This was my most anticipated sequel from the last couple of years. “A Drop of Corruption” did not let up from the intrigue and world building that made “The Tainted Cup” such an amazing read. The alien-ness of the world and science practiced there do not make the characters any less human or relatable. Din and Ana are here to investigate another unsolvable murder in a new setting with new colleagues. Din is still a fantastic character who manages to bring levity to some very dark and downright sinister moments. Fans of Ana will be even more enthralled with and repulsed by her in this latest entry. I cannot wait to see where the “Shadow of the Leviathan” takes us next. Thank you Netgalley and the publisher for an Arc and an honest review.

4.5 stars for A Drop of Corruption. I truly enjoyed this one just as much as the first in the series. My favorite duo is back to solve some of the weirdest crime yet. Din and Ana might be the most likable characters I’ve ever encountered - quirks and all! The heavy lifting of world building in the first book sets up the second book nicely so that you get to jump right into the action. We also get more backstory on both Din and Ana which left me so intrigued (please, I need book 3). New characters were beautifully introduced and fit well into the story (looking at you Malo!). Overall, loved this one and would recommend this series to anyone who will listen to me yap about books.

Thank you NetGalley and the Del Rey Team for this ARC

I was lucky enough to receive a review copy of this book.

It’s a more than worthy successor to The Tainted Cup—itself one of the best releases of 2024. Bennett does a fantastic—in multiple senses—job of engaging with his themes while spinning yet another thrilling mystery story.

And thrilling it is, probably even moreso than the first. This book drips with horror, with tension, with unease and creeping sense of the Uncanny Valley.

While I had some reservations during the opening chapters, including one conflict that I felt had already been satisfied in The Tainted Cup, this book ultimately added excellent depth and ended on a deeply profound note.

I expect A Drop of Corruption will end up on just as many Best Of lists in 2025 as The Tainted Cup in 2024.

Think of a world, where people have enhanced abilities depending on what the Empire needs, there are leviathans, there is secrecy, special divisions of the Empire and people yearning to grasp power. So, when a Treasury Officer is killed in a locked room but no body is found, there is only two people to handle this mystery, Ana Dolabra, with her brilliant mind and her assistant, Dinios Kol, an engraver. This team is able to decipher clues, see through the lies but this case will cause them both to work harder than ever to outwit a brilliant killer.

This is the second in a series by Robert Jackson Bennett. I reviewed the first book, The Tainted Cup and while I am not a normal reader of fantasy genre, the mystery of this second book had me hooked. The characters of Ana and Din and their relationship is wonderful. I enjoy the way the author portrays this relationship. The locked door mystery had all the elements defined – how did the killer get the body out of a locked room, why did the killer kill this person, what will happen next, will someone else die? The fantasy elements are just as engaging as the mystery. Titan blood, people with specialized enhanced abilities, an empire that has issues like any modern-day country. I very much enjoyed reading this and so will you!

This book felt more like an installment in a mystery series rather than a sequel, but it was still a fun read. Great world-building, a bit of character development, and a well paced mystery to solve.

Readers won’t have to read the first book to enjoy this one, but that would be a mistake as the first is still my favorite.

Thanks to Random House for providing an ARC through Net Galley. All opinions are my own.

I loved the tainted cup so I was very excited for this ARC! I have always loved RJB’s world building, character development, and writing style. Sometimes I get nervous with the second book in a trilogy (or a series) not living up to the hype of the first book. But this one really delivered! I loved it and I can’t wait for book 3!

The main reason that I rated book one of this series 4.5/5 stars was because I was so confused for a good part of the novel. It's an entirely new world with many fantasy concepts and I struggled to get them to make sense in my mind. For whatever reason, I didn't have that problem with this book - maybe the residual knowledge was in the back of my brain, despite having read the first one about a year ago. I felt fully present within the narrative and had considerably fewer questions about the world-building, which added to my reading experience.

Din and Ana remain amazing characters, and I enjoyed the addition of Malo in this book. I love their dynamics and Ana's "aha!" moment monologues are some of the most enjoyable parts of the series.

I wish we would have gotten more emotional, "quieter" moments, as this was a very fast-paced novel, but I did enjoy the quickness of the investigation and the constant twists and turns. It was very engaging and I was eager to find out what happened next.

My main concern (and I don't even know if you can call this a concern, per se) is that this book doesn't have an overarching plot that connects it to the first book. It's another investigation featuring Din and Ana; from what I remember, there were very few callbacks to book one. Will there be an overarching narrative for all of the books in the series that connects them in some way? I did expect the big bad in this book to be somehow related to book one, then in book three, they could work to fix a Big Problem or something, but that wasn't the case. It's like in some television series where the episdes all have seperate plots but have the same characters -- that's what this book felt like. Not a bad thing, but I'm eager to see the direction that the next book is taken in.

I'm so happy that I got to read this book!

Loved The Tainted Cup when I read it earlier this year, and this follow up is just as high-quality and gripping. I loved returning to Kol's world and getting more information on how the Empire interacts with other countries and governments. This installment also fleshed out the characters in new ways, which was fun to see. The post-script by the author made me like the book and his subject choices even more. Can't recommend enough!

Blurb Review: A step up from the first, A Drop Of Corruption deepens the world and characters established in The Tainted Cup and delivers a largely satisfying mystery.

Worldbuilding: 10/10
This world is fascinating and compelling and creepy and odd and wondrous and the best parts of the novel are those spent immersed in the world Bennett has built.

Characters: 7.5/10
The dynamic between Ana and Dinios is the heartbeat of this novel and works so well. Malo is a strong addition. The supporting cast are mostly very good with a couple standouts.
One mark that drops my score here slightly is the handling of one character's conclusion - trying to speak in the vaguest terms, there is a character arrested at the end in a way that feels disingenuous - I believe it's supposed to come across as their comeuppance for their deeds but does not strike me that way at all.

Plot: 8/10
The mystery moves very well with many twists and turns. There were a couple pacing issues for me - for example, the inevitable wrap-up where everything is explained felt like it was possibly located in the wrong place, but that could just be me.
Also impacting the ending of the novel for me was the fact that I predicted the solution - which is a rarity for me in mystery novels! My wild theories generally are far from accurate, but here I got it right and found that because guess was correct, the explanations at the end felt redundant to me since I had figured them out. It undercut the drama and left me feeling a little underwhelmed with the ending, but I expect this wouldn't be the case for readers who make a different guess at the solution than I did!

Overall Investment/Emotional Impact: 7.5/10
I was very invested in the world and mystery. Not much emotional impact, but I certainly enjoyed the book.

Writing/Prose: 7.5/10
Solid for the most part! At times things got a bit explainy, or certain pieces of info were repeated when I felt they didn't need to be. But scenes were described very well, especially the crime scenes and biological happenings.

Rating: 4 stars

Content Warning: A decent amount of swearing, a hint of horror, and an early sensual scene with some descriptive language, followed by mentions of a couple other intimate encounters (the main character is male and is intimate with both a man and a woman at separate times).

Thank you Random House Publishing Group for providing this book for review consideration via NetGalley. All opinions are my own.

I’m thrilled to have received an early copy of A Drop of Corruption! This sequel is more episodic, more intuitive than its predecessor, mixing genres of mystery and fantasy that I didn’t even know were possible. If anyone is looking for a good read, here it is.

A Drop of Corruption is the sequel to The Tainted Cup. It is another fascinating murder mystery set in the same fantasy world.

An and Din are Sherlock-Watson like investigators in imperial service who must solve multiple murders in a province that is scheduled to be incorporated by the empire. Can the unmask the killer before the death toll rises?

I'm addicted to this fantasy thriller series, and I can honestly read dozens of sequel books as long as Robert Jackson Bennett keeps writing them. Thankfully, one of the quirkiest and most unusual investigation duos with unique searching skills and powers is back: Ladies and gentlemen, let's give a huge round of applause to Anna Dolabra and Dinios Koll, who are back to work on the strangest case about a victim in a locked room, possibly killed by a ghost-like perpetrator who passes through warded doors of a high tower, leaving no trace, no murder weapon behind, and seemingly serving the empire's political chess game in choosing a Treasury Officer.

Robert Jackson Bennett does it again with A Drop of Corruption, the kind of fantasy-mystery that grips you from the first page and refuses to let go. Ana Dolabra, the Empire’s most unconventional investigator, and her loyal but increasingly overwhelmed assistant, Din Kol, are called upon to untangle a case that defies all logic: a Treasury officer vanishes from a secured room with no exit and no sign of foul play—at least at first glance.

What starts as a puzzling disappearance soon spirals into something far darker, with Ana and Din chasing a perpetrator who seems to walk through solid barriers and anticipate their every move. Bennett seamlessly combines an impossible mystery with the broader machinations of a crumbling Empire, whose very survival hinges on the mysterious power drawn from the remains of titanic creatures. As the investigation takes them deeper into this dangerous world, the duo’s bond is tested by political scheming, escalating chaos, and an enemy who may finally be smarter than even Ana herself.

Ana is a marvel of a character—chaotic, whip-smart, and never predictable. Her wild intelligence is offset beautifully by Din’s humanity and quiet tenacity. While Ana’s brilliance keeps the case moving, Din’s quieter moments of vulnerability, humor, and doubt give the story its emotional center. Their dynamic is sharp, entertaining, and never feels stale—equal parts bickering and unspoken trust.

Bennett’s world-building is extraordinary, with a setting so vivid it feels alive. The decaying grandeur of the Empire, the eerie presence of leviathan remains, and the layered political tensions all create an atmosphere that’s rich and textured without being overwhelming. Each piece of the puzzle is laid with precision, leading to a finale that feels both surprising and inevitable—one of those endings that makes you want to reread just to see how cleverly the clues were hidden in plain sight.

A Drop of Corruption stands out for its ability to combine thrilling tension, sharp wit, and an unforgettable setting. It’s a story that delivers on every front: a page-turning mystery, compelling characters, and a world you won’t want to leave. I’m already impatient for the next book because if this series continues at this level, it’s destined to become a modern fantasy classic.

A flawless mix of intrigue and imagination—this book is a triumph. I'm giving my blazing highly deserved five stars!

A huge thanks to NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group - Del Rey, Random House Worlds, Inklore | Del Rey for sharing this amazing sequel's digital reviewer copy with me in exchange for my honest thoughts.

One of the things I really liked about the first book and which continues in this book is the amazing worldbuilding. Technically these stories are murder mysteries, but because of the richness of the worldbuilding, they are so much more in depth than that. In the first book, Ana and Din seemed to be operating on a tangent to some of the larger issues in the empire, especially the Leviathan. In this book, they get more involved with what happens with the Leviathan and are technically in a land outside the empire.

The story was fascinating with lots of twists and turns and extremely well told. I did feel that the characters were a bit flat in that there wasn't a lot of growth and development. We do learn more about Ana and her abilities though there are still lots of questions to potentially be answered in the next book. And Din does do a little more looking into what he wants to do with his life. But the character growth didn't feel quite as rich as the worldbuilding. But I am still very much invested in this series and look forward to reading the next book.

A Drop of Corruption by Robert Jackson Bennett is my most anticipated novel of 2025. So when I saw it appear on NetGalley I leapt at the chance to hopefully read it to cap off my year. I was very fortunate to get approved and I read it in two quick chunks, before and after Wind and Truth. That break did not hamper my enjoyment in the slightest.

While the first book in this series, The Tainted Cup, is likely to be my book of the year, I didn’t like this one quite as much. It’s good, really good, at times but just never maintains the heights I have come to expect. The narrative is fascinating, the mystery gripping and the character work is really good. If I don’t compare this book to the first its a high class fantasy we’ll worthy of your time.

I also have to pat myself on the back for once as I caught the relevant clues along the way and I guessed the end result and the killer! That didn’t ruin my enjoyment either, in fact it’s always fun when you’re even slightly right about the turn of events. What I didn’t particularly enjoy was Ana always working things out without evidence. Why did she always have the next hint? It’s beyond me. But maybe the dropped hints will come to fruition in the last book of the trilogy.

While I didn’t find this book as perfectly crafted as it’s prequel, I ran through it at an accelerated pace and really enjoyed myself. I haven’t read a RJB book that I haven’t liked and this just makes me want to wrap up the Founder’s Trilogy even more desperately as I love the first two books. The mystery presented here was tight if a little drawn out, but I will 100% seek an ARC next year for book 3.

A Drop of Corruption is expected to publish 1 Apr 2025.

Shadow of the Leviathan has quickly becoming one of my all-time favorite series! We see the world get expanded so much more in this follow-up instalment. It’s amazing! The magic and the setting are also very unique and fresh. The characters are complex and extremely well-written. Ana and Din make for compelling main characters.

The mystery keeps you guessing and turning pages. Rather than trying to guess it or get it correct, I just wanted to savour it. The payoff, of course, is satisfying. I haven’t enjoyed a book like this in a long while.

This book felt like it had much higher stakes than book 1, and it’s so much more fast-paced. At the same time, the characters’ motivations also take center stage.

If you like fantasy mysteries or want to get into the genre, I can’t recommend this enough!

A Drop of Corruption is the second book in a series following Ana and Din, investigators for their imperial government, as they travel the empire on assignment to solve mysteries. Their dynamic is somewhat Holmes and Watson, but not, of course, a direct copy. The world is a fantasy world = Robert Jackson Bennett does, as always, a phenomenal job making the world feel old and deeply lived in - and in this second book we learn more about how the leviathan carcasses are used in enhancing people's abilities, and the very human cost of that work.

Ana is, of course, a delight, with her direct manner, rough language, amazing leaps of deduction, and horrifically gross appetite. Din is under a lot of stress - his creditors are after him, he wants to apply to the Legion to defend the wall and achieve glory, he doesn't want to abandon Ana.. and they're assigned to an area of empire which is not, technically, part of the empire. Yet. They're working on it.

The mystery and resolution are absolutely cracking and in this era of "cottagegore" books, this one fits right on in with the rest. Ana and Din work with the locals, and other imperial officers, to untangle QUITE the mystery and conspiracy. I won't say more. If you enjoyed Tainted Cup, you'll want to continue the series. If you didn't enjoy Tainted Cup, read it again, and then read this one too. If you enjoy mysteries, this is not so much a fantasy that you'll be lost in weird terms and strange names and you should pick it up to diversify your books a little more.

Thank you to Netgalley and Del Rey for the opportunity to read this ARC!

This biopunk, cosmic horror mystery series keeps on being excellent! I'd expect nothing less from this author.

In this book, Din and eventually Ana are investigating a locked room murder in Yarrow, an independent country with a treaty with their Empire. Although Yarrow is independent in name, the Empire has been making inroads with technology and culture that will make it difficult for Yarrow to survive on its own, although this is a very volatile political matter.

I don't think I can say too much without giving away too much and you'll want to savor this, so I think I'll end up being brief. There are terrifying biological weapons. There is assassination and murder. There is a warden augmented to be able to see, hear, and smell much better than unaugmented humans, who is an aide to Din in this case. Ana is creepy and disturbing and very much enjoying being on the hunt.

There is the Shroud. This is a marine R&D station in the ocean that is designed to allow humans to harvest biological resources from the deadly and incomprehensible leviathans who periodically threaten the coast and all human civilization. It terrifies Din, and anything that terrified Din this much must mean that he has to become involved with it.

Robert Jackson Bennett does love himself an ancient, possibly evil, supergenius intelligence that might return. That begins to show itself in this book too.

This book is much more of a mystery. I rated it less than a 5 because I do love this author's action scenes and there aren't really many set pieces here. The author says that he wrote this book while mulling over the human tendency to want one strong infallible leader who will make everything all right, and the impossibility of that. I wonder what he's talking about. :)

Shadow of the Leviathan #2. This is a stunning series. The first book was brilliant, and this one does not disappoint. Once again we follow the investigation by the truly unique Ana Dolobra and her assistant Dinios Kol (we see most of the action from his point of view). I could spend pages just on the world-building, but will leave it as original, all-encompassing, totally convincing and absolutely mesmerizing. The characters are once again disparate, complex and fascinating, and both Ana and Kol continue to reveal more about themselves as well. And do your mystery loving friends stay away from SF and Fantasy? This one will suck them in. The story begins with a seeming impossible locked room mystery, and twists and turns into knots and mazes, yet all the clues are there. This is an absolute feast on every level. Highly recommended.

Thank you to Del Rey and NetGalley for providing an ARC for review.

This is another wonderfully complex biological sci-fi mystery from Robert Jackson Bennett. The world-building in this book is excellent. The setting and political structures introduced in the first book are expanded upon. I think the author’s note provides a really interesting commentary on political structures, and how fantasy books provide a reflection of public opinion on current events. It felt like reading the secret thesis statement of the book, and was quite insightful.

As far as the plot goes, this book throws everything at the reader quickly and haphazardly. This was on purpose, and the reader has to be ok feeling very confused for a good portion of the book, but the payoff is there. I am so interested by the ending; it is such a choice to pick a conclusion that even the characters find unsatisfactory. In context with the author’s note, however, this choice makes sense — even geniuses are susceptible to small-minded goals or logical pitfalls.

I will say I found the first book more engaging with a greater sense of danger hanging over the book, but this was still excellent.

I do hope the next book focuses a bit more on the characters themselves. Ana and Din are fascinating, and I want to learn more about Ana’s backstory. Also, if Kepheus makes a return in book three, I will not be upset.

Another exceptional book from this author! I was very eager to return to the world of Shadow of the Leviathan and this volume did not disappoint me. Some mysteries were solved, while the underlying riddle of the leviathans and their mutagenic leavings were explored a bit more, leaving some things still to perhaps, maybe be understood in future installments. I found this to be yet another page-turner, very evocative of the unique setting, and highly enjoyable. It left me eager for another volume. Thanks to Netgalley for the review copy!