The Tainted Cup by Robert Jackson Bennett

At the borders of the empire, contagions are abundant, and leviathans threaten the outer rings. The blood of those same leviathans is a key ingredient in magically transforming people to grant powerful abilities. Dinios “Din” Kol is one of those fortunate enough to have been altered. Due to his extremely enhanced memory skills, he has become an “engraver” and these skills are perfect in his role as a new assistant to Ana Dolabra, perhaps, the greatest living detective. And now that the body of a high-level magistrate has been found, murdered by means of aggressive plants exploding from inside his body, Ana and Din have been assigned the case.

While Ana brings her genius for detective sleuthing, she is also an eccentric who prefers to wear a blindfold most of the time so as to not let her vision interrupt her thinking. Din’s perfect memory is ideal for interrogating suspects and witnesses and is able to “play-back” the facts verbatim if required. Useful in discovering discrepancies, to be sure. The murder mystery is off and running, despite the fact that both Ana and Din have secrets of their own.

Author Robert Jackson Bennett has proven many times before that he is a master at building original fantasy worlds, demonstrating in-depth world-building with all the trappings you’d hope for. This first novel in a new series proves it once again. This is a rich world, with unusual circumstances, cultures, and motivations. The reader is plunged into the middle of it all, but Bennett is adept at providing the knowledge necessary for understanding without resorting to massive info dumps that bog down the plot.

Many reviewers compare the mystery elements of this novel to a Sherlock Holmes/Watson experience, but I think a much better analogy are the works of Rex Stout. Here, Din is the fact finder, the one who goes out and about gathering evidence much like Archie Goodwin. We get most of the story from his perspective. Ana, like Nero Wolfe, largely remains behind and waits for the information to come in where she then analyzes, deduces, and brings her genius to bear.

The entire novel moves along swiftly as more deaths occur, and the danger level rises. Din discovers more about himself but his anxiety over his secret threatens to overwhelm him. I loved discovering new abilities in other characters, engineered enhancements like strength, amazing math skills, and another that I shall not divulge for fear of spoilers. There are numerous characters from all walks of life thrown into the mix and like many fantasy novels, the names are not common to our experience and can be tough to keep track of. This is “smart” fantasy to be sure, neither a D&D adventure nor a Hercule Poirot murder mystery. No matter what you call it, it is exceptional, and certainly a fun read. I look forward to the next book in the series, not only for another complex murder mystery but also to learn more of this unique world.

Highly recommended.