This was easily a 5 star read! I loved seeing Din evolve and grow a bit more confident in his abilities, as well as getting to see a little more into Ana's background! This twists are so intricate, and I love the theatrical way the mysteries are always wrapped up!

This world is so curious and whimsical, and I am dying to see what Din and Ana get up to next! Also fingers crossed we see Kepheus again!

The Tainted Cup was one of my favourite reads last year and I was so happy to discover I enjoyed this one even more.

My main complaint of that first book was that I really didn’t feel we connected to Din as much as Ana and other characters. This one definitely rectified that and he is now, alongside Ana, one of my favourite fantasy characters.

The Sherlock and Watson comparison that this series encouraged feels even more spot on here and I love getting to see their relationship develop.

Like the first book, the mystery starts with a small, but very unique incident, and grows into something with much larger consequences than first suggested.

Everything about this is so well crafted, from the characters, to the mystery, to the world itself, and it is all just such a joy to read.

I am already excited for the third book!

Ana Dolabra and her assistant Dinios Kol are called to solve the mystery of a treasury officer who went missing from a locked room within a tower. Ana soon realizes they're looking into a murder and not a disappearance, and the murderer can move around like a ghost. The killer may be targeting the Shroud, the compound where the Empire harvests fallen titans for the volatile magic found in their blood. Should it fall, the Empire itself will grind to a halt.

This is book two of the Shadow of the Leviathan series, following The Tainted Cup. This is a world where massive creatures known as leviathans can destroy or recreate things, or corrupt living things. Within the Empire, pieces of leviathan bodies were processed and repurposed to augment humans: memory, senses, reflexes, muscle strength, etc. Within this world, it's difficult to hide a killer from the ones with augmented senses, yet this killer did just that. The locked room mystery quickly gets solved, giving rise to more important questions: who could impersonate the different classes, bypass security measures, and hijack protection to work on Leviathan blood. The region where this takes place also has significant political upheaval, and it complicates the search for the killer further.

The story drew me in quickly, and the worldbuilding serves the mystery. Din doesn't know the inner workings of the field he's investigating, so we get the explanation right along with him. We pick up on some clues that way as well and see the disquiet and growing apprehension about the highly secretive Shroud. Ana is as prickly and short-tempered as she was in the first novel, a quirky Holmes to Din's Watson. Different cultures and knowledge are fascinating points that flesh out the world and truly help it feel lived in.

If you loved The Tainted Cup, you're in for an even greater treat with A Drop of Corruption. Bennett somehow levels up in this second installment of his brilliant fantasy twist on Sherlock Holmes. The mystery at the heart of the story is impeccably crafted—twisty, surprising, and deeply satisfying. You discover key reveals alongside the characters, which keeps the pacing brisk and the suspense high from start to finish.

What makes this book even more rewarding is the deeper dive into Ana’s character. Her backstory, her intellect, and her emotional complexity all shine through in ways that add new depth to the series. Bennett balances world-building, character development, and mystery with expert precision. This is easily one of the most inventive and entertaining fantasy series out there, and I already can’t wait for the next installment.

Another Dinos and Ana story? Yes please.

A Drop of Corruption continues the story of the investigator, Ana Dolabra and their assistant Dinios Kol. Book 2 picks up after some time after The Tainted Cup, where we first meet Dinios and Ana, and get a taste of their marvelous, Sherlock-Watson dynamic. This time, they investigate the disappearance and death of a Treasury officer, whose room was completely locked up (classic whodunnit). Along the way, we dive deeper into the borders of the Empire and the neighboring lands and people, and get a further look into how the Empire deals with the Leviathans.

How do I express how excited I was for Robert Jackson Bennett's second book of the Shadow of the Leviathan series??? How do I express feeing slightly disappointed while reading A Drop of Corruption??? I feel so torn about this book. On one hand, I really enjoyed following the whole Dolobra and Kol relationship that is heavily reminiscent of Sherlock and Watson. Call me a sucker for that.

What I enjoyed: I loved the continued character building of Dinios and Ana individually and their relationship. I am very intrigued by the mysterious build up of Ana, as I still have so many questions and assumption that need answering. Morally grey aka being human, is a very real quality of the main characters. The world building? On point. I cannot wait until book 3. Bennett has me in a chokehold. I also love how this urban-lite fantasy crossed over with mystery genre covers up the deeper themes of political corruption.

What seemed to fall short or cause a little disappointment? Dinios. Dinios' decisions and actions in this book has me feeling frustrated at them. I really questioned some of the things he did, as they seem to be immature and very out of character from the Din we met in book 1.

A Drop of Corruption definitely gets the job done with delivering another great book by Bennett. A solid 4.5 stars (rounded up to 5 for Goodreads). I cannot wait for the continuation of this adult, fantasy X mystery series.

Thank you Netgalley, Random House Publishing Group - Del Rey, Random House Worlds, Inklore | Del Rey and the author for the opportunity in exchange for an honest review.

I will be posting to socials.

There’s something about this series that feels like standing in the shadow of something ancient and alive (get it?). You feel small, slightly out of your depth, and utterly captivated. A Drop of Corruption picks up where The Tainted Cup left off, and while it doesn’t quite match the first book’s tightly wound elegance, it still delivers a rich, layered mystery with high-stakes intrigue, deep character work, and that signature undercurrent of weirdness I’ve come to expect and love Robert Jackson Bennett for.

What Worked:

The character work is top tier—maybe even surpassing the first entry. Ana and Din’s dynamic is the highlight of the series for me, their relationship evolving into something both heartfelt and quietly profound. Ana’s chaotic brilliance continues to shine, and Din’s inner struggle between duty and empathy gives the story real weight. I could read a hundred pages of them just talking.

The mystery itself is sprawling and ambitious. There are plots within plots, layered identities, and some satisfyingly clever turns. It trades the clockwork precision of book one for something messier and more political, but in a way that works (and maybe feels a bit too relevant). The world continues to unfold with fascinating details, from ancient augury to leviathan science to the unsettling implications of blood and power.

What Didn’t Work:

The story flirts with overcomplication. There are several big twists and turns, and while most of them are clever, the cumulative effect can feel like a bit much—like the book’s trying to one-up itself every few chapters.

The pacing also lags a little in the middle third before picking back up for the finale. A lot of that could be due to the fact that once you catch onto the rhythm of the reveals, some of the tension starts to deflate. The Tainted Cup felt truly unpredictable; this one felt like the individual turns were, but the end goal was in sight a lot earlier.

Overall Thoughts:

Despite some rougher edges, A Drop of Corruption is absolutely worth your time. The mystery remains compelling, the characters feel even more raw and vulnerable, and the emotional payoffs land with force. It's messier, stranger, and a little more human. Less Attack on Titan, more fantasy Psycho-Pass.

4.5/5

This is the second book in the Shadow of the Leviathan series. The story is told in first person by Din, the assistant of the Empire’s most brilliant investigator, Ana Dolabra. While the mystery in this story is introduced and resolved within, I do recommend that you read the first book in the series, The Tainted Cup, for both recurring character relationships and the introduction of this complex fantasy world.

The second story picks up with Din traveling ahead of Ana to the canton of Yarrowdale, a region with its own king and government that the Empire is negotiating a deal to make them a part of Khanum. This region is responsible for housing The Shroud, where scientists dissect fallen Titans to study their blood magic. A Treasury officer has disappeared from his quarters under suspicious circumstances while under guard while the doors and windows were still locked from the inside.

Once again I enjoyed this story and adventure through Din’s experiences. Ana is such an odd character and a few more tidbits are revealed about her that I found intriguing. She is a little beyond eccentric and yet the way her mind works seeing the connections between things is marvelous and, in a way, reminds me of the great Vera Stanhope. Without the blind fold, of course. There’s a lot of political maneuverings in this one with a court that is split between wanting independence from an empire that it feels is using it for its work on The Shroud and those who want to be a part of the empire.

I rather enjoyed Din’s experiences with traveling around the countryside looking for clues with Malo, a new character that I thoroughly enjoyed and hope to see in future books. The mystery had me intrigued and trying to make connections though I’m not nearly as good at it as Ana. The sheer awe of The Shroud was a little bit mystical to me. I think maybe there are visual aspects described in those sections that were a little beyond my imagination. Overall, I enjoyed this new book of the series, but perhaps not quite as much as the first. I’m definitely looking forward to the next book.

Thank you to Netgalley and Random House Del Rey for a copy provided for an honest review.

I am surprised that I was more invested in this one than the first but I had some icks here and there with Din's character for about half of the book. I really liked how this one ended up though and had a bit more introspection from him and Ana. I was super into the mystery and the secret society aspect and the ramifications that this smaller aspect could cause. It's so hard to review without spoilers but if you liked the first one, you'll definitely like this one too!

I really don't know how to explain the genre of this book. It's equally fantasy and mystery? Whatever genre it is, this series rocks and this book is somehow even better than the first one!

In this book, we pick up with our fav investigative pair Ana and Din. They must solve a locked door mystery which continues to get more and more confusing and leads them to new parts of the Empire- or soon to be empire. The world building done in this story was amazing- I really feel that I am starting to understand this world, the leviathans, and the Empire's lore. Although I'm quite sure i still have LOADS to learn.

At the very core of this story, it's a really fun mystery with characters who have sci-fi type augmentations. Some have a really good sense of smell/sight/hearing, others remember everything they see (and use scents to help anchor their memories). If you are someone who likes mysteries but shies away from scifi or fantasy, don't fear, because this book really is a murder mystery at its core and all the fantasy and world building elements are just sprinkes that make the mysteries that much more confusing to figure out.

I enjoy this series a lot and will continue to read them as long as Bennett keeps writing them!

Wow, the plot thickens! I adored the first book in the series, The Tainted Cup. A Drop of Corruption was highly anticipated, and it lived up to expectations.

Ana and Din are such a great duo, and how they work together is satisfying. Din is her eyes and goes to the man. He is the one that does a lot of the grunt work, but he’s also brilliant. He’s starting to come out of his shell more and put his skills to good use. I love their banter and how Din is still so unsure. We learn much more about both of them and see them grow. I loved discovering more about Ana, even if it’s just a glimpse. Her character is hilarious, and I love how she does not care what people think. I liked seeing that they did other cases and have moved around a bit over the years. It wasn’t just jumping from the previous book to this one. Ana is brilliant and always two steps ahead, but she does get stumped in this one. It made her seem a bit more normal and not so robotic, in a way. Her relationship with Din is so lovely. She can be brutally honest and pushy. I love how she let him figure things out on his own.

The women in this book are phenomenal! Robert Jackson Bennett did a fabulous job with all the women he wrote about in this book. I loved them all, even if they were morally grey at times. We got a new character that I adored in this book. I am trying so hard to stay spoiler-free, but it’s so hard with sequels. There were so many twists and turns that you read 20% of the book and don’t even realize it! I was stumped a few times! I am good at figuring things out. The brilliance reminds me a lot of Sherlock Holmes. I love a quirky and brilliant character. We delve much deeper into other parts of the Empire and Leviathans. There is so much room to make a decent series out of this if he chooses. PLEASE choose this option. I cannot wait to jump back into the next one.

I love this series, and it’s addicting. The writing and characters are brilliant. I highly recommend it. I don’t know what else to say except that you should pick these books up because they are amazing!

Thank you, Del Rey and Netgalley, for the e-arc. All thoughts and opinions are my own!

Another home run for Robert Jackson Bennett. I adore this series. It's interesting from start to finish, and the world is so unique and visceral that you just get lost in the DAMPNESS of it all. Never have I read a series so full of damp and mould and I LOVE IT. The characters are all so fleshed out and have such distinct personalities. I adore Din and just want to follow him around on all his crime solving adventures. Book 3 RJB? Please?

4.25 from me.

Thanks to Netgalley and Del Ray for a free review e-arc.

I write haiku reviews for Instagram and review everything I read on Goodreads, but am happy to provide further feedback, if requested.

Amazing book... Loved it
Can't wait for the next one

I think there were moments that were better in this book than book 1 and I love Din and Ana

4.25 stars rounded up

A Drop of Corruption by Robert Jackson Bennett turned out to be a readable fantasy. I am not normally in for fantasy or pseudo worlds, this one turned out to be quite good. It is a mystery, which is really what I read the most, and a pretty thorough investigation, given the parameters of the world in which it takes place. All the people are enhanced, one way or another with varying talents according to their enhancements. They had not yet been able to enhance greed and hunger for power out of the psyche, however, which is where the story leads. The investigator, or the one who interprets what her minion reports is blindfolded to keep her from being overwhelmed by all she sees. It is an interesting approach.

It is hard to tell about character development when the characters are so different to begin with. There is definite growth in the character of Din (Dinios Kol), the eyes and ears of Ana, the investigator. He was young and Ana knew that so she let him make his own decisions, while forcing him to think.. The plot was complex but easy to follow, even with the odd names and the enhancements. The pacing was good and all in all it was a decent novel. I enjoyed it.

I was invited to read a Drop of Corruption by Random House Publishing Group-Del Rey, Random House World, Inklore. All thoughts and opinions are mine. #Netgalley #RandomHousePublishingGroupDelReyRandomHouseWorldInklore #RobertJacksonBennett #ADropOfCorruption

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

"This work can never satisfy, Din, for it can never finish. The dead cannot be restored. Vice and bribery will never be totally banished from the cantons. And the drop of corruption that lies within every society shall always persist. The duty of the Iudex is not to boldly vanquish it but to manage it. We keep the stain from spreading, yes, but it is never gone. Yet this job is perhaps the most important in all the Iyalets, for without it, well ...The Empire would come to look much like Yarrow, where the powerful and the cruel prevail without check. And tell me—does that realm look capable of fighting off a leviathan?"


My god, I absolutely love this series so far. It's honestly the easiest thing for me to say right now. And we are only in book two! In A Drop of Corruption, you are following the greatest crime-solving duo ever! Ana and Din are just that special. Sure, they might do things unconventionally but that's what makes these adventures so much fun.

The puzzles within this book were very interesting. I just wanted to see how Ana was going to solve everything before the culprit was revealed. As everyone knows, words matter, and how you ask a question can definitely matter in this world. It was definitely interesting to see everyone, especially in the Shroud, and how their minds worked.

On top of that, I really wanted to know what Ana was or had done. It has been a mystery to me for so long and we got so many clues in this! My mind was blown and I think that was the tipping point for Din on his big decision. Besides loving this duo, we also got to meet Malo. I absolutely adored her and hope she thrives wherever she goes in the future. I definitely want to see more of her because I think the crime-solving duo can always be a trio. Always.

In the end, I'm sad that this adventure is over. I can't wait for the next book to be written and for it to fall into my lap so that I can devour it. Ana and Din need more mysteries to solve and I doubt this world will ever stop providing them.

The Leviathan series by Robert Jackson Bennett is killer. I love mysteries and I love a genre meld, but it's extremely rare for a book to so successfully straddle two genres and deliver, simultaneously and without sacrifice, on both fantasy and mystery. This sequel to The Tainted Cup is equally good, with a sturdy, interesting mystery (in both novels, while I found the ultimate solutions predictable, the criminal plots and mechanisms were thrillingly original) and copious action and adventure. Each book so far has a complete and satisfying plot, while exposing tantalizing bits of other stories in a horrifyingly eldritch fantasy world, and I truly love the detective duo (frightening feral cryptid and her sidekick/muscle/office peon, lonely dyslexic recording device). Some new characters in this one really shone, and I hope to see more of them! I'm ecstatic that this series seems to be settling in for a good number of entries—I hope Jackson Bennett writes like ten more!

This has me in an absolute slump just because it was so good!

A Drop of Corruption is a continuation of the fantasy mystery series following Ana, an eccentric investigator for the Iudex division of the Empire, and Din, her reluctant assistant. They are called to the far reaches of the Empire where an impossible feat has occured: a Treasury official disappeared from a locked room and was found killed. As they investigate the impossible, they find themselves tangled in a great political conspiracy that could topple the Empire.

Listen, I’m in love with this series - its a wonderful blend of mystery and fantasy where you get a wonderful mix of both without either lacking. The story is interesting and you are absolutely sucked into it in mere moments. Ana and Din are fantastic: a true Holmes and Watson duo but they’re also better. You just root for them and I especially love the bisexual disaster that is Din - what a hot mess but you can’t help but love his heart of gold.

Bennet is a GENIUS at worldbuilding: even though this is the second in a series, we get more worldbuilding but just the right amount. You are able to experience the world but are not overwhelmed from the details are able to be present.

I really have to say there are more revelations for the general plot that I really enjoyed in this book. We get developments for both Ana and Din (and also for the wonderfully written side characters) that add a lot to their characters.

I also appreciated the themes present in this story. Bennett’s author note is so wonderfully poignant in today’s world and the way he weaves in a criticism of authoritarian regimes without being too heavy handed is superb. His author note is a must read in of itself.

I am quite literally frothing at the mouth for book 3 - it cannot come soon enough! This series is a must for any mystery or fantasy readers.

I was very excited to get back into this world! I enjoyed the mystery and twists, and I especially liked getting to know more about Ana. This series takes place in one of the most unique and interesting fantasy worlds I've read, though it can be a bit hard to remember how everything works. Overall though, I definitely recommend this series!

This book was fascinating, and the main characters were deep and intriguing. The murder mystery at the heart was twisty and surprising and the world-building sublime.

Some descriptions were a bit disgusting and shocking and some parts were a bit difficult to understand. This was due to the in-world jargon, mostly. It is a balancing act between boring over-explaining and leaving the reader scratching their head, so I think the author broke the correct way with this.

My only criticism is that the book was a bit long, and I say that as a long-time fantasy reader--many of my books are the kind of "bricks" that can be used to hold doors open. That said, I can't think of what I would cut out of the book that would not also result in a loss of either plot or immersion.

Robert Jackson Bennett has an amazing imagination. I've read most of his books and I always know that I will be transported to an entirely unique world when I join him for a tale.

I thought this was really decent. I didn't absolutely love it, but I was entertained and felt like there was enough depth to care about how the storyline ended.