The Tainted Cup by Robert Jackson Bennett

 

The Tainted Cup is the first "wow" book of the year. This is a brilliant detective novel in a fantasy setting that is marvelously inventive.

Ana Dolabra is an eccentric investigator sent to the outer reaches of the Khanum Empire. Young Dinios Kol is hired as her apprentice assistant. In the four months she has been there, their investigations have mostly involved pay fraud. When a dead body is discovered in a home belonging to the wealthy Haza family, she dispatches Kol to investigate.

Ana prefers to never leave her home, sitting blindfolded so as not to be distracted as she considers information. Kol has been specially altered to be an Engraver, able to recall everything he sees, hears, and smells in the smallest details. He serves as Ana's eyes and ears. When Kol reaches the Haza mansion, he discovers Commander Taqtasa Blas who appears to have had a tree sprout from inside him, rendering him quite dead. Ana is intrigued by this fascinating mystery, which soon finds her summoned to the city of Talagray, which stands near the giant seawall built to keep out the leviathans that approach every wet season. Failure to stop the leviathans would threaten the entire empire. 

More murders indicate that a complicated plot may be afoot, with implications for the entire empire. Some delicacy is required as the nobles and the items they produce on their vast lands are important to the functioning of the empire. The Haza family is nearly as wealthy as the Emperor, requiring even greater deference. Deference does not come naturally to Ana Dolabra. Finding the answers and preventing disaster may challenge even her formidable intellect.

This is first and foremost an excellent mystery. It is deeply intriguing and for each part of the mystery that is solved another is uncovered, more fascinating than the last. The fantasy elements are interwoven so unobtrusively that you may not even realize how much about this amazing world you have absorbed. 

Robert Jackson Bennett notes in the acknowledgments that Ana was inspired by Nero Wolfe, even if elements of Hannibal Lecter crept in. Of all the great detectives, Nero Wolfe is at the top of my list and it is easy to see how Ana sprang from that inspiration, even as I suspect she quickly took on agency of her own. I hope that this will inspire some who love this book to seek out the Nero Wolfe books by Rex Stout, or even better, the outstanding audiobooks narrated by Michael Prichard, who is forever the voice of Nero Wolfe in my head. 

The Tainted Cup is easily my favorite book of the year so far, and I am confident it will remain one of my favorite reads when 2024 ends. Mystery and fantasy fans will be equally delighted. I can't wait for the next book!

I was provided a copy of this book by the publisher.