Fantasy · TenseIn an empire walled against leviathans, a young engraver assists an eccentric investigator after a murder
The Tainted Cup
A detective duo in a world built against monsters
Del Rey published the novel on 6 February 2024, and the first edition has 410 pages. It is the first book of the Shadow of the Leviathan series, followed by A Drop of Corruption (2025). It is set in the Empire of Khanum, which is protected by a sea wall against leviathans. Din Kol is a young engraver, a sublime with perfect memory, who becomes an investigator's assistant. Ana Dolabra is an eccentric Iudex investigator. The case reveals a poison called dappleglass.
More about this book
Who
Dinios "Din" Kol, Anagosa "Ana" Dolabra and Kepheus Strovi.
World
The Empire of Khanum, behind a sea wall against leviathans.
What makes it different
It won the Hugo and the World Fantasy Award in 2025. Reviewers compared its detective pair to Sherlock Holmes analogs.
Feel
Clever and uneasy.
Page count and cover shown for: Selected edition
Further reading
- The Tainted CupWikipedia