An Ana and Din Mystery
The eccentric detective Ana Dolabra matches wits with a seemingly omniscient adversary in this brilliant fantasy-mystery from the author of The Tainted Cup.
“Wonderfully clever and compulsively readable . . . another winning blend of fantasy and classic detection.”—Publishers Weekly
In the canton of Yarrowdale, at the very edge of the Empire’s reach, a Treasury officer has disappeared into thin air—vanishing from a room within a heavily guarded tower, its door and windows locked from the inside.
To solve the case, the Empire calls on its most …
The eccentric detective Ana Dolabra matches wits with a seemingly omniscient adversary in this brilliant fantasy-mystery from the author of The Tainted Cup.
“Wonderfully clever and compulsively readable . . . another winning blend of fantasy and classic detection.”—Publishers Weekly
In the canton of Yarrowdale, at the very edge of the Empire’s reach, a Treasury officer has disappeared into thin air—vanishing from a room within a heavily guarded tower, its door and windows locked from the inside.
To solve the case, the Empire calls on its most brilliant and mercurial detective, the great Ana Dolabra. At her side, as always, is her bemused assistant Dinios Kol.
Ana soon discovers that they are investigating not a disappearance but a murder—and one of surpassing cunning, carried out by an opponent who can pass through warded doors like a ghost.
Worse still, the killer may be targeting the high-security compound known as the Shroud, where the Empire harvests fallen titans for the volatile magic found in their blood. Should it fall, the Empire itself will grind to a halt, robbed of the magic that allows its wheels of power to turn.
Din has seen his superior solve impossible cases before. But as the death toll grows and their quarry predicts each of Ana’s moves with uncanny foresight, he fears that she has at last met an enemy she can’t defeat.
432 pages
English language
Published April 1, 2025 by Del Rey.
A Drop of Corruption was a great followup to The Tainted Cup.
I love the universe, it's so delightfully weird and mysterious. Additionally, I appreciate that Din, despite being A Watson, actually does the majority of solving things and unraveling the story, instead of just floundering around until his Holmes solves everything.
I enjoyed the incredible world-building of The Tainted Cup and I was vaguely worried that the sequel would mostly want to roll around in the world as described rather than giving us more. My concerns could not have been more misplaced. A Drop of Corruption effortlessly recaptures the creativity of the first novel and manages to advance all three of (what I think of as) the main threads while seamlessly pulling off another mystery which is candidly more creative than most of Doyle's work.
The key elements I see progressing here are (1) our macro understanding of the world: this bioengineered Roman-æsthetic empire, how it works, how it got this way, and what surrounds it; (2) the relationship between Dolabra (Holmes) and Kol (Watson); and (3) Dolabra's schemes, larger identity, and role within the empire. Beautifully, A Drop of Corruption lets us explore all three!
The story locates …
I enjoyed the incredible world-building of The Tainted Cup and I was vaguely worried that the sequel would mostly want to roll around in the world as described rather than giving us more. My concerns could not have been more misplaced. A Drop of Corruption effortlessly recaptures the creativity of the first novel and manages to advance all three of (what I think of as) the main threads while seamlessly pulling off another mystery which is candidly more creative than most of Doyle's work.
The key elements I see progressing here are (1) our macro understanding of the world: this bioengineered Roman-æsthetic empire, how it works, how it got this way, and what surrounds it; (2) the relationship between Dolabra (Holmes) and Kol (Watson); and (3) Dolabra's schemes, larger identity, and role within the empire. Beautifully, A Drop of Corruption lets us explore all three!
The story locates us on the edge of the empire where an independent polity is negotiating its accession into the empire, with all the legal and logistical complexity that entails. We see this outside region — Yarrowdale, which has something of a high fantasy vibe — through the lens of an imperial perspective, allowing Bennet to articulate nuances about the world through the juxtaposition of the two societies. This locality is also home to a major imperial bioengineering lab, working with the dangerous but valuable biology of the Kaiju around which the entire empire is organized. This naturally creates the opportunity to learn more about this apparently-secretive imperial branch layered as the investigation demands more access to their secrets and projects.
The crime/plot/mystery they're sent to unravel is delightfully centered on this power triangle between the empire, Yarrowdale, and the imperial bioengineering corps, and gives us an adversary very precisely tuned to be an interesting challenge for Dolabra, while creating exciting set-pieces for us to enjoy along the way. I think the pacing was perfect and the payoff was satisfying. Overall, another excellent installment which leaves me eager for the next one.
In a weird Empire whose basis is genetic change wrought by titan’s blood and uniting to hold back these same monstrous titans as they try and migrate out of the sea annually, Ana and Din are a Sherlock and Watson pair, sent to solve crimes and dispense justice across the Empire.
This story sees them actually outside the Empire itself, where the titans’ blood is extracted, delving into an incomprehensible crime whose ramifications gradually become Empire-threatening if the criminal is left unchecked.
Absolutely great stuff, and even better than the first in the series in some ways. And the afterword by the author shows just how intentionally he has tackled certain subjects, which is also extremely impressive. I loved every word of it and hope he has a 3rd story in him of equal caliber!
