A Drop of Corruption: An Ana and Din Mystery (Shadow of the Leviathan)

By Robert Jackson Bennett

NATIONAL BESTSELLER - The eccentric detective Ana Dolabra matches wits with a seemingly omniscient adversary in this brilliant fantasy-mystery from the author of The Tainted Cup.

"Wonderfully clever and compulsively readable . . . another winning blend of fantasy and classic detection."--Publishers Weekly

In the canton of Yarrowdale, at the very edge of the Empire's reach, a Treasury officer has disappeared into thin air--vanishing from a room within a heavily guarded tower, its door and windows locked from the inside.

To solve the case, the Empire calls on its most brilliant and mercurial detective, the great Ana Dolabra. At her side, as always, is her bemused assistant Dinios Kol.

Ana soon discovers that they are investigating not a disappearance but a murder--and one of surpassing cunning, carried out by an opponent who can pass through warded doors like a ghost.

Worse still, the killer may be targeting the high-security compound known as the Shroud, where the Empire harvests fallen titans for the volatile magic found in their blood. Should it fall, the Empire itself will grind to a halt, robbed of the magic that allows its wheels of power to turn.

Din has seen his superior solve impossible cases before. But as the death toll grows and their quarry predicts each of Ana's moves with uncanny foresight, he fears that she has at last met an enemy she can't defeat.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0593723821
• ISBN13: 9780593723821
• Release Date: April 2025
• Publisher: Del Rey Books
• Length: 480 Pages
• Weight: 1.50 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.5" x 6.4" x 9.5"

Customer Reviews

Murder and giant monsters!

I am so loving this series with Ana and Din! They have so many mysteries only they can solve, this one starting with a locked room murder in the kingdom of Yarrow which though is not part of the Empire, does contain the Shroud, a facility that researches and dissects the dead leviathans for new reagents and ways to survive and fight giant beings of the sea. I like that you learn more about the mystery that is Ana and they way she is, plus what keeps Din going and his own desires for the future. The evolving relationship between Ana and Din plus all the dark and twisty turns this book took made it easy to keep reading long past when I should have put it down. Their world keeps growing too and after this one which takes place on the coast of Yarrow, and the last which was by the sea wall (also on the coast), I am ready for a case that takes us to the inner realms of the Empire (especially after what we learn about Ana!). If you want a super twisty murder mystery in the style of Sherlock and Holmes set in a fantasy empire shadowed by the giant leviathans of the sea attacking every wet season, then you will surely enjoy this series! I am already looking forward to see where the next book leads us and what Ana and Din must figure out to keep the empire safe. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the chance to read this fantastic book in an amazing series!