I had never heard of Robert Jackson Bennett before, but he is a well established fantasy writer who is gaining considerable critical acclaim. He currently has three series that he is working on simultaneously, one of which is The Shadow of the Leviathan series and this book, The Tainted Cup, is the first in that series.

Ana Dolabra, is an eccentric but brilliant investigator for the Empire. Her assistant, Dinios Kol is an engraver, someone who has been magically altered to have a perfect memory. Together they have been sent to investigate the murder of a high imperial officer, in a canton on the edge of the Empire. Here the Leviathans emerge from the sea and try to breach the walls and their blood works strange anomalies and causes contagions that threaten the safety and security of the whole Empire. The case they are sent to investigate – the death of the military officer – is a case in point, since it appears that a tree spontaneously erupted from his body pinning him to his bed while branches and trunks emerged from his body and filled the room.

Since Ana seems to have phobias that rarely permit her to leave her room, Din must investigate on his own, taking notes and recordings in his mind of both the scene of the crime and interviews with witnesses. He then returns to Ana and relates everything that he saw or heard and Ana begins to deduce the next steps they must take to further the investigation. Although at first this seems like a rather tedious process, Din soon realizes that Ana’s ability to relate various disconnected facts, and find connections between them is quite astounding, and as the case progresses, he begins to understand why she has the reputation for being an extraordinary investigator. With limited time as the canton faces obliteration from another Leviathan breach, Ana and Din race to uncover a conspiracy that threatens topple the Empire itself.

I am really looking forward to reading the next book in this series- A Drop of Corruption!

Brenda’s Rating: **** (4 Out of 5 Stars)

Recommend this book to: Sharon, Marian and Lauren

Book Study Worthy? yes

Read in e-library format.