A Drop of Corruption, Robert Jackson Bennett
A Drop of Corruption, Robert Jackson Bennett
List: $25.00 | Sale: $17.50
Club: $12.50

A Drop of Corruption
An Ana and Din Mystery

Author: Robert Jackson Bennett

Narrator: Andrew Fallaize

Unabridged: 15 hr 51 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 04/01/2025


Synopsis

NATIONAL BESTSELLER • 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.

About Robert Jackson Bennett

Robert Jackson Bennett is the author of Foundryside and the Divine Cities trilogy, which was a 2018 Hugo Awards finalist in the Best Series category. The first book in the series, City of Stairs, was also a finalist for the World Fantasy and Locus Awards, and the second, City of Blades, was a finalist for the World Fantasy, Locus, and British Fantasy Awards. His previous novels, which include American Elsewhere and Mr. Shivers, have received the Edgar Award, the Shirley Jackson Award, and the Philip K. Dick Citation of Excellence. He lives in Austin with his family.


Reviews

Goodreads review by Emily May on March 07, 2025

4 1/2 stars. Even better than The Tainted Cup! I am having so much fun with this series. Even though it is a high fantasy setting with an incredibly detailed world, the tone of the stories reminds me very much of urban fantasy mysteries I've enjoyed over the years. Once again, the plot is a murder my......more

Goodreads review by Nilufer on March 07, 2025

I'm addicted to this fantasy thriller series, and I can honestly read dozens of sequel books as long as Robert Jackson Bennett keeps writing them. Thankfully, one of the quirkiest and most unusual investigation duos with unique searching skills and powers is back: Ladies and gentlemen, let's give a......more

Goodreads review by Fairuz ᥫ᭡. on March 22, 2025

4.25 STARS! 🌟 Huge thanks to Random House Publishing Group - Del Rey, Random House Worlds, Inklore | Del Rey for the ARC via NetGalley! 💌 A locked-room mystery, an eccentric genius detective, and a high-stakes fantasy world where magic is everything? SIGN ME UP. 😩🔥 Ana Dolabra is BACK, and she's as un......more

Goodreads review by Evie on April 02, 2025

✨Happy Release Day ✨ ‘The Tainted Cup’ was one of my favourite reads of 2024 and ‘A Drop of Corruption’ was lined up to be one of my most anticipated reads of 2025, so I feel both incredibly blessed, and also kind of cheeky, that I was fortunate enough to get an early copy of this book, which I then......more

Goodreads review by Holly Hearts Books on March 16, 2025

2025 has been bringing banger after banger in the adult fantasy space and thankfully this extends to sequels because holy crap this was GOOD. The Shadow of the Leviathan series pushes the conventions you’d expect of similarly written mystery fantasy books. Sure, there aren’t many books like this out......more


Quotes

“Utterly addictive . . . Great fantasy detective stories are too rare, but Bennett . . . more than delivers.”The Washington Post

“A thoroughly satisfying delight from start to finish.”The New York Times Book Review

“Superb . . . [Bennett] writes the kind of fun, propulsive work that kept my teenage self scouring the shelves for the next installment.”Locus

“A genre-spanning mystery masterpiece.”Reactor

A Drop of Corruption lives up to, and . . . surpasses, the high bar The Tainted Cup set last year . . . once again delivering a tantalizing mystery that will leave you guessing to the very end.”—Polygon

“This Holmes and Watson–like investigative duo are compelling to follow, and the truly epic fantasy world where the series is set, with its falling empire, corrupt politics, and magic pharmacopeia engineered from monster blood, takes the familiarity of mystery and creates a truly fantastic fever-dream of a world and a story.”—Library Journal, starred review

“While criminal masterminds are too often limited by the imaginations of their creators, author Robert Jackson Bennett has crafted a plot that’s impossible to predict but perfectly believable once all the pieces come into clear view . . . A labyrinthine mystery supported by a compelling cast, A Drop of Corruption is a strong second entry in the logbook of Ana Dolabra.”—BookPage, starred review

“Fans of the . . . series will be pleased to reenter this fantastical mystery world and to explore more of Ana’s confounding abilities and Din’s personal struggles.”—Booklist, starred review

“Bennett’s wonderfully clever and compulsively readable sequel to 2024’s The Tainted Cup offers another winning blend of fantasy and classic detection. . . . Bennett skillfully integrates humor and magic into the complex puzzle plot and plays fair with planting clues for the reader.”—Publishers Weekly

“A grand entertainment, as ever with Bennett’s richly imaginative yarns.”—Kirkus Reviews