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'A riveting murder mystery wrapped in a twisty conspiracy' FONDA LEE
'A twisty detective story, a weird fantasy, a thrilling adventure' MAX GLADSTONE
In sequel to the Hugo award-winning The Tainted Cup, an eccentric detective matches wits with a seemingly omniscient adversary in this brilliant bio-punk fantasy mystery.
An impossible crime has occurred. A Treasury officer has disappeared into thin air - vanishing from a building whose entrances and exits are all sealed. To solve the case, the Empire calls on its most brilliant and mercurial detective, Ana Dolabra, and her bemused assistant Dinios Kol.
Ana soon discovers they are investigating not a disappearance but a murder - and one of surpassing cunning, carried out by an opponent who can pass through warded doors like a ghost.
Din has seen his superior solve impossible cases before. But as the death toll grows and their quarry predicts each of their moves with uncanny foresight, he fears she has at last met an enemy she can't defeat . . .
READERS LOVE THE SHADOW OF THE LEVIATHAN SERIES
'Dinios kol my disastrous bisexual son is back!! and hes sleep deprived!! he's vomiting!!! he's yearning!!! he's slowly losing his marbles!! he's in severe debt!! he's in way over his head!!'
'Robert Jackson Bennett does it again with A Drop of Corruption, the kind of fantasy-mystery that grips you from the first page and refuses to let go'
'You can always count on RJB to write a stunningly original work of fantasy that's precisely and cunningly crafted to leave its reader feeling bereft and abandoned and craving a sequel like an ember craves air. This was so good. 10/10. Would read again in a heartbeat'
'It's like knives out but if knives out was set in a fantasy world and benoit blanc was an old woman who had hired the most disaster bisexual to be her eyes and ears'
'A murder investigation. No, a coming-of-age. No, a political fantasy. No, a murder investigation. No... well, I don't want to spoil it. Let me just say that I found it rather delightful how my expectations were simultaneously met and thwarted'
'Watson and Holmes but fantasy . . . if Watson is aware that Holmes is a complete crazy person and is a bit terrified of him (actually, her)'
AUTHORS LOVE THE SERIES
'Original, imaginative, and suspenseful, The Tainted Cup superbly blends mystery and fantasy. I couldn't put it down. Give me more of this world and these characters ASAP!' Meg Gardiner
'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. This is a book that has planted roots in my head for the rest of my life' Wesley Chu
'The Tainted Cup is a true fantasy mystery, with a leading duo who stand with Holmes and Watson among the greats. And Bennett sets it all in a squishy, fascinating, biopunk world I'm dying to find out more about. Bring on the next one!' Django Wexler
'A classic murder mystery set against dazzling world-building and sly social commentary. Robert Jackson Bennett doesn't miss' James L. Sutter
- Publisher Name:Hodder & Stoughton
- ISBN: 9781399725446
- Author:Bennett, Robert Jackson
- Publication Date:2026-03-26
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