Imaginative,
transporting, thrilling. Sherlock
in a kaiju world.
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️


I write haiku reviews but am happy to provide more feedback.

This review is a copy of the transcript of my video review on The Tainted Cup.

ARC provided by the publisher—Del Rey Books—in exchange for an honest review.

4.5/5 stars

The Tainted Cup is a compelling and rewarding murder mystery in a high fantasy setting redolent of Attack on Titan and The Last of Us.

Robert Jackson Bennett is one of my favorite authors. Every time Bennet releases a new book in a new series, I feel it is mandatory for me to mention that fact. As a fan of The Divine Cities trilogy and The Founders trilogy by him, I believe he is another SFF author deserving of so much more recognition. When I need engaging and inventive science fiction or fantasy books, I know it is safe to always rely on reading Bennett’s books. And he never fails to deliver. I am a reader who loves reading fantasy novels, Japanese manga, or Korean manhwa. I love storytelling, period. And there is satisfaction in reading stories that blend these sources into their creation, intentionally or not. Like how My Hero Academia manga by Kohei Horikoshi was born of the author's love for Western Superheroes and comics. And in the case of The Tainted Cup, the first book in The Shadow of the Leviathan series by Robert Jackson Bennett, it felt like a mix of Knives Out in a setting inspired by Attack on Titan and The Last of Us. So what is the premise of The Tainted Cup?

“Oh, you’ve always got to smile a little, Din… Even during, you know, the abysmally fucking awful times.”


The Tainted Cup revolves around an eccentric detective named Ana Dolabra—an investigator whose reputation for brilliance is matched only by her eccentricities—and her long-suffering assistant, Dinios Kol—an engraver magically altered to possess a perfect memory. In Daretana’s most opulent mansion, a high Imperial officer lies dead—killed, to all appearances, when a tree spontaneously erupted from his body. Even in this canton at the borders of the Empire, where contagions abound and the blood of the Leviathans works strange magical changes, it’s a death at once terrifying and impossible. Din’s job is to observe, report, and act as Ana’s eyes and ears—quite literally because among Ana’s quirks are her insistence on wearing a blindfold at all times and her refusal to step outside the walls of her home. Din’s skill for observation and perfect memory with Ana’s impeccable deductions and mind, the two of them must cooperate to untangle a web of magic, deceit, and murder that endangers the safety of the Empire.

“Oh, people love the Legion, with their swords and their walls and their bombards. But though they receive no worship, it’s the maintenance folk who keep the Empire going. Someone, after all, must do the undignified labor to keep the grand works of our era from tumbling down.”


The Tainted Cup rightfully belongs in the high fantasy genre due to its setting and world-building, no doubt about that. But if I were asked to recommend The Tainted Cup to readers, I would recommend it—more strongly—to readers who love reading murder mystery rather than fantasy novels due to the way Bennett structured the narrative. Of course, it would be even better if you are a fan of both genres, but fascination with murder mystery stories is more important here. I mentioned Attack on Titan (or Shingeki no Kyojin in Japanese) by Hajime Isayama earlier. The story in Attack on Titan begins with the Colossal Titan and the Armored Titan destroying the wall of Maria. Due to this unforeseen event, Eren, Mikasa, Armin, Levi, and many other characters in the series struggle to battle against the oppressive violence and horrors of the Titans. The Tainted Cup begins with something akin to that premise. Immediately after the murder mystery begins, a breach to the massive wall of their civilization is inflicted by a titan—called Leviathan in the novel. However, it is worth noting that The Tainted Cup is not an action-packed narrative centering on repelling the dangers the leviathan poses to the empire. The threats of the Leviathan loomed in the background, and I assume this will be explored further in the sequel. But at its core, The Tainted Cup is a murder mystery-centered narrative in a high fantasy setting, with a touch of The Last of Us owed to the Dappleglass contagion in the storyline.

“It’s not all walls and death and plotting! Nor is it dreary dispensations and bureaucracy! We do these ugly, dull things for a reason— to make a space where folk can live, celebrate, and know joy and love.


When we speak about detectives and their assistants in stories, it is difficult to avoid the names Sherlock Holmes and Dr Watson. This setup and duo are popular in murder mystery stories for many valid reasons. After more readers read The Tainted Cup, the duo of Din and Ana will remind readers of Holmes and Watson. Or, to make a comparison to a recently published fantasy series, the names Justice Konrad Vonvalt and Helena Sedanka from Empire of the Wolf trilogy by Richard Swan will be mentioned frequently. And none of these would be a mistake. Compared to The Divine Cities trilogy and The Founders trilogy, Bennett’s narrative in The Tainted Cup is more plot-driven rather than character-driven. Understandably. In The Tainted Cup, the story is narrated from the perspective of Din instead of Ana. Throughout the novel, we have not seen a lot of exploration into Din's character and background. With the exception of Din’s ability to retain memory and information as an Engraver, making him a living library of information, Ana is, in comparison, a more interesting character. Bennett himself has mentioned Ana is a mix of Nero Wolfe and Hannibal Lecter. But Din and Ana complement each other. Every investigation, clue, and report Din discovered for Ana, and every scene they were together, resulted in a relentlessly captivating reading experience.

“I have never liked the company of too many people, Din. I have always preferred patterns and the consumption of information to socializing. I have preferred and will always prefer staying in my residence and will avoid stimulation at all costs. This is simply who I am.”


If you have read City of Stairs by Robert Jackson Bennett, then you will know The Tainted Cup is not Bennett’s first dive into writing murder mystery stories. And still, I was impressed by how everything clicked together in the last 13% of the The Tainted Cup. The barrage of revelations was absolutely thrilling. It made me feel as if I was watching Sherlock Holmes or Knives Out in a fantasy setting. Even if you manage to predict the perpetrator, one of the best things about a murder mystery story is finding out how every puzzle fits the bigger picture nicely. It is in the details. A good revelation or plot twist is not only about shock value. It also means when you reread a story or think back upon it, you can see the puzzles and hints laid out for you, whether you realize their existence or not on your first traversal. As Bennet said, a murder mystery story is largely a process of logistics and ensuring the timelines work and the right evidence fits in the right place at the right time. And all of these have been accomplished brilliantly in The Tainted Cup.

“It’s the maintenance folk who keep the Empire going. Someone, after all, must do the undignified labor to keep the grand works of our era from tumbling down. I simply perform maintenance, in my own little way. And you have ably assisted me in that, of course.”


I was on a streak of books ranging from disappointing to good quality. The Tainted Cup stopped the streak. The world-building is fascinating. The storyline is entertaining. And there are still tons of mysteries about the Leviathans and the two main characters to be given in the next books. The Tainted Cup is the beginning of an incredible murder mystery series in the high fantasy genre. The duo of Ana and Din will mark their spot in the detective's hall of remembrance. I can certainly envisage The Shadow of the Leviathan series spanning many volumes, and I will be grateful. Bennett mentioned he had fun writing the novel and is looking forward to reading more murder mystery novels in the series. It is reflected in the narrative. I always find it odd that despite having murder mystery as one of my favorite types of stories to consume, as proven in many fantasy and sci-fi books with this plot included, I almost never read non-SFF murder mystery novels. And somehow, even though it is marked as a fantasy novel, I believe The Tainted Cup has ignited my passion to read more non-SFF murder mystery books. It has been a pleasure and an honor to read this book early, and I already can't wait to read the next book in the series as soon as it's available. If you love the sound of reading a murder mystery novel with a compelling duo in an intriguing fantasy setting redolent of Attack on Titan, read The Tainted Cup by Robert Jackson Bennett.

You can pre-order this book from: Amazon | Blackwells (Free International shipping)

The quotes in this review were taken from an ARC and are subject to change upon publication.

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⭐️: 5 / 5

Publication Date: February 6, 2024

I want to thank Ballantine, Del Rey and Net Galley for allowing me to get an eARC of this book in exchange for an honest review!

Some of the coolest aspects of this story, were our narrator, Dinios Kol and his somewhat eccentric boss Ana Dolabra. Both show neurodivergent behavior which I found a joy to read. The banter reminded me of the BBC portrayal of Holmes and Watson. The pacing was beautiful and kept me engaged as the plot developed and more drama came to light, I was audibly gasping at some parts. And probably one of my favorite parts was that the reveals at the end were satisfying and made sense! I never felt that it was out of nowhere and while I had some close guesses I was still pleasantly surprised.

As for my reservations, I wish that one subplot had been more thoroughly developed to make it feel less abrupt towards the end of the story. Aside from that thoroughly enjoyed everything else about this book.

Overall I loved this book so much! When I finished I was itching to start it over again. This is the first in a series and I cannot wait to read the next installment. I look forward to reading more from this author and I would absolutely recommend this book!

Would recommend for those who are fans of
- Murder mysteries
- Neurodivergent characters
- Fantasy-ish

⚠️ violence, body horror

I was surprised by how much I enjoyed this book. It was fun, engaging, and left me wanting more. The worldbuilding was fantastic, it was robust and logical, and revealed in parts throughout that made it easy to digest while still informing the readers of the setting. Set in a fantasy Empire that is never named, main character Din is an engraver, someone who has genetically modded themselves to have perfect recall. He works as an assistant to local inspector Ana, a notorious shut-in who struggles with normal social situations. The set up is a typical Holmes and Watson relationship, but the author takes a unique spin on it, particularly with Ana's personality and Din's own abilities. They're investigating a gruesome murder that leads to a bigger conspiracy. I loved Din as a main character, his process is fascinating, given his enhancements that allow him to have a perfect memory, and his personality works really well and helps carry the story. His dry seriousness works perfectly with Ana's phrenic personality, and the two are a much more interesting match than the typical Holmesian setup. Ana's leap in logic are always explained well and properly foreshadowed, even when Din doesn't always realize it in his own narrative. I loved everything about this book and desperately want more from this series.

In Daretana’s most opulent mansion, a high Imperial officer lies dead—killed, to all appearances, when a tree spontaneously erupted from his body. Even in this canton at the borders of the Empire, where contagions abound and the blood of the Leviathans works strange magical changes, it’s a death at once terrifying and impossible.

As someone who isn't too well-versed in fantasy (and is honestly intimidated by it) this book was perfect. It is immersive but accessible and never left me wondering what was going on. The magic system plays a key role in the book, but doesn't lose the reader. Very entertaining and enjoyable read. When is book 2 going to be ready?????

In a world where leviathans rise from the ocean, march across land, and threaten civilization, Din and his boss, Detective Ana Dolabra, must find a devious killer whose murders are putting the world even more at risk.

Robert Jackson Bennett’s “The Tainted Cup” is a masterpiece of world-building. Told in the classic mystery style of the first-person narrative from the perspective of the detective’s assistant, this book has the tropes of Doyle and Christie that you want, but in a fantasy setting rich in complicated detail. I enjoyed how different everyone was, the science/magic of the grafts people receive to enhance their skills, and the looming threat that a giant beast from the sea could destroy the town at any moment.

I loved this book. I savored it. I’d wake up in the middle of the night and read, not so that I could fall back to sleep, but to see what would happen next. Looking back over my reviews of 2023, I’d have to say this is easily in my top three. I recommend “The Tainted Cup” to fans of both fantasy and mystery. I received the title from NetGalley.

I haven’t read any science fiction or fantasy in ages (years) and this came as a very pleasant surprise. A little confusing at first, but I quickly got involved in the story and am already looking forward to more. Intricate, interesting, different. A well-written narrative in a well-crafted and conceived new world. The story introduced several truly unique characters, and a plot that expands as it develops - the central mystery is resolved to satisfaction, but still hints at more to come. I look forward to reading more about these characters and this world. Recommend.

This was a nice fantasy novel that was built as a mystery. The main characters were out to solve a murder that turned out to be several murders--while also worrying about a leviathan breaching the walls of the city. There were many colorful characters and side stories. Very easy to read and the book was set up to be part of a duology or trilogy.

Dinios Kol's previous assignments helping imperial investigator Ana Dolabra solve payroll discrepancies did not prepare him their latest case: an unpleasant officer being dismembered by a spontaneous tree inside the swankiest mansion in the province. Ana's terrifying brain (she wears a blindfold to cut down on data input) coupled with Din's biologically enhanced memory make them a formidable duo, but the deeper they dig the more bewildering crimes they uncover. And it's the rainy season, so everyone is distracted by the imminent leviathan attack. A corker of a mystery set in a deliciously disturbing high fantasy world.

Imagine this: a fantasy novel with extensive world-building and a dynamic duo reminiscent of Sherlock and Watson. The case? Murder by plant. And oh, yeah. The Sherlock analog doesn’t go to the crime scenes. Instead, Watson must go and memorize everything, and then describe it to her. And Watson has a secret learning disability. Add in political corruption, rich people behaving badly in almost an organized crime type of way, and you have yourself a rollicking good time. And that’s what I had, reading this delight. Can’t wait to see what is next for Ana and Din!

I tried so hard to get into this. I wanted to love it as much as others had! I have started and restarted this a few times to see if it was just my mood, or the book. I have come to the conclusion that it is a bit of both. I love the premise of Bennett novels, but I am.honestly not patient enough to sink into the intense world building.
Thank you to the author, the publisher and NetGalley for the ARC. 3 stars , right down the middle for fairness.

I’d call The Tainted Cup a mystery novel with fantasy elements. I was pre-approved by Del Rey to read The Tainted Cup through NetGalley.

I do enjoy mystery novels even though they aren’t my go to (that would be Fantasy). Going I wasn’t sure if this would be for me but the way Ana and Din work together paired with how the mystery unfolds is really good. Ana has crazy good instincts but comes off as borderline crazy. She is by far my favorite character. Din is more reserved but has a few one liners that are perfectly timed.

This is a unique world which it’s normal to be magically altered. Din is able to use scents to remember everything he sees and hears with 100% accuracy. He is sent to gather as much information he can to report back to Ana who is able to put the pieces together. Her mind works in an uncanny way.

The Tainted Cup is not a book I was able to binge but still was able to enjoy. I was not able to predict anything which is unusual but I think it’s because the writing is well done that it’s hard to predict what will happen. Definitely recommend this one!!

The Tainted Cup is one part Pacific Rim combined with two parts murder mystery. Thank you to NetGalley and Random House for the opportunity to read and review this book in exchange for my honest review.
While I found the plot, character and setting in this book enjoyable something about this book did not work for me in general. It may have been the slow pacing or the fact that there seemed to be way too many characters to keep track of (at least 10 minor character deaths being investigated) but through the entire course of reading this book there was no point where I was ever excited to read it. There was no I hit a good point I have to keep going in this book. It didn’t feel like something I wanted to read so much as an obligation to keep going, which is a shame because I did enjoy the main characters. I am giving this book 3 stars and appreciate the opportunity to read it but was ultimately disappointed

The Tainted Cup is a interesting detective novel set in a fresh fantasy world. Robert Jackson Bennett has done a wonderful job of creating a unique setting to the story. It is a world where people can be altered magically to have special talents. But at the heart is the mystery, and Ana is a quirky investigator that has been given the assignment. Her assistant, Din has been altered to have a perfect memory. As Ana uses Din as her eyes and ears of the investigation, her skills as a master become clear. This investigation is complex and there as a lot of characters and events to be unraveled.

The deeper into the book I got, the more enamored I became with the story. The pacing and the layout are flawless. I am really looking forward to the next book in this series so I can spend more time with Din and Ana.

THE TAINTED CUP by Robert Jackson Bennett is a fantastically tense, deeply, unsettlingly weird, fantasy murder mystery. As is his wont, he interrogates systems, social, economic, and in this case, ecological, in ways that betray just how interested he is in those subject in the real world. This is not a bog-standard real world analogue fantasy realm, this is something far more wild and far more interesting, and by building the world that he has built (and the characters he populated it with), he is able to examine a series of complicated themes that resonate in the world beyond the page.

The world is one of empire, but empire under constant threat. Not threat by invasion by foreigners, or orcs, but by being overrun by massive eldritch kaiju—leviathans. Only the seawalls, and the complicated bureaucracy of the empire hold the leviathans at bay, and only the vagaries of that bureaucracy keep the empire itself running. The empire is one of bizarre biological adaptations, mutations, and what I will refer to as plant-based-nonsense. Mad scientists modify people using strange mutagenic potions to grant enhanced strength, speed, memory, and far far more.

Our protagonist is one of those modified humans, a man with a perfect memory who is employed as the right hand man—and literal eyes—of a Holmesian style mad genius investigator (though, to hear the author tell it the relationship is less Watson and Holmes, and more Starling and Lector). While his principal remains blindfolded and unwilling to leave her house, he embarks on an investigation into a series of murders that threaten to bring the seawalls down and topple the empire itself.

Along the way though, we walk through the halls of power and are confronted with an all too familiar, and all too discomforting, tension between short and long term incentives. Power, after all, is comfortable with power, and power tends to do what it can to both accrete and protect itself… even at the expense of itself in the long term. In these moments the window into the world of THE TAINTED CUP becomes a lens on our own world, an incisive critique of the halls of power and the rationalizations that those inside the halls of power use to justify their position (and what it costs to maintain that position).

It’s an exception first volume in a new series of mysteries, and I can’t wait to see where we are taken next.

A slightly steam punky murder mystery set in an almost Japanese type Asian world. It reminded
me of a series that made you strive to figure out & structure the world as you went along. It is a world where plants figure heavily in the construction of everything but also can be quite deadly.
People in positions of power & authority serve under an empire class like hierarchy. Very structured with ruling classes & elite. Professional positions would be enhanced by plant infusions & grafts for particular abilities that would take decades not just years off their lives but give them more status & finances. I have read other series of the author & enjoyed them completely, this was slow to get into but once there excellent.

I loved this book! I'm a sucker for a good detective story and this book delivered on that and then some! Din and Ana at times remind me of Watson and Holmes with certain behaviors. The book also felt reminiscent of the Justice of Kings series, if you like that series give this a try. The addition of the magical aspects and the fantasy world made the plot all the better. I enjoyed how the author took the time to build the world and explain the magic system as it's complex. It made it easier for me to follow the story and to be sucked in. The characters are clearly the best part of the book and I was happy to see that the side characters were well developed and set up early on to help with the unfolding of the plot. There were several twists and turns I did not see coming that had me on the edge of my seat! If you like political intrigue, murder plots, and detective books you'll definitely like this book!

This story is told in first person by Din. He is a twenty-year-old apprentice to the new Iudex Investigator of the Daretana Canton with plenty to hide and many skills he’s not even aware of yet. He sends his meager earnings to his family who live in the Outer Rim in the hope of moving them further inland away from the coasts where great sea monsters known as leviathans attempt to breach the walls and wreak havoc, death and destruction.

I loved this fantasy world and can’t wait to read more books in this series. The people often alter their bodies and minds to enhance skills to find better positions to ensure their survival or that of their families. While Din has held the position of apprentice for four months, this is his first murder investigation. Din was often wide-eyed at the crazy things going around him from the strange circumstances of the murder to all the political machinations of the empire. His boss, Ana Dolabra, is an eccentric investigator with an uncanny ability to connect the dots and whip out an answer from practically thin air and reminded me a bit of Vera Stanhope with her astute conclusions.

Recommended to lovers of investigative murder mysteries

Thank you to NetGalley and Del Rey Books for a copy provided for an honest review.

The best I can say about this book is that some other readers really enjoyed it. I fell into the group that did not. It was a slog of a read with uninteresting characters, an underdeveloped world and a less than interesting plot line. It borders on 0 of 5 stars, but that is not an option.

I don't typically read fantasy, but I saw someone say this book would be good for those who wanted to give the genre a try. Therefore I'm not used to so much world-building, and I grew bored while everything else—character and plot development—took a backseat. Especially with the protagonist: if the story must move so slow while readers learn more about the Empire, then I need something a lot more compelling from Din and his boss Ana to keep me hooked in the story. For these reasons, I didn't finish the book.