This is a very fun murder mystery set in a fantasy world of an empire periodically besieged by leviathans from the sea. It is the first book in a new series.

The world building felt very detailed and fleshed-out and it very much left me wanting to learn more about the empire and the mysterious leviathans.

However, the real focus of the plot is the murder mystery. I read a ton of mysteries and a ton of fantasy novels. I’ve read some that try to mix multiple genres together and it usually feels like both genres are underdeveloped as a result. But that is not the case here. I was very engrossed in the mystery and I think that it actually earns it ending. That is to say that I think that the clues are planted and built up sufficiently (without being too obvious) that the ending feels satisfactory and not like a hand-wave or a forced twist just for the sake of surprise.

I really loved the characters! I loved how dutiful and stoic Din, our protagonist, is. He’s the assistant investigator to our eccentric-but-brilliant detective, Ana. Ana, who is also a great character, is easily overstimulated so Din essentially acts as her eyes, ears, and official record thanks to his specially-altered perfect memory. I enjoyed the supporting characters as well and they felt developed well enough so that they didn’t come across as stereotypes or cardboard cutouts.

Overall, I really loved this novel and I highly recommend it to anyone who enjoys mysteries and/or fantasy novels. I am greatly looking forward to the next novel in the series!

My thanks to NetGalley for making an eARC of this book available to me.

Wow. Fantastic world-building, interesting (and flawed) characters, intriguing mystery and more. Leviathans, literally as large as a small city, threaten the coastline; potentially contagious plant-based plagues; Modified plants and herbs are used to augment human physiology.

While I've seen several reviews reference a similarity to the Holmes/Watson novels, to me the relationship between the two main protagonists is much closer to Rex Stout's Wolfe/Goodwin books. It was interesting to see that the author credits Stout's works in his afterword to this book.

Happily, this appears to be the first book in a series, so we can expect more adventures with our intrepid detectives. I can't wait to see where they go next.

What an enchanting fantasy with a mix of murder mystery.

Having only read The Foundryside by the same author, I was quite amazed how he was able to pull off a crime/murder mystery genre, which I have not read in a while.

It is very rare for authors to switched genres and able to pull it off. And I have to be honest, when authors changed their genre and write something new, it leaves me quite often in disappointment. But RJB did a remarkable job writing fantasy/crime/murder mystery.

Set in a dystopian world, where Leviathans blood and contagions abound in the Empire's borders, a high Imperial officer was found murdered in one of the prestigious family mansion. Dinios Kol, a detective in training was set to work with eccentric but brilliant investigator, Ana Dolabra. Kol, an engraver, who can recite every detail of the surrounding with the help of magically infused vials, was Ana's eyes and ears of the investigations. One after another murder cases were enfold that surrounded this mysterious case, including a handful of Engineers and a Haza patriarch family.

This book will keep you guessing until the very end and I was very satisfied with the ending of book 1. But the friendly banter with Ana and Kol makes me want to read book 2 already.

Highly recommendable who loves murder/fantasy/crime genres.

A huge thanks to Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine/Del Rey for providing me an early copy in exchange for honest opinion.

Sherlock Holmes meets Hercule Poirot in a fantastical, original dystopia. I love when the setting of a book feels like a character itself. I was itching to finish up work or even plans with friends to come back to the story and read. The way the plot unravels by answering some questions while having the reader also ask more kept me on my toes the entire book. I NEED the rest of the series to be published, I can’t wait to return to Ana and Din and see what horrors they come upon next. The world they live in is so strange, with plants and contagion making or breaking society. Let alone the leviathans! I can’t wait to see what’s in store for book 2.

Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for giving me an advanced e-copy of this book! This review was voluntary, and all opinions are my own.

I had such a FUN time reading this book. It's like nothing else I've read before, and I'm really really hoping that we'll get some sequels. True to the story's premise, it really does feel like a classic mystery novel, just set in an entirely fantastical world. The combination was done particularly well, and it makes the book entirely unique.

I adored the main characters - both Din and Ana were fun to read about. They each had both a large amount of power and also interesting flaws, and their interactions were humorous and perfect.

The world-building was great. I enjoyed how the "magic system" was less about magic and more about a world in which science just works differently. It was obviously a well-thought-out world, and I didn't find the learning curve to be particularly difficult.

Finally, the plot. Since this was a mystery, I feel it's worth discussing. I was pleasantly surprised by how much this read like a Sherlock Holmes story. I felt there were just enough clues given so that when a reveal came, it both made sense and was surprising. (There's nothing I love more than when I read a reveal and think, I should have put that together!) It was particularly great that we got to read from Din's POV, who is the "Watson" in this story.

My only real criticism is that I felt the romantic subplot either needed to be more substantial or left out. As it stands, it feels relatively unnecessary and I really don't think the story needed it.

Overall, this was a great read and I would highly recommend it!

The first book in Bennett's new fantasy series is clearly the work of the same author who penned The Divine Cities, but is going about things in a totally different way. Where CITY OF STAIRS was an exploration of colonization on an epic fantasy tapestry with a murder mystery woven into the heart of things, THE TAINTED CUP centers the mystery and follows in the footsteps of authors from a non-fantasy tradition—people like Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and Rex Stout.

Following along with Din as he finds himself embroiled in a conspiracy far beyond what he ever could have imagined, we're introduced to a cast of characters almost as fascinating as the setting of the empire, besieged annually by incomprehensibly huge leviathans from the eastern seas.

With the shadow of this threat looming over all, Din assists the enigmatic, reclusive, and genius investigator Ana Dolabra. Here I was reminded greatly of Glen Cook's fantasy detective novels about Garrett and his housemate, the Dead Man. This of course makes sense, as the Dead Man was in turn inspired by Nero Wolfe, Stout's classic detective. Either way, this is a dynamic that simply *works*, and the final product is a lot of fun.

While THE TAINTED CUP feels breezier as a result than did books like CITY OF BLADES or FOUNDRYSIDE, Bennett still manages to build in some real weight by the end—and has me eager to see what more is to come for the Khanum Empire and the leviathans waiting beneath the waves.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️Very much 5 Stars ⭐️!!!! I knew after finishing the first chapter that this would be a book I’d remember for a LONG time. This book has EEEEVVERRYYTHING. Everything I could ever want in a book. Atmosphere, dystopia, ancient creatures, science, wonderfully in-depth characters (Ana is absolutely GOLD), mystery, phenomenal writing, intelligent women…I mean the list goes on. I highlighted SO many hysterical quotes and snort-laughing situations, for Titans Ta*nt! I got so immersed into this book that I had dreams about leviathans for a week straight 🐉! I will read every single thing this author has come out with and will ever come out with. In summary….read this book, immediately.

✨ And of course…(Thank you NetGalley and Kathleen Quinlan for the opportunity to absolutely get blissfully lost in this book!)

I occasionally read a fantasy. The Tainted Cup was very enjoyable. Some of the character names are long and they get addressed by different parts of their names which got confusing. People have different enhancements that make them have different strengths for their duties. Anna Dolabra is an eccentric investigator. Her assistant is Dinios Koi, who has a perfect memory and muscle memory. They are attempting to solve a mystery involving deaths and scandal.

All the elements that you would choose to be good in a book are here. Bennett’s writing reflects skill with words, as he uses them both effectively to tell the story and provide vivid imagery. The characters are well defined, evolving consistently as the story develops. There are no breaks in continuity, and the plot device of the world created for the tainted cup is unique— a fresh perspective. Consequently, I wanted this book to be a 4.5 or a 5. But even with all the individual working elements, it was not a page-turner. I had no trouble putting it down—and that’s the difference between a good book and a great one.

Ana is an investigator, both brilliant and eccentric, who has been assigned to the small town of Daretana to open a newly created office. She avoids stimulation, wearing a blindfold and in four months she hasn’t left her cottage. She depends on her assistant to be her eyes and ears.

Ana selects Din as her assistant, an engraver who has been magically modified to have perfect recall. He seems an odd choice for Ana, having just barely passed the requirements for the position and is still an apprentice. A problem that soon became noticeable was Din’s difficulty reading, needing to sound out the words, he can only remember the spoken words. The story is told in Din’s first person POV.

Although the story started out slowly, soon things started to heat up and it was hard to put the book down. There is a lot to learn about this world and it just kept getting better, richer. It kept me on the edge, questioning who is killing people, and how many modifications could be created in this world.

The book opened with a map of Khanum and a ranking of the military ranks. This helped me later in the book, especially the map.

Thank you Netgalley and the publisher for the advance review copy. This is my honest review.

I liked this one but didn’t love it as much as I thought I would. Definitely interesting but I wish there had been more plot development and less character development.

Sherlock Holmes and Watson if Holmes is a recluse living in a world of magic, contagion, and a corrupt plutocracy and Holmes is her beleaguered assistant with an enhancement that gives him perfect recall but is terribly embarrassed by his dyslexia

I don’t usually enjoy murder mysteries, but I loved the world building, the dynamic between the characters, the political intrigue, and how some things were cleverly foreshadowed while others were total surprises.

Thank you to Netgalley and Del Rey!

I loved the world-building, really liked the characters, but by the end the central murder mystery was only so-so for me. I'll definitely read any sequel, because I want to know more about this world that RJB has created.

*4.5 stars

Christmas comes early with this new RJB book - an Agatha Christie-esque murder mystery that starts with one murder and ends with -redacted- more.

True to form, Bennett crafts an interesting and weird world in which plants have been bio-engineered into everything from mansions to neuro-enhancers. This dark, tropical world was built by and exists under the purview of the Empire of Khanum, an advanced medieval civilization that must annually go up against a mysterious and ever growing threat. Within this backdrop, we meet our protagonist the Assistant Inspector Kol.

Kol is an extremely likable protagonist - sincere, long-suffering, with a strong belief in the rules. On the other hand, Dolabara - the Imperial investigator and Kol's eccentric boss - does not have much patience for rules or propriety. It's a classic trope for a reason, and Bennett has fun with it, giving Dolabara some truly hilarious quirks and one liners. I was also really struck by the fact that this was possibly the only SFF book that I've read with a dyslexic protagonist. It added some additional challenges to the fact finding section of the plot, and gave Kol's character a new dimension of depth.

There were certain portions that moved a little too fast for me - I wish we'd have seen Dolabara do more, and seen a more gradual unfolding of Kol's character. The end felt just slightly rushed for this reason - or perhaps because both the murder mystery and the world-building were unfolding at the same time. Overall though, I read this book in half a day, so perhaps I moved a little too fast for myself (it's very easy to read this book fast, but I encourage others to not make the mistake I did, and savour it a bit more).

I hope that Shadow of the Leviathan is an ongoing series rather than a trilogy because, yes, I'd love an opportunity to dig more into the fleshy underbelly of the Khanum Empire, but I'd also just love to see more weird gruesome deaths and have a little game of psychological unmasking.

Thank you, thank you to Random House and Net Galley for the ARC

A murder mystery set in high fantasy. There were many elements that I enjoyed in this novel. The main character, Din was extremely resourceful considering that he had some limitations. I also loved his investigator. She was a unique person. I did however get lost in parts. I did find some of the names, places, and occupations a little confusing. There were a lot of different people to follow. I think this was more of my fault though and there were times that I was just not as focused. The murder in the novel was very unusual and I liked finding all the different connections made along the way. Overall, not a bad mystery but there is a lot to keep track of in the novel.

Thank you to Random House for this advanced copy.

I read the NetGalley ARC of this novel. This my honest review.

Thank you, NG and publisher, for letting me read this early!

I expect good work from Bennett, but he hit this one into orbit. Unique worldbuilding, very twisty plot full of murders and other nasty business, all during an oncoming terrifying annual national threat. Great characters, but with a single point of view which is my favorite narrative choice to read. Creepy, creepy world. I'm very curious where this series will go!

It comes out Feb 6, 2024. Highly recommended!

Big thank you NetGalley and to the publisher for the chance to review this book pre-release. I didn't know what to expect going into this, but I really loved this adventure! The scifi/fantasy woven into the murder mystery made me feel like I wasn't reading, I was LIVING with these characters. It's such an odd concept for a story to be balanced on, but it really works, and works WELL. I finished this in two days, and will certainly be picking up more of Mr. Bennett's works. A more formal review will be available on my IG/TikTok and Goodreads.

I received this book through NetGalley and Del Rey publishing. It does not influence my review.
I’m a big Agatha Christie fan and I’m always on the hunt for a crime novel that’s not utterly predictable. THIS is it.
I stayed up all night reading this book because I just had to one how it ends. HAD To.
I did not see the twists and turns coming a mile away ,as I do in other crime novels, so the plot twists were actually a surprise.
And on top of all of that it has magic!!! What more could you want!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for this free arc. All opinions are my own.

This book was so good! It was captivating and magical. I truly couldn’t put it down.

The Tainted Cup is one of my new favorite books. It’s imaginative with amazing world building and an incredibly unique magic system. The book reads like a murder mystery but the twists are so unexpected! The characters are lovable and diverse. I seriously couldn’t put this book down. I read it in less than 24 hours.
There was disability representation, LGBTQIA+ representation, commentary on wealth and political status, corruption and all sorts of interesting topics. I sincerely hope that there is another book coming. I feel like there is more to be said about the Leviathians…. I’m thinking they might not be all that evil in itself.