Publisher: Hodderscape (Trade Paperback – 13 February 2024)

Series: Shadow of the Leviathan – Book One

Length: 420 pages

My Rating: 5 out of 5 stars

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Acclaimed fantasy author Robert Jackson Bennett kicks off a brilliant new series with the captivating and impressive novel, The Tainted Cup, which sees two unique investigators dive into an enthralling magical murder.

Robert Jackon Bennett is an outstanding author who has been writing since 2010 with his debut novel, Mr. Shivers.  Best known for his iconic The Divine Cities trilogy, as well as the intricate The Founders trilogy (of which I read Foundryside), Bennett has been on a real roll of late, and I have been meaning to read more of his works.  I finally got the chance when I recently received a copy of his latest novel, The Tainted Cup, an intriguing combination of the crime fiction and fantasy genres.  I instantly fell in love with The Tainted Cup’s awesome sounding plot and The Tainted Cup ended up being one of my most anticipated reads of 2024 for very good reason.

In an opulent mansion in the backwater province of Daretana, an unusual case emerges when an important Imperial officer is apparently killed when a tree spontaneously erupted from his body.  Even in the unpredictable Empire of Khanum, which is constantly besieged by Leviathans, giant beings from the ocean whose blood and bodies can mutate the land and create unique contagions, this is a shocking death.

The job of discovering what caused this unusual death falls to Ana Dolabra, an Imperial investigator known both for her staggering intellect and her many oddities.  Able to make connections no-one else can, Ana begins her unique investigation, using her new assistant, Dinios Kol, as her proxy.  Din, an engraver magically altered to possess a perfect memory, acts as his boss’s eyes on the case, and begins to gather all the raw information Ana needs to uncover the full mystery.  The conclusion she makes about the case: murder!

Determining the case to be an unusual and deadly form of magical poisoning, Ana and Din manage to find one of the culprit’s accomplices.  But it quickly becomes apparent that this is only the beginning of their investigation when several engineers responsible for maintaining the great outer walls of the Empire against the Leviathan threat are killed in a similar manner in the next canton.  Determined to discover who is responsible for both the murders and the resulting Leviathan attacks, Ana and Din journey to the wall to find out more.  What they discover is an elaborate conspiracy, one that threatens the entire Empire and could result in the death of everyone to the Leviathans.

The Tainted Cup ended up being an incredible read from Bennett who masterfully blended a complex mystery with unique fantasy elements and amazing characters to tell a gripping and powerful story.  I had such a great time with this book and honestly couldn’t put it down until I worked out every secret and twist that Bennett loaded into this outstanding five-star read.

Bennett comes up with an excellent premise for The Tainted Cup that is essentially a twisty Sherlock Holmes tale of intrigue and conspiracy, set in a cool new fantasy realm besieged by giant monsters.  Told from the perspective of main character Dinios Kol, who works as the eyes of his peculiar master, Ana Dolabra, the eccentric criminal investigator, Bennett quickly and effectively introduces the mystery of a man killed when a tree explodes out of him.  I’ve read a lot of amazing mystery novels over the years, and frankly this must be one of the more unique murder tools I’ve seen, and Bennett uses it to full effect to tell such a great story.  The initial investigation proves to be quite impressive, as Ana manages to quickly solve the murder using the observations provided by Dinios, finding the catspaw responsible for this first crime in a fantastic scene that really highlights to the author what a great investigator this protagonist truly is.

However, this is only the start of the case, as several similar deaths occur in the next town over, killing multiple engineers and damaging the massive walls that protect the Empire.  The resulting chaos results in Dinios and Ana travelling to the nearby garrison town where the engineers were billeted to try and work out who is responsible and why.  The situation swiftly degenerates as the protagonists uncover additional murders, corruption, secrets and lies, as everyone tries to hide who is responsible for the killings.  What results is an elaborate and addictive investigation as Ana sends Dinios on a series of investigative missions to get closer to the truth and uncover the conspiracies infecting the Empire, while the threat of an approaching Leviathan literally looms on the horizon.  I was on the edge of my seat the entire way through the second half of the book, as I desperately waited to see who was responsible and why.  While I saw a couple of the big twists coming, the full picture that emerged was extremely impressive, and I honestly loved every clever reveal and surprise that Bennett loaded into the story.  Not only are the main mystery and the underlying conspiracies behind it solved perfectly, but Bennett sets up the entire trilogy to be something truly special.  I cannot wait to see how this series continues in the future, and I already know it is going to be amazing.

I really loved how Bennett set out The Tainted Cup, especially as his great blend of storytelling elements and genres helped to turn it into a particularly fun and captivating read.  The elaborate and intriguing mystery blended well with the other unique elements of the book, and Bennett did an outstanding job of keeping the pace of The Tainted Cup fast and exciting, layering the story with reveals and hints to keep the reader firmly attached.  There were so many times that I needed to stop reading but just couldn’t as I wanted to see what was going to happen next.  While this book is mostly a little dark and emotionally charged, Bennett also layers the plot with a good amount of humour, mostly tied into the main investigator, which I think really turned The Tainted Cup into something special.  This humour tied in nicely with both the more serious mystery and fantasy elements and helped to cut down the tension in an effective and targeted way.  Throw in some fantastically elaborate action sequences, unique fantasy battles, and vivid descriptions of the world through the eyes of a complex protagonist, and you will come away with a great appreciation for Bennett’s fantastic writing style.

One of the more memorable features of The Tainted Cup was the awesome new fantasy realm that Bennet imagined for the plot, as well as the intriguing and unique magic that infested it.  The plot of the book is completely set within the Empire of Khanum, a walled-off nation completely dedicated to protecting itself from the Leviathan, gigantic, mutated creatures from the seas that are constantly trying to make landfall and destroy everything within.  I also loved how the magical elements of The Tainted Cup revolve around the manipulation of strange plants and biological grafts that enhance the physical and mental abilities of the humans.  A lot of these plant elements are tied into the Leviathan, and it was fascinating to see the impacts it has both on the land and on the people within it.  This is a pretty awesome background for this already fantastic plot, and it reminded me pretty strongly of Attack on Titan or Pacific Rim.  Bennett does an outstanding job working the plot of The Tainted Cup around this cool background, and it was fascinating to try and work out how the protection of the wall and the threats of the Leviathan and other magical concerns plays into the main plot.  There are some unique conspiracies produced as a result, as well as a some very distinctive killers and suspects, and I was really impressed with how Bennett came up with all these new elements and ensured that become so intrinsic to the plot.  The author also makes sure to hint at some future secrets throughout The Tainted Cup, such as the true nature of the Leviathan, which I have no doubt will be revealed in future novels in a big way.

Another awesome element I really need to highlight about The Tainted Cup was the two main protagonists, Dinios Kol and Ana Dolabra.  These two honestly make this entire book, with Dinios serving as the harried subordinate while Ana is the brilliant, if slightly unhinged and blunt, investigative savant.  Bennett expertly captures the classic detective/sidekick dynamic that was made so famous with Sherlock Holmes and Watson, with Dinios serving the Watson role as point of view character and the sounding board for Ana’s observations and solutions to the various murders encountered.  Not only is this very cool in the fantasy context, but Bennett works to make Ana even more outrageous than some of the more recent Sherlock Holmes adaptations, as she is an agoraphobic, disgraced, drug-addicted figure, who mostly goes around wearing a blindfold and terrifying everyone she encounters.  I loved Ana so much, and so much of the humour of the book comes from her unusual behaviour.  Despite these eccentricities, Ana is still shown to be a brilliant investigator, and I think that Bennett masterfully found the balance between genius and madwoman for this protagonist.

I really appreciated how Dinios proves to be the perfect foil for his unusual master, and it was great to see the story unfold through his eyes, especially as he proves to be a keen student and an interesting figure in his own right.  Initially shown to be a little desperate and naive, with secrets of his own, Dinios slowly becomes more confident as the book continues, and I enjoyed seeing him come into his own the more involved with the case he became.  His student/friend relationship with Ana was heartwarming at times, and he also serves as the more responsible member of the team, using rules and commonsense to stop Ana from going too far.  Dinios gets a well-written glow-up as the book continues, thanks to a revelation about his abilities, and while that potentially makes him a little overpowered as a character, I assume that Bennett has some interesting long-term storytelling involved with them that I cannot wait to see.

Thanks to the masterful combination of mystery, unique fantasy elements and amazing characters, The Tainted Cup was an outstanding read that really showcased Robert Jackson Bennett’s ability as an author.  Inventive, entertaining, and emotionally charged, The Tainted Cup is perfect for both fans of fantasy fiction and unique mysteries, and there is so much to fall in love with here.  Easily one of the best books of 2024 so far, The Tainted Cup comes highly recommended, and I cannot wait to see how Bennett follows this amazing read off in the future.

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