needless to say, I’ll be diving into Bennett’s backlog as soon as possible!

5/5 stars
Recommended if you like: fantasy, sci-fi, greenpunk, murder mysteries, powers, disability rep

This review has been posted to Goodreads as of 1/21 and will be posted to my review blog on 1/25 and to Instagram on 1/27.

To start, I'll say I'm not sure whether to classify this book as fantasy or sci-fi since I feel it has elements of both. The world the book is set in is 'greenpunk,' with buildings grown from plants and things like AC from mushrooms, and the characters have powers augmented through some kind of medical procedure. At the same time though, there are leviathans that rise from the ocean depths and threaten the empire. The genre isn't really important, but I will say it isn't super clear-cut and think it could fit easily into both sci-fi and fantasy.

The world in the book is super interesting. As mentioned, the buildings are largely grown from plants, with some more plant-like than others. A lot of the buildings have fernpaper walls, which serve well to keep out the humidity and don't mold, while also being sturdy enough to stand and not too heavy in the case of an earthquake. A couple of buildings are made from a different plant that can be grown in any shape, allowing for a more personalized architecture. Plants are pretty central to life in the book, and are used for additional things like AC, vaccination, medical treatments, and human augmentation. I love all the plant stuff and think the focus on 'green' things is a really interesting worldbuilding piece that isn't used nearly often enough. We get a good background on how the greenery works without going too in-depth, though I honestly could read an encyclopedia on this world and be happy.

In terms of the augmentation, there's a breakdown of the different augments people can have, with grafts being temporary and more for things like increased immunity in humans or faster growing in plants, while suffusions are permanent and change a lot more about a person/plant. If someone is employed by the empire and has a suffusion they're called a Sublime, with Sublimes categorized into how their suffusion works (axioms are good w/ numbers, linguas are good w/ languages, spatiasts are good w/ spatial relations, engravers who memorize everything, cracklers who are superhumanly strong, etc.). It was really interesting to read about the suffusions and the different Sublimes, and I really enjoyed the background info we get on the augmentations. I also thought it was pretty cool how the augmentations seem to be everywhere, including to help plants do different things and to help medications and vaccines be produced against the wide range of issues people might come across.

While this is a SFF story, the bulk of it is the murder mystery. It's twisty and deliberate, but at the same time has moments when it's very fun. Ana reminds me at times of Benoit Blanc from Knives Out and I really enjoyed her method to solving mysteries. There's a good mix of humor and seriousness here, and I think Bennett struck a good balance between the two.

Din is a Sublime engraver recently assigned to be Ana's investigative assistant. He's a rule follower and so his and Ana's approaches clash at times, though never majorly. Din is very clearly dyslexic, which gave him trouble in training, and at times he runs up against needing to read things during the investigation, but he's figured out a work around using his engraving skills which I found to be a really smart way of going about it. He's clever and a good observer, and is able to put the pieces of things together quickly even though he's new to investigating. I liked seeing things through his eyes and and way he would meticulously go through a scene to find evidence. It was particularly interesting how he interviewed people because Din seems to have a knack for knowing how to circle a conversation around to what he really wants to know without being too obvious about it, thus putting the interviewee at ease and getting them to open up. It was wonderfully subtle the way he got people to open up.

Ana is the main investigator on the case and is not the sort of investigator you'd expect. She prefers to stay in her house (or later on, in her borrowed rooms) rather than going outside to investigate on her own, and when she does leave the comfort of her accommodations, it's with a blindfold on. I suspected she was autistic throughout the book, and then toward the end she basically comes out and says it (without saying it since...you know...this is a SFF novel not set in our world with our terminology). She's quick to make deductive leaps and is often several steps ahead of everyone else involved. It was fun to read as she snapped through deduction after deduction, using the evidence Din collected, and coming to a conclusion that made sense but you didn't always see coming. Ana is also pretty funny and I enjoyed the humor she brought to the book.

There are a bunch of side characters who come in and out of the story as needed, and I found them to be pretty well fleshed out. It definitely felt like each character had their own lives and concerns and didn't just cease to exist once they left Din's presence. Miljin is the side character who's probably around the most, he's one of the investigators working the case with Ana and Din. At first his demeanor was pretty gruff and unwelcoming, so I didn't think I'd like him much, but over the course of the book his character grew on me and I actually ended up liking him a lot. He's just the kind of person that doesn't immediately warm up to people, but once he does he's got quite the quick brain and lots of humor and advice to go around.

As mentioned, the main point of this book is the mystery. At the beginning, Ana was making all sorts of leaps that I just took her word for, but as the story continued, I began being able to make guesses of my own. Some of the stuff I was able to guess correctly, sometimes in a surprising way, but other times I was still puzzling it out when Ana and the others came to their conclusions. There are so many moving pieces and different elements to the mystery going on in this book, I enjoyed trying to figure out the solution myself as well as seeing what the actual solution was.

Overall I greatly enjoyed this book and I'm definitely looking forward to the next book in the series. This is the kind of book that makes me want more SFF backgrounds for mystery books, it added a really interesting layer to things that I enjoyed.