This fantasy mystery begins when an officer dies - seemingly due to a tree erupting from his body. Enter our Sherlock-and-Watson duo, Ana Dolabra and Dinios Kol. Both have their eccentricities but they make a fantastic investigative pair. I am dipping my toes more into fantasy/scifi and this book contained just enough world-building and magical powers to satisfy me while also keeping my mystery-loving side entertained. I really liked Din and Ana and was excited to realize this is the first of a series - I will definitely keep reading!

The Tainted Cup by Robert Jackson Bennett comes out in a few weeks and it is SUCH a great mix of mystery and sci-fi/fantasy. Whether you are a Nero Wolfe or Sherlock fan or a fan of Brandon Sanderson, you will enjoy this novel.

In an Empire full of altered beings and where leviathans are a constant threat, Din is an apprentice investigator to the quirky and brilliant Ana. When an imperial officer is killed, the two are assigned to investigate and they unravel a plot that could undermine the entire Empire.

Many thanks to #netgalley #robertjacksonbennett and #randomhouse #delray for the #arc copy in exchange for an honest review.

#thetaintedcup #mystery #mysterybooks #fantasy #sciencefiction #lgbtqia #urbanfantasy #bookstagram

A fascinating Sherlock-esque story with a quirky detective with grand humor and an assistant getting used to the outside world.

The fantasy of this book is quite hard to describe, there’s body augmentation so it seems somewhat steampunk mixed with monsters, magic, and overall fantasy. Trees sprouted out of people in assassination attempts. Politics and murder mystery. Self discovery on so many levels.

It took some adjusting to the world building as it’s greatly complex and mysterious but once it made sense it all flowed wonderfully. The magic felt natural and immersive in the best ways. Din and Ana’s relationship cracks me up. Since Din is her much younger assistant, she loves to tease him about the world and can be quite blunt and crude in her wording. It’s all fun and games and Din takes it all in stride and enjoys his boss’s quirkiness. It was also amazing to see Din grow into himself.

The Tainted Cup kept me intrigued. I really enjoyed both the fantasy aspect as well as the suspense of the murders and mystery surrounding everything happening. This story had a lot of moving parts and I had to really pay attention to details and characters. It’s a slow pace as the story builds the atmosphere.

I really liked Din. He had such character growth and I love how Ana accepts him and sees him. They work so well together, and both have unique qualities and ways about them to solve the mysteries. I am excited to see what other adventures and mysteries they will solve together.

Lots of great mysteries start with the uncovering of a dead body, but few are as strange and mysterious as this one!

The synopsis of this story really drew me in, but by the end of part one I worried that this may be a bit too far into the fantasy realm for me to personally enjoy. I was getting a bit lost in the world building, but held out hope because I really liked the relationship and dialogue between Ana & Din.

This was a really fun story that delved into the corruption of higher society and how quickly that can spiral into complete chaos when left unchecked. It was a bit long for my liking, especially towards the middle, but everything was sorted out nicely at the end, and I would absolutely continue on with the series!

Thank you to the author and @netgalley for my e-copy to read and honestly review!

I truly believed another fellow reader when they said this was an “intriguing “ murder mystery that has Sherlock Holmes & Dr House MD coding. But, what I inevitably read in my personal opinion was a boring tale that had an ego investigator, pacific rim environments, and just incoherent building of a narrative.

I truly wanted it to be a favorite, but I felt it lacked consistency with pacing and action. It had more dialogue that I wanted to skip over so many times. I didn’t grow to love either character.

Thank you so much to Penguin Random House & Netgalley for this ARC in exchange for my honest thoughts. I hope this finds its readers.

A very promising start to a new series; this murder mystery is set in an interesting fantasy world and features a sort of Holmes-Watson detective pairing. I really enjoyed both the mystery and fantasy elements of the story, and I look forward to where Bennett takes these character next. My one quibble, that I've had with other fantasy novels, is the use of words and phrases such as "f*ck," "sh*t," and "son of a b*itch" in a world where the author has gone out of his way to create lots of new words for things. These curse words jar me out of the fantasy setting and I always wish authors would make up new ones instead of doing this. Thank you to NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine/Del Rey for a digital review copy.

I scheduled this review back in August, and have it set to post on 2/6/24 per written guideline. That said, the blog link will not go live until pub date. I've been frustrated at the few posting early 😕

Anyway, the link will appear here

https://onereadingnurse.com/2024/02/06/arc-review-the-tainted-cup-by-robert-jackson-bennett/

I'm so psyched to finally share this review with you guys. I read it back in August and have been excited to see what everyone else thinks too.

The Tainted Cup has many of my favorite things all jammed into one book. I love herbalism and alchemy, modified humans, mental illness rep, and snarky banter. All of this dancing around the plot-central murder mystery makes for the perfect book.

It's not a fast moving story. Bennett takes his time letting the world unravel around the mystery. It's a particularly grisly crime and Dinios has to go investigate, while Ana Dolabra stays home and researches/deduces what they need to proceed forward. I loved seeing both Din and Ana's unique ways of dealing with the world and processing their surroundings. They compliment each other wonderfully.

Din isn't particularly proficient at first while Ana is a genius. Occasionally I was thrown off by her random leaps from point A to point F, but especially towards the end everything ramped up and tied together so nicely. If alchemical killers and atmosphere isn't enough, how about the threat of Leviathans coming in through the sea walls to destroy everything?

The Tainted Cup has many layers and it was a treat to discover them as we went along. The world build starts a little bit scant and develops nicely by the end. I liked the side characters too, as well as Ana's attempts to embarrass and scandalize pretty much everyone. Din develops a personality and confidence which makes him progressively more likeable.

If you like mystery, action, herbalism, big threats and heavy atmosphere, with a dash of fantasy, this is a good one for you. I personally can't wait to see where these characters go next!

The Tainted Cup started out well. But for a spell, there was a massive gap in anything exciting. It didn't help that one of the main characters kept firing F-bombs with just about every sentence. And for some reason or another, the swearing just didn't fit into this particular narrative for me.

I didn't care for any of the characters, initially. Especially the two main characters Ana and Din. Ana was eccentric and a B***h in every sense of the word. Din was the pushover, getting run over by Ana at every turn.

The pacing of the novel is slow. Probably to build atmosphere and not necessarily world building. I found it difficult to concentrate on the narrative as the story fell flat for a lengthly period. It wasn't until the 31% point that I started to warm up to the narrative and characters. But at that point, I was tired of waiting and was also suffering from burnout. Needless to say, i gave up. Normally a DNF nets a single star. But in the case of The Tainted Cup, the story has promise since I did start to warm up to the narrative albeit a bit late. I'll probably give it another go in the future. Two okay stars for now.

I was invited to read a DRC from Random House Publishing Group through NetGalley. The review herein is completely my own and contains my honest thoughts and opinions.

This silly little fantastical murder mystery was a joy to read. I’m a sucker for any books about people turning into trees so I figured that trees emerging from people's torsos would probably hold up.

It felt like I stepped into an alternative reality Benoit Blanc or Sherlock Holmes story. One where they have mystical science, augmented abilities, and live in constant fear of titans destroying their empire.

Our main character, Din, has an augmented ability to “engrave” his memories so he doesn’t forget anything he’s seen. He can relay all his information to his quirky boss who makes grand deductions. About halfway through the book, I found myself searching Din’s investigating chapters to figure out what clues might be and what I could pull together (not much, I tried! But I did pick up on one big reveal at the end).

The fantasy world-building was pretty lite (What are these titans? Why? How do all the augmentations work?) but I couldn’t bring myself to mind because I was so sucked into the mystery and each of the characters' dynamics.

Big thanks to Netgalley and Del Rey for the eARC of the Tainted Cup!

I have not read anything else from this author, but I am moving his other books up my list now. I really enjoyed this murder mystery set in a fantasy world.

The world was very botanical and earthy, which of course I loved. I liked the juxtaposition of the very delicate, botanically based world building paired with a the looming destructive power of the leviathans, creatures that arise out of the sea and attack the coastlines of this world. The leviathans also added a bump to the pacing of this book, which could have meandered off into the details, as some murder mysteries are prone to do, but not the case with The Tainted Cup. The impending leviathan breach framed the murder investigation in a way that added a sense of urgency while not fully undermining the investigation as well.

As for the characters, I really enjoyed our main character, Din. As I have not read anything else by Robert Jackson Bennett, I'm not sure of this is his standard writing style, but it felt very clipped and formal, which fit perfectly with Din, as he is a very high strung, uptight character, so it worked for me in this book. As a fellow high strung rule follower, I appreciated Din's pragmatism that made him a good investigator. As for our other main character, Ana........I loved her too. There are so many secrets to be uncovered around her, I cannot wait to find them out. I guess I just have a thing for blindfolded characters (see: Gojo/JJK, Spook/Mistborn). Ana's crass and bold attitude didn't feel too overdone or annoying, which was refreshing (especially after DNF'ing Empire of the Vampire, a book that is the definition of crass for the sake of looking cool). I liked seeing the way she cares for Din, even if she doesn't always show it.

I have no big complaints about the mystery, I felt there were enough clues, some of which I did pick up on, that lead you to solving it yourself, or at least getting close. But I did find that sometimes we got our answers spelled out for us in an info-dump sort of ay by Ana. Which is sort of on par for the murder mystery genre, so it's really not a big complaint from me on that.

As for what didn't land with me...there were some repetitive aspects to this that didn't fully bother me, but I did notice and I would have liked a bit more variety in the investigation. Additionally, I would have liked a bit more world building, just to ground me more in the world. It's by no means lacking world building, but I would have liked more sprinkled in.

I highly recommend this book for those looking for more murder mystery fantasy books, a sub genre that I think could really use more books in!!

The Tainted Cup was an intriguing read following the mystery of a murder (or two…) which needs to be solved under the pressure of a looming attack from supernatural forces.

I relatively enjoyed this read. I thought that the mystery was well done, and the characters were intriguing enough. Unfortunately, I couldn’t really get into the world very much, and found the difficult names a bit of an obstacle for me, so I had to take some stars off the rating. However, I do think if fantasy murder mysteries are your thing, this is a great read for it, as I was kept guessing as to what was happening up until the end.

I was so intrigued by the premise of this! It's a mashup of fantasy and murder mystery, and I enjoyed it even more than I anticipated!

Set in a fantasy world with characters "altered" for heightened abilities, the advancements are mingled with a few age-old things like politics, corruption, and murder. Din is an "engraver" altered to have an extraordinary memory that allows him to recall every aspect of a scene. An apprentice, he is the eyes and ears of the Empire's most brilliant detective, Ana. She rarely leaves the house, so he reports the scenes to her from his exceptional memory. The two must catch a murderer who has covered things up to look like a contagion, and Din must try to keep his own secrets from the ultra-perceptive Ana.

This was fun! Well-written and unique. The world-building is vivid and imaginative. The Empire is fascinatingly strange, with plant life that can be helpful or deadly, inhabitants augmented to amplify various traits, and leviathans trying to breach the walls. The mystery is twisty and solidly plotted, with misdirections mingled with this world's peculiarities in a way that keeps the reader guessing.

My favorite character was scene-stealing Ana. She's eccentric, blunt, and genius. Her deductions are so brilliant that she's always at least ten steps ahead of everyone else. She and Din bicker and banter, and it's hilarious. I loved their interactions! Din is also a likable and complex character whose layers will likely continue to unfold across additional books.

Super entertaining! I look forward to the next one!

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House Ballentine for the gifted ARC.

The Tainted Cup begins with a very unusual murder. It seems the perp is one or more trees that have taken over and/or shot through the vic’s body. Thus begins a fantasy in a wholly creative world. The author has been very thorough with that world. One learns many details about how it operates.

The main character is an young investigator, presumably on his first case. There are novel features, such as he uses a small vial of lye to give him a scent to associate with his observations. He has, then, perfect recall--forever.

Bennett has other fantasy novels, and I expect that his existing audience will be very pleased with this new offering. I am not the intended audience for this book, but I believe those who are will enjoy it very much.

Have you ever wondered what Sherlock & Watson would do in a fantasy world? If so, look no further than 𝙏𝙝𝙚 𝙏𝙖𝙞𝙣𝙩𝙚𝙙 𝘾𝙪𝙥! This was such a unique mix of mystery and fantasy, and I had a fun time with it. It’s very different from 𝙁𝙤𝙪𝙣𝙙𝙧𝙮𝙨𝙞𝙙𝙚, but just as unique and enjoyable, with interesting worldbuilding and a lush and vibrant setting.

Our main characters are Din, an apprentice investigator with the ability to engrave every memory into his brain and forget nothing, and Ana, an eccentric senior investigator with an insatiable curiosity and a whip-smart mind. Together, they are sent to investigate a gruesome murder involving an extremely dangerous plant contagion. From there, a plot unfolds that keeps you guessing until the end. Both Din and Ana are with likable and endearing, and I really enjoyed the mentor/mentee relationship they had. I look forward to seeing them work together again!

In a nutshell, this book is what you get if you mix a whodunnit mystery of Sherlock Holmes with the terrifying bioweapon of The Expanse protomolecule. Sprinkle in the constant threat of the Kaiju of Pacific Rimand the creepiness of Attack on Titan, and you get The Tainted Cup. It’s several familiar concepts mixed in a fresh new way. I’ll definitely be reading the next book!

4.5 stars

Ok wow. This was such a fun, amazing read.

Murder mystery?
Political intrigue?
Inappropriate, brilliant and sarcastic characters?

Check! Check and Check!

I absolutely loved the relationship between Ana and Din. The story is immersive, fast-paced, and funny. The magic system is subtle but well explained. I also really enjoyed how the story itself is self-contained. The Tainted Cup could easily be a stand alone (though I am thankful it is not!)

Thank you NetGalley and Random House for the ARC. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

THE TAINTED CUP is the latest novel by Robert Jackson Bennett. Not only is it the first in a new trilogy, but it is a complete departure from the types of stories Mr. Bennett previously published. As it retains the fantasy elements that are the hallmark of his stories, THE TAINTED CUP is a murder mystery told as only Mr. Bennett can.

Much of the pre-publicity reviews describe THE TAINTED CUP as a Holmes and Watson-style detective story. Mr. Bennett does list Sherlock Holmes as an influence. And yet, I have the impression that the murders in THE TAINTED CUP are only half the story. Many of Mr. Bennett's previous stories are complex. They tend to feature seemingly separate plots that come together uniquely and unexpectedly. THE TAINTED CUP doesn't appear to have those multiple plot lines. The total focus of the story is Din's and Ana's investigation. However, I suspect that book two might have a trick or two in store for readers.

One of the things Mr. Bennett does so well is build new worlds. In fact, he might be one of the best at it among fantasy writers. His worlds are so different and yet so alive. This new Empire is no different. Mr. Bennett has thought of everything, from the style of food to religion to dress, and he does so in a way that is not boring. There are no long passages of description. His method of world-building relies on the narrator's knowledge and observations, making it integral to the narrator's development.

While THE TAINTED CUP may be a murder mystery, it wouldn't be a novel by Mr. Bennett without his fantasy elements. In this story, he presents us with the leviathans, mysterious monsters who come from the ocean and try to force their way onto the land, devouring everything in their path. No one knows much about the leviathans or why they try to push themselves on land every year. But they have found a way to use the leviathans' biochemistry to create enhancements that will make someone stronger, have heightened senses, or remember everything they see and hear. It's a wild, weird world, but thanks to Mr. Bennett's world-building, it is one you understand and would recognize.

The murder mystery aspect of THE TAINTED CUP is clever without being impossible. While I can see why people may compare Ana and Din to Holmes and Watson, I think such comparisons are also to the story's detriment. They aren't the same. Din is not a sidekick responsible for sharing Holmes' exploits with the world. Din is an investigator like Ana, albeit with much less experience and a memory enhancement that has him remembering everything. Ana is brilliant and quirky, but she cares about Din too, looking to teach and guide him as much as protect him.

Then there is the gender dynamic at play. Ana's behavior and lack of social niceties are nothing more than the quirks of a brilliant older lady. The same behavior in a man would result in some form of reprimand or even punishment by his superior officers. So don't be fooled by those who compare Ana and Din to Holmes and Watson. Yes, there are superficial similarities, but the differences are what make THE TAINTED CUP so good.

I love Mr. Bennett's writing. No matter how fantastical they are, they are so vibrant. The little details he adds build his fantasy worlds so clearly and so realistically. I've wanted people to discover Mr. Bennett's stories for years because they are so good. Hopefully, THE TAINTED CUP and his foray into traditional detective stories will finally expose new readers to this wonderful author.

4.25 Stars

We need more murder mysteries in fantasy novels - I know we have quite a bit of assassinations and investigations that take place in fantasy but it's always more entrenched in Fantasy and magic rather than using a cool head to investigate. This was a perfect Knives Out mystery where our protagonists used their heads to figure out what was happening. Magic was a tool, not the source. It was refreshing to see such a novel.

The world building was immaculate and I could visualise everything so easily. It did take some time getting into it but I was also traveling at the time and don't hold it against the book. The characters were very well written and though I did expect one or two twists, I was always pleasantly surprised when I found I had missed something. Overall, I can't wait for book 2 and learn more about Ana Dolabra's past.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the ARC

A harried civil servant with imperfect biological modifications assists his eccentric supervisor in solving a not-so standard murder mystery, which gets harder to do when local resources are tied up slaying the seasonal, possibly-world-ending leviathans.

In other words, a perfect blend of murder mystery sleuthing and a robustly detailed scifi fantasy setting.

I’ve gotta love a Sherlock-Watson duo, and Din’s narration hits all the right beats - alternately wry and self-deprecating, vaguely impressed, or passively condescending - as he interacts with the colorful personalities involved in the case. There’s a gloriously entangled system of government apparatus, from bureaucrats, to judiciaries, to aristocratic landowners, plus a culture based on mystical biological enhancements and the constant threat massive monsters threatening to collapse the empire, if the politics and infighting don’t do it first. Amongst all that, I appreciated the simple reminders that, when it feels like the end of the world, all one can do is continue on with the small tasks before them. 

Anyway, I tore through it all in a day and eagerly await the sequel.

This was a very compelling read that kept me engaged with the characters and the mystery to the very end. The pacing was a bit on the slow side, but I so enjoyed the characters and the world that I ended up not minding the pacing issues as much as I thought I would.

Dinios Kol, or Din, is the sole narrator and a very likable character. His role as an engraver was fascinating, and made him the perfect counterpart to Ana Dolabra. Din doesn’t see himself as smart, due to his lack of reading and writing skills, but he really is quite insightful and sometimes is able to put things together before Ana does. I really liked his relationship with Ana. He really understood her and all of her quirks and helped her navigate society and the murders they were trying to solve. The tagline of it being a Sherlock and Watson type story was very true to form, but I would day that Din was much more astute and observant than Watson ever was. Din does go on a wonderful journey of growth and self discovery in this story and he is such a likable character that you find yourself rooting for him.

The world building was something else entirely. It was more of a science fiction type world than a fantasy one. The way the plants and animals were used to enhance the people of this world was fascinating. The enhancements people took on also had their dark sides and consequences which I am not sure was fully explained to anyone before they took on the changes. Din certainly was unaware of all of the psychological disadvantages of remembering everything would eventually cost him. The society built around this world was also very interesting and tied into the murders quite a bit.

The mystery was well done, with lots clues and twists that kept it all on track and interesting. The way the mystery was presented was also an opportunity for the author to tell us more about this world without a lot of info dumping. There were some tense scenes and some very well written action scenes that kept the narrative flowing. There was also some great dialogue between Din and Ana that showed the growth in their relationship throughout the book.  The murder mystery is all tied up by the end of this book, but we are left with enough unanswered questions about the world that will keep us entertained in the next book.  

This was an engaging mystery with some wonderful characters and a fascinating new world. If you enjoy books with a lot of world building, engaging characters and a well put together mystery, this is a book you might want to take a chance on.