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A review by couldbestephen
The Tainted Cup by Robert Jackson Bennett
5.0
Have you ever thought, "Hm, I want to read a mystery novel set in a biopunk world about a queer assistant who uses poppers to aid his older, autistic detective in solving a series of strange murders! And I also wish there were kaiju!" First of all, weird, niche request but you are in luck! Cuz this is it!
A man is dead, killed by the plants that seem to have grown out of his body. Din, a genetically modified human with a perfect memory, is the assistant to Ana, the eccentric investigator who is tasked with solving this mystery. The two quickly find out that this murder was not an isolated incident and that the walls that keep them safe from the leviathans outside are in jeopardy. This Sherlock/Watson style mystery set in a rich world with augmented people is a blast and one I 100% recommend.
Bennett is a solid writer in general, but his characters and their relationships with each other are so well done, and his characters are always my favorite parts of the books. Ana (the detective) and Din (the assistant with a killer memory) are the perfect pair. Their interactions with each other made me laugh, made me giggle, made me kick my heels, they were a delight. I love this dynamic so much; I'm a sucker for the quirky detective with strange habits and their sidekick who is telling the story getting swept up in a grand adventure. It's fun! It's a vibe!
I can see this book being a little too "dense" for casual readers. It's a slow mystery that you aren't really trying to solve as you go? You wait for it to all be revealed to you in pieces. You're dropped into the world right away, with all its terminology and complexity, and it might take a chapter or two to feel steady in the world. I personally wished the small romance between Din and [redacted] was fleshed out a little more, they were so cute together!
Just a delightful read all around, it ticked all the boxes off for what I like in fantasy and mystery.
A man is dead, killed by the plants that seem to have grown out of his body. Din, a genetically modified human with a perfect memory, is the assistant to Ana, the eccentric investigator who is tasked with solving this mystery. The two quickly find out that this murder was not an isolated incident and that the walls that keep them safe from the leviathans outside are in jeopardy. This Sherlock/Watson style mystery set in a rich world with augmented people is a blast and one I 100% recommend.
Bennett is a solid writer in general, but his characters and their relationships with each other are so well done, and his characters are always my favorite parts of the books. Ana (the detective) and Din (the assistant with a killer memory) are the perfect pair. Their interactions with each other made me laugh, made me giggle, made me kick my heels, they were a delight. I love this dynamic so much; I'm a sucker for the quirky detective with strange habits and their sidekick who is telling the story getting swept up in a grand adventure. It's fun! It's a vibe!
I can see this book being a little too "dense" for casual readers. It's a slow mystery that you aren't really trying to solve as you go? You wait for it to all be revealed to you in pieces. You're dropped into the world right away, with all its terminology and complexity, and it might take a chapter or two to feel steady in the world. I personally wished the small romance between Din and [redacted] was fleshed out a little more, they were so cute together!
Just a delightful read all around, it ticked all the boxes off for what I like in fantasy and mystery.