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The Tainted Cup
Summary
The Tainted Cup, by Robert Jackson Bennett, is a detective novel set inside a very strange fantasy world. The empire lives behind giant walls, because monsters the size of mountains crawl out of the sea. Their blood fuels an odd science of plants, body alterations and poisons.
Din is a young assistant with an enhanced memory: he remembers everything he sees, word for word. His job is to be the eyes of Ana Dolabra, a brilliant, eccentric investigator who almost never leaves the house and cracks cases by listening to his reports.
The case that opens the book is chilling. An imperial officer turns up dead at a country estate, with a tree that sprouted from inside his body. It looks like an accident with the altered plants, but Ana suspects murder, and the investigation pulls the pair into the halls of power near the wall.
The partnership nods to Sherlock Holmes and Watson, with fantasy, humor and plenty of deduction.
Awards and nominees
- Hugo Awards 2025 · Best Novel
Beat: A Sorceress Comes to Call, Alien Clay, Someone You Can Build a Nest In, The Ministry of Time, Service Model
Trivia
- It's the first book in the Shadow of the Leviathan series. The sequel, A Drop of Corruption, was a Best Novel Hugo finalist in 2026.
- In the 2025 race it beat Kaliane Bradley's The Ministry of Time and two Adrian Tchaikovsky novels, Alien Clay and Service Model.
Characters
- Dinios "Din" KolAn investigator's assistant with an enhanced memory, and the book's narrator.
- Ana DolabraA brilliant, eccentric investigator who solves cases without leaving the house.
Sources: reactormag.com · thehugoawards.org
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