The Tainted Cup

The Tainted Cup

Author	Robert Jackson Bennett
Language	English
Series	Shadow of the Leviathan
Release number	1
Genre	Fantasy; murder mystery
Published	6 Feb 2024
Publisher	Del Rey Books
Publication place	United States
Pages	410 (hardcover)
ISBN	9781984820709
Followed by	A Drop of Corruption

The Tainted Cup is a 2024 fantasy murder mystery novel by Robert Jackson Bennett. It is the first novel in the Shadow of the Leviathan series and was followed by A Drop of Corruption (2025). The novel is a finalist for the 2025 Hugo Award for Best Novel and the World Fantasy Award.

Plot

Premise

The Empire of Khanum is surrounded by a sea wall. Each wet season, leviathans emerge from the deep ocean and are turned back by imperial weaponry. Imperial citizens live in constant fear of a breach in the walls.

The administrative branch of the Empire includes factions called Iyalets; these include the Iudex (investigators), Legion (armed forces), Engineers (infrastructure), and Apothetikals (botanical modification). Apothetikals use leviathan-derived technology to modify both plants and humans, giving them special powers. Humans who have received apothetikal modifications are called sublimes. Several types of sublimes include engravers (who have perfect memory), axioms (who have incredible mathematical skills), and cracklers (who have enhanced physical strength).

The Empire is divided into various cantons. Years before the start of the story, the canton of Oypat was overrun by a modified plant known as dappleglass. Despite the efforts of the apothetikals, no cure for dappleglass infestation was found. The entire canton was sealed off, and its citizens were evacuated to other regions.

Plot

Dinios Kol, “Din”, is an engraver. He is chosen as the apprentice to Iudex investigator Anagosa Dolabra, “Ana”. The corpse of engineer Taqtasa Blas is found in a mansion owned by the wealthy Haza family. Din is sent to investigate. Blas was poisoned with dappleglass, which caused plant matter to grow instantaneously through his body. Meanwhile, a leviathan breaches the sea wall. Ana and Din learn that the engineers responsible for the wall were killed in the same manner as Blas.

Ana and Din are sent to the canton of Talagray to continue their investigation. There, they are assisted by several imperial citizens. These include Kepheus Strovi, a Legion captain with whom Din eventually begins a romance; Tuwey Uhad, an engraver; Tazi Miljin, a war hero; Ionia Nusis, an apothetikal, and Valiki Kalista, an engineer.

Din learns that all of the dead engineers were part of a secret group. Additionally, there is one missing engineer whose body was not found: Commander Jolgalgan was a survivor of Oypat, the canton which was once destroyed by dappleglass. As Ana and Din track people with connections to the dead engineers, they find more bodies. These corpses include Blas's secretary and a merchant who sold supplies to the Haza family. Ana deduces that at least two killers are involved. The first poisons people with dappleglass; the second is a sublime who kills with a sharp object to the skull.

Fayazi Haza, a daughter of the family, informs Ana that her father Kaygi Haza was murdered at his home on the night of a party. Kaygi was also killed by dappleglass. Din investigates the estate, where he finds dappleglass in the water tank. Dappleglass is triggered by water and heat, making the bathroom an ideal place for poisoning. Din realizes that the ten dead engineers were also present on the night of the party. They were all secretly receiving patronage from the Haza family. Din and the investigators later find Jolgalgan’s body; she was killed by dappleglass when her lab malfunctioned. Finally, Nusis is killed with a blow to the skull.

Ana brings Fayazi Haza to the office of the Iudex. There, she reveals her theory of the case. Jolgalgan kill Blas. She then infiltrated the party at the Haza estate and poisoned the bathwater, eventually killing Kaygi Haza. While Kaygi was in the bath, he drink from a ewer, infecting it with dappleglass spores. During the patronage meeting later that evening, all ten engineers drank from the same ewer, contracting the contagion from the cup and eventually leading to their deaths. Their deaths and the subsequent breach in the sea wall were never intended. Jolgalgan sought revenge against Blas and the Hazas for the destruction of Oypat. The Empire could have saved the canton, but the powerful Haza family blocked production of a cure as part of an economic plan to drive up the value of their own estates.

Fayazi’s axiom is revealed to be a fraud; she is actually a twitch, a sublime with incredible speed and strength. The twitch killed the secretary, the merchant, and Nusis. Ana kills the twitch with dappleglass. Ana reveals that Jolgangan was not the main perpetrator, but rather was an accomplice to the engraver Uhad. Uhad was present at the Haza mansion on the night of Kaygi's murder; he provided a distraction which allowed her to poison the water tank. Uhad has been a long-term servant of the Empire. He was motivated by a desire to combat the corruption of the gentry who allowed the destruction of an entire canton for monetary reasons.

Din is promoted to become a full assistant investigator. He spends time with Strovi in Talagray before he and Ana are sent on their next investigation.

Reception

A review in Kirkus Reviews called the novel "a drawing-room mystery, albeit the drawing room is the size of a small otherworldly kingdom". The review stated that the character of Ana "combines the wiles of Irene Adler with the eccentricities of Sherlock Holmes, including his penchant for narcotics." The review concludes that "the reader fond of faux medieval neologisms and occasional grownup moments ... will enjoy solving the mystery with our heroes." Jake Casella Brookins of Locus also compared the novel to the classic mysteries, stating there are "recognizable but thankfully not-overdone" Sherlock Holmes analogs. He praised Bennett's writing style, noting that the author is "adroit at concisely setting up characters, vividly painting backgrounds, and then using them for eyeball-kicking action sequences". Brookins observed that the plot takes place in "a society that has defined itself entirely in terms of an external threat, and adjusted its moral and legal schemes accordingly," and drew parallels with the manga Attack on Titan.

Martin Cahill of Reactor praised Bennett's "sharp eye for character, his wit and thoughtfulness infusing every corner of imaginative worldbuilding, and combining both to create a thrilling, clever mystery that will keep readers on the hook until the very end." Cahill particularly praised the characters of Din and Ana, calling them "expertly drawn ... given life in such brilliant, bright strokes by such a steady hand." Publishers Weekly gave the novel a starred review, calling it "a fresh and exciting take" on a classic dynamic detective duo.

Awards and honors

Year	Award	Category	Result	Ref.
2024	NPR Books We Love		Listed
2025	Hugo Award	Best Novel	Pending
	Locus Award	Best Fantasy Novel	Finalist
	World Fantasy Award	Best Novel	Pending