Review of The Tainted Cup by Robert Jackson Bennett

I dance in and out of Robert Jackson Bennett's works. I haven't danced out and stayed out because he is, relatively speaking, dynamic in creation. I cannot say he has a wide range of styles, but his stories are not all within one sub-genre and he tries to thread the needle of derivative enough to be familiar yet unique enough to distinguish itself. His latest book, The Tainted Cup (2024), may have just done that.

The Tainted Cup is an agent Mulder-and-Scully murder mystery in a fantasy land. Hill-sized leviathans seasonally come ashore, wrecking havoc on the cities and fields, and magical concoctions and brews allow people to augment themselves in various ways—strength, speed, analytical capability, and memory among them. Seven years ago a savage blight was accidentally unleashed upon the land, and it is still looking to recover.

The Tainted Cup opens as many classic mystery books do: the scene of a murder. In this case its with Dinios Kol, an engraver (person augmented to have perfect memory) who has been sent to the scene by his boss to make an account and investigate. The corpse is most bizarre. Struck through with a massive plant, its tendrils and branches root themselves in the aristocrat's body, all the while shot through the floor and ceiling above and below. This plant-like weapon is reminiscent of the blight that scoured the land not long ago, which puts Din and his savant boss, Ana Dolabra, into high alert: get to the killers before greater destruction is unleashed upon the land.

Fantasy and mystery are potentially oil and water. If everything is possible, then the reader has minimal skin in the game trying to guess the mystery. Bennett avoids this issue by doing the obvious: he deploys worldbuilding to solve the mystery. Another way of putting this is, Dolabra and Din's quest to find the killer steadily unveils more and more of the world.  It's not the who or the how, but the why, and the only way to the answer is through the setting.  This means the success of the book will largely hinge on how much the reader enjoys the world. To be clear, there is a bit of whodunnit, but if you don't enjoy the setting, you won't care who done it.

I enjoyed the setting. It's not overly-complex, doesn't have the tedium of a “magic system”, has a solid balance of micro and macro elements to keep stakes in check, and has personality. No map, guide, or dramatis personae is needed, but yet it is sophisticated enough at the level of plotting, character, and pace to keep the reader engaged, and the world has life. To be clear, the characters are placeholders, but those which occupy the majority of the spotlight are sketched with sharp enough strokes to set them apart in the story, which is all this type of book really needs.

In the end, The Tainted Cup is an enjoyable beach read. Bennett admirably builds a buddy-buddy mystery in a colorful world. The interplay between Din and Kolabra can be delightful, and their investigation moves quickly, ensuring momentum builds and builds. Surprises and twists happen occasionally, keeping readers on their toes. Just don't expect too much substance beneath the entertaining veneer.