A Drop Of Corruption by Robert Jackson Bennett

How serendipitous that I could finally dive into this right as the preceding book in the Shadow Of The Leviathan series (also an Ana And Din mystery) deservedly won the 2025 Hugo for Best Novel!

I’d venture to say that A Drop of Corruption is even better than The Tainted Cup, and not just because of the excellent, blistering afterword Robert Jackson Bennett includes here. It’s always good to read when genre authors are using their writing less for escapism and more as a way to grapple with the realities of our present-day. It’s even better when they argue against those seeking to use genre as a way to reframe bad concepts into palatable ideals. Let me tell you, when RJB gets mad in his afterword, he gets Big Mad, and rightfully so.

The story itself continues in the strange and magnificent world of the Khanum Empire, a realm beset by the Leviathans that come in from the sea every wet season and threaten to destroy everything in their path. They do not, however, come so far north as here to Yarrowdale, one of the Empire’s vassal kingdoms. The waters here are so safe that the Empire has built one of its greatest research facilities in the harbor, to the benefit of both Imperials and natives.

When a Treasury officer disappears from an unreachable locked room, leaving copious amounts of blood behind him, Imperial Investigator Ana Dolabra is sent to investigate. As is her wont, she sends her assistant Dinius Kol ahead of her to collect evidence and pave the way, so she can seclude herself in her eventual lodgings and digest the information he faithfully brings to her in his capacity as an Engraver, one of those people specially enhanced by the Empire’s research to remember everything they see.

Ana quickly determines that the Treasury officer was murdered, but not in the way that the staging of his quarters would have people believe. The more she and Din investigate, however, the more they’re confounded by an adversary who seems capable of predicting her every move. As biological weapons are uncovered and the fragile negotiations between the Empire and the rulers of Yarrowdale hang in the balance, Ana and Din must race to uncover and stop the ruthless mastermind behind a diabolical plot that doesn’t care how many people it has to murder or maim to affect its executor’s aims.

Full of intrigue and derring-do, this is a terrific sequel to TTC that also does something extraordinary: it begs people to understand that codified legal oversight and infrastructure exist for the very good reason of protecting all of a nation’s citizens. Whether in the form of Ana going after rogue administrators or Din wrestling with his desire to leave the investigative branch of government in order to fight Leviathans on the frontlines, RJB presents an impassioned plea to us all to value our roles in defense of civil society. No government is immune to corruption, but that doesn’t mean that we can let it go unchecked or, worse, persuade ourselves and each other that compassion can be shown only to those at the top and consequences meted only to the powerless. Jake Casella Brookins does a better job of explaining the philosophies on display here in his review at Locus; if you’re interested in the subject of the presentation of autocracy vs the rule of law in fiction, you should definitely give that a read, too.

Honestly, if you enjoy reading intelligent fiction, then this is the book for you. But if you love your mysteries and speculative fiction with a dose of thoughtful examination regarding the real world around us, with a clear-eyed view of governance and civic responsibility, then I can’t recommend this highly enough. Unsurprisingly, ADoC is already on my shortlist of nominations for next year’s Hugos!

A Drop Of Corruption by Robert Jackson Bennett was published April 1 2025 by Del Rey and is available from all good booksellers, including