Waiting on Wednesday – A Drop of Corruption by Robert Jackson Bennett

Welcome to my weekly segment, Waiting on Wednesday, where I look at upcoming books that I am planning to order and review in the next few months and which I think I will really enjoy. In my latest Waiting on Wednesday, I highlight a particularly awesome upcoming fantasy novel with the gripping second entry in the Shadow of the Leviathan series, A Drop of Corruption by Robert Jackson Bennett.

Amazon

Earlier this year I was lucky enough to receive a copy of the captivating novel, The Tainted Cup, by veteran fantasy author Robert Jackson Bennett. An intriguing fantasy murder mystery set in a realm beset by giant monsters, The Tainted Cup was an outstanding read that saw two unlikely investigators, including an eccentric genius and her grounded assistant, attempt to discover the truth behind a brutal death caused by a tree spontaneously growing from someone’s chest. Expertly combining a clever crime fiction story with unique fantasy elements and a hilarious set of main protagonists, The Tainted Cup was an outstanding read that got a full five-star rating from me. Indeed, The Tainted Cup topped the list of my favourite books from the first half of the year and will likely go down as one of the very best fantasy novels of 2024.

Due to how impressive I found The Tainted Cup to be, you can probably appreciate that I am very keen to see how the series continues. Luckily it looks like I won’t have to wait too long to see what happens next, as the sequel, A Drop of Corruption, is coming out in February 2025. Set to once again to pit Bennett’s protagonists against an elaborate magical mystery, A Drop of Corruption sounds extremely epic, and I love the cool new story concept being promised for it.

Plot Synopsis:

The brilliant detective Ana Dolabra may have finally met her match in the gripping sequel to The Tainted Cup—from the bestselling author of The Founders Trilogy.

In the canton of Yarrowdale, at the very edge of the Empire’s reach, an impossible crime has occurred. A Treasury officer has disappeared into thin air—abducted from his quarters while the door and windows remained locked from the inside, in a building whose entrances and exits are all under constant guard.

To solve the case, the Empire calls on its most brilliant and mercurial investigator, the great Ana Dolabra. At her side, as always, is her bemused assistant Dinios Kol.

Before long, Ana’s discovered that they’re not investigating a disappearance, but a murder—and that the killing was just the first chess move by an adversary who seems to be able to pass through warded doors like a ghost, and who can predict every one of Ana’s moves as though they can see the future.

Worse still, the killer seems to be targeting the high-security compound known as the Shroud. Here, the Empire’s greatest minds dissect fallen Titans to harness the volatile magic found in their blood. Should it fall, the destruction would be terrible indeed—and the Empire itself will grind to a halt, robbed of the magic that allows its wheels of power to turn.

Din has seen Ana solve impossible cases before. But this time, with the stakes higher than ever and Ana seemingly a step behind their adversary at every turn, he fears that his superior has finally met an enemy she can’t defeat.

This sounds like another particularly outstanding story from Bennett, and I know I am going to have a ton of fun with it. The mystery premise for A Drop of Corruption is particularly striking, as Bennett produces a high-stakes locked room mystery, where the solution to the crime is likely to be some elaborate form of magic or mutation. In addition, we have the return of the first book’s excellent, mismatched protagonists, whose unusual partnership will likely result in some fantastic humour, while also presenting the reader with a brilliant investigative method. I have no doubt that Bennett will turn these elements into another extremely special story, and I look forward to seeing how he resolves the main investigation, and how it ties into the greater mysteries infecting his fantasy setting.

Based on how impressive the first book in the series turned out to be, I am already extremely excited for A Drop of Corruption. However, the epic plot synopsis above also sounds very cool, and I cannot wait to see what madness and mystery Robert Jackson Bennett unleashes next. A Drop of Corruption will probably be one of the very best fantasy novels of 2025, and I am so very keen to get my hands on this incredible upcoming book.