I enjoyed Robert Jackson Bennett’s first Ana and Din Mystery, A Tainted Cup (2024) so I was looking forward to the sequel, A Drop of Corruption (2025). Ana Dolabra (a genius who frequently wears a blindfold to suppress sensations) and her hand-picked assistant, hunky Dinios Kol, travel to the canton of Yarrowdale to investigate the mysterious death of an Imperial Treasury official.
Yarrowdale is best known for its island that houses The Shroud, a site for the processing of the gigantic Leviathan bodies. Leviathans occasionally attack cities of the Empire and cause widespread death and destruction. But the select few at The Shroud harvest the bodies of the Leviathans to produce incredible reagents that can cure diseases and boost life expectancy.
Ana and Din’s investigation link the murder of the Empire official with the secrets hidden in The Shroud. The implications lead Ana to believe the murderer intends to destroy the Empire.
If you’re in the mood for a mystery with long tentacles and a mind-boggling plot, A Drop of Corruption presents the perfect Summer Beach Read. GRADE: B+
” . . . the select few at The Shroud harvest the bodies of the Leviathans to produce incredible reagents that can cure diseases and boost life expectancy.” I hope they work better than RFKJr’s crackpot prescriptions. I’ll pass on this one. Sounds like a mashup of Randall Garrett’s Lord Darcy, Modesty Blaise & Willie Garvin (“hand-picked assistant, hunky Dinios Kol”), and Lovecraft & Dagon.
Fred, actually, A DROP OF CORRUPTION is a mash-up of Nero Wolfe and Brandon Sanderson.
Even the photo and cover didn’t at first twig me to the fantasy element (and where did that photo come from?), but it’s a sleepy Sunday morning for me. A Stout/Sanderson heir isn’t the worst rec, but if it reminded you more of Avram Davidson’s Doctor Eszterhazy stories, you definitely would’ve have shaken me awake. It does sound amusing.
Yes, that cover baffled me too.
Jeff, I guess some Artificial Intelligence program designed the cover for A DROP OF CORRUPTION. The book is a lot better than the cover.
Todd, using the Nero Wolfe model perfected by Rex Stout and setting the mysteries in a fantasy world makes Robert Jackson Bennett a writer to watch.
Yes, the cover is strange.
Patti, maybe someone in the Editorial Department thought that the cover would be “eye-catching.” It is, but in a Bad Way.