The Tainted Cup
About
HUGO AWARD WINNER • NATIONAL BESTSELLER • A Holmes and Watson–style detective duo take the stage in this fantasy with a mystery twist, from acclaimed author Robert Jackson Bennett
“Like an endearing fantasy version of Knives Out … A great murder mystery is hard to pull off but Bennett structures his perfectly, and the fact that it’s in a fantasy setting only makes it better.”—T. J. Klune, The New York Times
WORLD FANTASY AWARD FINALIST • LOCUS AWARD FINALIST • EDGAR AWARD NOMINEE
A BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR: The New York Times Book Review, NPR, Elle, BookPage
In Daretana’s greatest mansion, a high imperial officer lies dead—killed, to all appearances, when a tree erupted from his body. Even here at the Empire’s borders, where contagions abound and the blood of the leviathans works strange magical changes, it’s a death both terrifying and impossible.
Assigned to investigate is Ana Dolabra, a detective whose reputation for brilliance is matched only by her eccentricities. Rumor has it that she wears a blindfold at all times, and that she can solve impossible cases without even stepping outside the walls of her home.
At her side is her new assistant, Dinios Kol, magically altered in ways that make him the perfect aide to Ana’s brilliance. Din is at turns scandalized, perplexed, and utterly infuriated by his new superior—but as the case unfolds and he watches Ana’s mind leap from one startling deduction to the next, he must admit that she is, indeed, the Empire’s greatest detective.
As the two close in on a mastermind and uncover a scheme that threatens the Empire itself, Din realizes he’s barely begun to assemble the puzzle that is Ana Dolabra—and wonders how long he’ll be able to keep his own secrets safe from her piercing intellect.
By an “endlessly inventive” (Vulture) author with a “wicked sense of humor” (NPR), The Tainted Cup mixes the charms of detective fiction with brilliant world-building to deliver a fiendishly clever mystery that’s at once instantly recognizable and thrillingly new.
Review
Holy fucking shit, one of my new all-time favorites. An absolute blast from start to finish.
Unchaptered
p. 55
“I find that reducing one or several senses often makes it far easier to absorb information, and think.“
Characters: Ana Dolabra
p. 65
You can’t predict the madness of men. Projecting motives is a fool’s game, but how they do it—that’s a matter of matter, moving real things about in real space. The question of how a knife was forged in one place and then traveled across the countryside to be buried in the throat of some dumb bastard entails a lot of tangible, definite facts.
Characters: Ana Dolabra
p. 67
Fiddling with something interesting is a very elating thing.
Characters: Ana Dolabra
p. 97
That’s the nature of Khanum, eh? Safety and security for strangeness. Many are willing to make the deal.”
Characters: Ana Dolabra
p. 155
“The thing about war, boy, is while it happens, you’ve no idea what’s going on—and when it’s over, everyone spends the rest of your life telling you what you did.
Characters: Tazi Miljin
p. 170
“One needs isolation for the mind to focus,” she snapped at me. “If you want to get no work done, get an office with a beautiful view. But if you want to parse all your problems, yo—fuck.”
Characters: Ana Dolabra
p. 172
I am reluctant to assume maliciousness when incompetence is a better explanation.
Characters: Ana Dolabra
p. 239
“But I couldn’t bear it. I simply could not bear the absurd amount of bullshit being poured at our feet.”
Characters: Ana Dolabra
p. 286
“You did well, boy,” said Ana quietly. “Well to look and see as you did… And well to resist Fayazi’s temptations. She shook her head, disgusted. “What a tool cynicism is to the corrupt, claiming the whole of the creation is broken and fraudulent, and thus we are all excused to indulge in whatever sins we wish —for what’s a little more unfairness, in this unfair world? Wise you were, Din, to shut your ears to it.”
Characters: Ana Dolabra, Dinios Kol
p. 318
“There are many ways to an early grave in this canton, and pairing a hungry belly with a tired mind is surely one of them.”
Characters: Tazi Miljin
p. 340
“It feels wrong because it is wrong, Din,” she said. “Civilization is often a task that is only barely managed. But harden your heart and slow your blood. The towers of justice are built one brick at a time. We have more to build yet.”
Characters: Ana Dolabra, Dinios Kol
p. 341
“It’s not all this!” she said. She waved her hand at the shuttered window. “It’s not all walls and death and plotting! Nor is it dreary dispensations and bureaucracy! We do these ugly, dull things for a reason—to make a space where folk can live, celebrate, and know joy and love. So. Go to the banquet, Dinios. Otherwise, I’ll find some truly dreadful shit for you to do.”
Characters: Ana Dolabra, Dinios Kol
p. 382
“Hm… the waiting is the awful part,” she said. “I’ve prepared to die many times in my life. I did last night, as I made my trap. I did this morn, as I poisoned my own rooms. Perhaps it is a wise thing, to prepare for death every day, just as the Empire prepares for death every wet season.”
Characters: Ana Dolabra
p. 384
“I chose you,” she said, “because I needed an investigator who was resourceful, cunning, and willing to break the rules when necessary. I needed someone dedicated and determined! You had not only broken into an Iyalet office and spent hours learning the answers to all the tests. You had somehow survived your engraver’s training despite having tremendous issues reading and writing! That speaks to bloody-minded, grim determination if I’ve ever heard it!”
Characters: Ana Dolabra, Dinios Kol
p. 403
“Oh, yes. For the Empire is huge. Complex. Often unwieldy and slow. And in many places, weak. A massive colossus, stretching out across the cantons, one in whose shadow we all live… and yet it is prone to wounds, infections, fevers, and ill humors. But its strangest feature is that the more its citizens feel it is broken, the more broken it actually becomes. Just look at Uhad. It must be tended to, as you said. For without this tending, the Empire shall fail. Yet it’s rather tricky to tend to something from inside it, yes?”
Characters: Ana Dolabra