Arc Review -- A Drop of Corruption by Robert Jackson Bennett

 

A Drop of Corruption

by Robert Jackson Bennett

Release Date: April 1, 2025

Genre: Fantasy

Age Range: Adult

Series: Shadow of the Leviathan

Proceeded By: The Tainted Cup 

Goodreads Avg. Rating: 4.59 stars

Well, my review is going up about a week later than planned. By sitting on it, I believe my thoughts have fully formed. The second book in this series gives us a broader look into the world. From here, each book is only going to get more intriguing with the depth we learn. One of the main draws of the series, though, is not just the fantastical world but the mystery elements. This shows a new case and mostly stands as its own story in that regard. The case of a missing official in a politically fraught kingdom unearths more questions to push the Empire's best detective to her limits. I loved getting to see more of Ana’s brilliance in action. With the concluding chapter of the novel, I can’t wait to see how Din and Ana tackle their next adventure. Thank you to Netgalley & Random House for the copy to be able to review.

I’ll admit I was a bit confused during the first few chapters only because Din was giving mixed signals about his feelings about past cases and trauma.

A Drop of Corruption took us to another location within the fantasy Empire. The kingdom of Yarrowdale sits on the far eastern side of the empire. Once the book gets started, you learn the Yarrow are not truly even under their control yet. While not fully apart, they have been working together and parts are slowly becoming more imperial over the past century. This influence can be seen most in the main setting of the book, New Town. Yarrow is a coastal town but far from were the leviathans make an issue. With its access to the sea as well as the Great Canal system, it was deemed perfect for the excavation of leviathan materials. The climate seems to be far more humid than the other coastal town we were introduced to before. Just outside of the town is a dense jungle along the canals that led away from Yarrow. All together it makes for a location that seems to have a wildness to the plants as well as the people. Add in a language barrier, and our main characters are left on the wrong foot in their investigation.

In this one, we get to see even more ingenious uses of the plants of this world. As with the first in the series, this remains a fantasy with no magic system. Instead we are given the inventive use of plants and materials to make innovations for every situation. Okay, saying it like that does make it sound a bit like making things in our own world. In the empire, though, they take things a step beyond. As many of their innovations have to do with changing the human body in ways we can’t accomplish. A fine example is our main character, Dinios, as an Engraver, his brain has been altered to never forget anything, thus making him the perfect investigative aid. Then there are the practical applications of using certain special grown plants altered by Leviathan blood as bank locks or air filters.

As with the first novel, Dinios Kohl is the only character we actually see from. Kohl has been working with Ana for almost two years. The Din we see now is a bit more confident in himself, if not for what he does. By this, I mean he is confident in his job with Ana but still feels that they are not doing important work for the empire. Din begins to wish to transfer to the Legion, the soldiers of the Empire that battle against the Leviathans. The past cases Ana and he have solved are affecting him more than he wishes to let on. Even still, for this outing, I didn’t feel as connected to Din and his growth or emotions. The book did display him as lifeless, just that the emotions we got were more in the moment flashes than deeper. 

However, in this book, I feel we were given more answers about Ana Dolbera, though. Well, as much answers as we could put together from what Din found and what we, the reader, see. Ana is still such a fun puzzle of a character. She is eccentric in her genius, and Din has learned to just roll with things that make everyone around them confounded.

From Goodreads --

In the canton of Yarrowdale, at the very edge of the Empire’s reach, an impossible crime has occurred. A Treasury officer has disappeared into thin air—abducted from his quarters while the door and windows remained locked from the inside, in a building whose entrances and exits are all under constant guard.

To solve the case, the Empire calls on its most brilliant and mercurial investigator, the great Ana Dolabra. At her side, as always, is her bemused assistant Dinios Kol.

Before long, Ana’s discovered that they’re not investigating a disappearance, but a murder—and that the killing was just the first chess move by an adversary who seems to be able to pass through warded doors like a ghost, and who can predict every one of Ana’s moves as though they can see the future.

By pushing herself to her limits, Ana was able to uncover the next step in the criminal plot. I’m very happy to say that I figured out at least who they were after, if not necessarily the end goal. While I can understand the motivations behind the person their final moments went rather more chaotic than the meticulously planned out plot that had been pulled off. 

Overall, this was a solid sequel book. Before reading, I had debated if this was going to be a more self-contained story, making the series able to be read in any order. So far, it seems not to be the case. There were numerous call backs to the previous case or just items mentioned that wouldn’t be understood without the details of the first book. The mystery they were solving and character development worked in their own space for the series. While I would have liked more character growth throughout the novel than just Din’s revelations at the end, there was growth to continue to move him forward. 

You can find this book from the retailers below or many others:

Amazon      Penguin Randomhouse