THE TAINTED CUP
The cup of mystery overfloweth
▶ RELEASED OUT NOW! 432 pages | Hardback/ebook/audiobook
▶ Author Robert Jackson Bennett
▶ Publisher Hodderscape
Since making his debut with the Stephen King-esque Mr Shivers in 2010, Robert Jackson Bennett has demonstrated his fluency in horror, fantasy and science fiction. With The Tainted Cup, he combines epic fantasy with a murder mystery.
His protagonist is Dinios Kol, freshly appointed assistant investigator to the brilliant if highly eccentric Ana Dolabra. An “Engraver” with perfect recall, Kol serves as the eyes and ears for the blind and reclusive Dolabra. His first case is the unsettling murder of an Imperial official, killed when a tree suddenly and fatally sprouts from his torso.
The relationship between the two detectives fits the classic blueprint of the oddball genius and their strait-laced assistant, but Bennett compensates for the familiarity of this dynamic by slowly revealing hidden depths to Kol, and with the sheer strength of his prose. The plot is constantly intriguing and the dialogue brisk and lively.