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?
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?
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Reviews
PRAISE FOR ROBERT JACKSON BENNETT
A riveting murder mystery wrapped in a twisty conspiracy, set in a vivid fantasy world terrorized by eldritch monsters . . . If you love unique, genre-bending, boundary-pushing fantasy as much as I do, look no further than Robert Jackson Bennett
I loved this. A twisty detective story, a weird fantasy, a thrilling adventure - The Tainted Cup is a masterstroke. I want Bennett to write a dozen of these, and send them to me yesterday
Part Sherlock Holmes murder mystery, part Through the Looking-Glass, The Tainted Cup is one of the wildest, most original stories I've ever had the privilege to explore
Original, imaginative, and suspenseful, The Tainted Cup superbly blends mystery and fantasy in this vivid, complex novel. I couldn't put it down. Give me more of this world and these characters ASAP!
**PRAISE FOR A DROP OF CORRUPTION**
Bennett's wonderfully clever and compulsively readable sequel to 2024's The Tainted Cup offers another winning blend of fantasy and classic detection. . . . Bennett skillfully integrates humor and magic into the complex puzzle plot and plays fair with planting clues for the reader. Randall Garrett fans will be hooked
A thoroughly satisfying delight from start to finish
Superb . . . [Bennett] writes the kind of fun, propulsive work that kept my teenage self scouring the shelves for the next installment
A wicked clever immensely fun sequel that ups the ante further on a remarkably fun and imaginative series. A Drop of Corruption is already shaping up to be an early forerunner for book of the year (like its predecessor). I couldn't have asked for a better birthday gift than this book and this is my Pick for the Month
A Drop of Corruption by Robert Jackson Bennett seamlessly fuses together fantasy and sci-fi, politics and mysticism, nature and technology, new life and horrifying deaths. It is another incredible tale that is set to satisfy on every level
