A Drop of Corruption

by Robert Jackson Bennett

Genres: Fantasy, Mystery
Pages: 454
Series: Shadow of the Leviathan #2
Rating:

Synopsis:

An impossible crime has occurred. A Treasury officer has disappeared into thin air – abducted from his quarters in a building whose entrances and exits are all sealed.

The brilliant and mercurial investigator, Ana Dolabra, and her assistant Dinios Kol have been called in to crack the case.

Before long, Ana discovers that they’re actually investigating a murder. Worse, the adversary seems to be able to pass through warded doors like a ghost, and can predict every one of Ana’s moves as though they can see the future.

Ana’s solved impossible cases before. But this time, with the stakes higher than ever and the investigators seemingly a step behind their adversary at every turn, has Ana finally met an enemy she can’t defeat?

I received a copy of this book for free in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

A Drop of Corruption is a wonderful follow-up to the first book, The Tainted Cup. I’ve had the same experience with all of Robert Jackson Bennett’s books that I’ve read so far: I sink right into them and want to gobble them up, and this was no exception. To be very reductive, you might say it’s basically Sherlock Holmes in a fantasy world, but I think you’d be doing it a disservice: it’s imagining a whole fantasy world in which someone manufactured to be like Sherlock Holmes has a place and function. It’s not a retelling, not even close.

The world it’s set in is fascinating, and it expands a bit more in this installment, as we explore a kingdom not yet absorbed into the Empire but on the cusp of being so, and also get a step closer to the leviathans that haunt the edges of both books and threaten Din and Ana’s world. Din’s had a bit longer to settle into the work now, so we also follow his struggle with accepting that this is all he can do, that he and Ana will come in after the fact, and cannot prevent murders, only explain them, maybe avert some of the consequences of them and further tragedies.

In this one, Ana has an opponent a bit more worthy of her, as well. I think the only thing that didn’t quite work for me is that I could also make the leap that Ana does in figuring out the culprit and (to be euphemistic about the solution) what Thelenai needs to do, and I don’t think the reader should be able to when it’s described the way it is here. Ana is something else, and if anything the Sherlock Holmes thing also falls apart here, because she’s capable of not just connecting patterns and making logical inferences like anyone can, she’s capable of connecting the tiniest stray facts, seeing patterns that require her to tiptoe right up to total madness.

But overall I was fixated, really loved it. It’s not perfect, perhaps (nothing is), but it was a wonderful experience that exactly matched what I wanted to read right now.

Rating: 5/5

The Tainted Cup

by Robert Jackson Bennett

Genres: Fantasy, Mystery
Pages: 410
Series: Shadow of the Leviathan #1
Rating:

Synopsis:

In an opulent mansion at the borders of the Empire, an Imperial officer lies dead – killed when a tree spontaneously erupted from his body. Even here, where contagions abound and the blood of the Leviathans works strange magical changes, it’s a death at once terrifying and impossible.

Called in to solve the crime is Ana Dolabra, an investigator whose reputation for brilliance is matched only by her eccentricity. At her side is her new assistant, Dinios Kol, an engraver, magically altered to possess a perfect memory.

Soon, the mystery leads to a scheme that threatens the safety of the Empire itself. For Ana, all this makes for a deliciously thorny puzzle – at last, something to truly hold her attention. And Din? He’ll just have to hold on for the ride.

An eccentric detective and her long-suffering assistant untangle a web of magic, deceit, and murder in this sparkling fantasy reimagining of the classic crime novel – from the bestselling author of The Founders Trilogy.

I received a copy of this book for free in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

Robert Jackson Bennett’s books are always a lot of fun, and The Tainted Cup was no exception. It’s a fantasy world, though the relationship between Ana and Din smacks very much of Sherlock Holmes and John Watson (albeit with an additional superior/subordinate component, especially given that Din is only in training). The setting is a fascinating world that as yet has a lot sketched in around the edges — we see life on what is basically the frontier, the walls which repel gigantic attacking Titans from the sea, but there’s more to the Empire than that… and one suspects we’ll see more of that, in future books.

Though the exact shape, size and composition of the Empire might be sketchy, there is a lot of detail about the world to wonder over: the different ways people have been altered to suit others’ needs, the reagent keys, the poisons and medicines. There’s some serious body horror in all that — not just the trees sprouting from people’s bodies, but also the more subtle horror of the cracklers that doesn’t always get noted by the narration as being horrifying, and even Din’s own skills.

Once I settled into it, it was a surprisingly fast read for how chunky it looked, sweeping me along to the conclusion. I’d love to see more of the world, and get deeper into Ana’s investigation: in true Sherlock Holmes style, I didn’t always understand where her conclusions came from, and I don’t think it was an entirely fair play mystery (in part because it’s not our world), but I hope the next book is also a mystery: it’s always fun when my favourite genres cross.

Rating: 4/5