The Ana and Din Mysteries (The Tainted Cup, A Drop of Corruption, A Trade of Blood)

Fair warning upfront that this will be an unusual book review.

This review will not only contain one, not two, but three book reviews synthesized into one. I don't usually do this, but the Ana and Din Mysteries series by Robert Jackson Bennett is the perfect opportunity for me to do so.

I'd heard of The Tainted Cup in passing, but never gave it a full chance. When I looked more into it, I was immediately intrigued: a mystery set in a high fantasy? How unusual…and intriguing.

I had no expectations of book one, but soon found myself finishing it in a matter of days and then devouring the second book in the series, A Drop of Corruption, and then becoming elated when I found out that Robert Jackson Bennett was coming out with the third book in the series on August 4th.

I finished A Drop of Corruption on the 3rd and then picked up book three the very next day. It was a truly magical process and one that I couldn't have planned better myself if I tried.

So not only have I been in the throes of a good series (you always know where your next hit is going to come from without any in-between or researching TBR lists), but it's also the most topical I've been in a while (Flowers for Algernon was fantastic, but not exactly recent).

So instead of three individual reviews for the Ana and Din mystery books, I'll instead write one cohesive review covering all three. That means it will be more of an overall compare and contrast than my regular reviews, but I hope people enjoy the change of pace regardless.

We'll start off with the most basic: the mysteries.

These books are incredibly procedural. Much more than I was expecting, but a facet I adore about these books nonetheless. I think the previous prevailing idea is that you can't have a true, procedural investigative crime book set in a fantasy world.

That wouldn't work. That would be crazy, people would say, but that's exactly what Bennett does because his world allows it.

Bennett's world has rules, parameters, and regulations. Magic isn't running amok arbitrarily in the streets. It does exist, mainly in the forms of grafts, potions, and augmentations, but all of these are heavily regulated by the government and all seemingly have consequential effects.

For example, our main protagonist, Din, is an Engraver, meaning he has perfect recall and photographic memory of everything. However, because of that, his skin is tinged gray as a result of the augmentations, and Engravers in particular are known for losing their sanity after several years as the escape of forgetfulness is no longer awarded to them.

So because Bennett created a world that makes sense and has rules, the procedural investigative mysteries, the likes of Agatha Christie, suddenly become possible.

In terms of pure mystery, book one still takes the cake.

It's new, it's gruesome (a tree-like growth called Dappleglass is suddenly bursting from the skulls of important soldiers and officers), everything is fascinating, and you're getting the most characterization from both characters.

Din, our token assistant investigator with a perfect memory and a sour attitude, and his lead investigator, Ana, a bizarre, but supremely smart woman who is overstimulated to the point that she handicaps herself with a blindfold, but also can see clues, make connections, and draw the dots unlike anyone else in the empire.

The mystery takes place in Talgary, a city near the sea walls that are constantly barraged and afflicted by the leviathans, monstrous sea creatures that rise from the waters and attempt to infiltrate the Empire, leaving destruction and devastation in their wake. No one knows why.

The added tension and fear of being in a location buffeted every second with potential death and devourment are delicious. The mystery itself is constantly moving, evolving, and adapting, leading from a clue, to an intense interrogation, to a sudden fight scene, to a revelatory moment, and then rinse and repeat.

I loved learning about the world, the magic system, the history, the Empire, the side characters like Strovi and Miljin, being introduced to and then slowly loving Ana and Din and their oil-and-water relationship that just somehow works. It's funny, it's sad, it's heartwarming, it's unique.

It's so much fun.

All of it.

The second mystery, the one contained in A Drop of Corruption, is, full disclosure, my least favorite one. First off, the book takes place in a swamp. I just hate swamps. Name one good thing that has taken place in a swamp, I dare you. The closest I can get is the swamp episode in Avatar: The Last Airbender, and that's only because it's in Avatar.

While I still liked the book as a whole, I definitely didn't like the mystery as much (classic locked room to start) as it delved into a smart serial killer stereotype and transformed into commentary about the empire and the neighboring Kingdom of Yarrow, and I found that I just didn't…care. I didn't care about the politics, the setting, or even the side characters like Malo.

I did think the Shroud was really interesting (the site where they dissect and extract fluids and tissues from felled leviathans), but that was it. Otherwise, book two was the tiny blip on the radar.

Even the characters felt worse to me. Not only did it seem like we didn't get any new, good information and characterization about Ana and Din, but the new facets of knowledge we did get, I didn't like.

For example, Din is suddenly promiscuous? I don't get it. I'm not against characters displaying licentious behaviors, but it comes out of nowhere. It doesn't seem to fit his personality, his interests, or his behavior from book one. I didn't like this particular revelation or some of Ana's as it just seemed to be…a strange choice of Bennett's.

While overall I still liked the mystery, seeing more of the world, and expanding my understanding of the Empire, it was definitely the least interesting to me in almost every category listed.

The last book, A Trade of Blood, I also really enjoyed (although if there was one thing Bennett needed to work on, it would be his titles—generic much?).

Once again, we move to a different city and ring of the empire, this time to the canton of Sapirdad in the third ring. Here, the mystery mainly revolves around the rivalry of two families: the Armentas and the Buravs.

The Armentas got rich off of enhancing and augmenting cattle to feed the empire, while the Buravs got rich after advancing a way to grow feed for the cattle. A yin-and-yang rivalry where they hate each other, but they need each other.

The setting is more interesting, the family rivalry is more dramatic, the side characters like Commander Tauri and his "soil-eaters," I greatly enjoyed, as well as Din's sister Fotia, and the case itself is bringing us closer and closer to the book's inner empire and inner secrets.

We got more backstory on Din and Ana, and Din's wanton behaviors were nowhere to be seen in this novel. Overall, the third book was a great addition to this series and one that I would put just barely behind book one, but still immensely fun and deliciously convoluted.

As a whole, Bennett's writing is well done. I wouldn't say that his writing moves me or that it's particularly beautiful or creative, but it is very consistent. Bennett is a very fast-paced writer, a difficult feat to accomplish when you're beholden to mystery parameters, but he succeeds at it to a great degree.

The book is always moving, always pivoting from one key moment to the next. This keeps the book from getting dull and keeps interest very high. I almost wouldn't mind if he slowed down a bit so we could get slightly more characterization, especially for Ana and Din, but that's a baby critique.

One of my biggest takeaways from this whole series, other than the novelty of having a very procedural investigation set in a complex fantasy world, was just how fun this book was.

This might seem banal, but being entertained by a good story with good characters and good plot cannot be overstated. Is it the most brilliant thing I've ever read? No. Is it the best magical world I've ever seen crafted? Or even the most intense mystery? Double no.

But that's okay. This story shines because despite the corruption of the government or the danger of the leviathans or the many, many gruesome murders that occur, the book is entertaining and joyful. It's funny. It makes you want to keep reading and it's easy to do so.

Finding one book that does this is a brilliant stroke of good luck.

Finding a whole three-book series with more on the way with amazingly consistent quality, progression, and amusement? Priceless.

Recommendation: If you like mysteries, and you like crime, and you like fantasy, this book series is for you. Seriously, it's that simple.

Scores:

The Tainted Cup – 8/10

A Drop of Corruption – 7/10

A Trade of Blood – 8/10