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A Drop of Corruption

the gripping biopunk murder mystery sequel to The Tainted Cup
By Robert Jackson Bennett
Series: Shadow of the Leviathan
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Brief Description
An impossible crime has occurred. A Treasury officer has disappeared into thin air - vanishing from a building whose entrances and exits are all sealed. To solve the case, the Empire calls on its most brilliant and mercurial detective, Ana Dolabra, and her bemused assistant Dinos... Read More
Format: Paperback / softback
$2500
Elsewhere:
$2799
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In sequel to the Hugo award-winning The Tainted Cup, an eccentric detective matches wits with a seemingly omniscient adversary in this brilliant bio-punk fantasy mystery.

Book Hero Magic formatted this description to make it easier to read. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! Description
An impossible crime has occurred. A Treasury officer has disappeared into thin air - vanishing from a building whose entrances and exits are all sealed. To solve the case, the Empire calls on its most brilliant and mercurial detective, Ana Dolabra, and her bemused assistant Dinos Kol.

Ana soon discovers 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.

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

Lists

2026 Hugo Award for Best Novel Finalists

Series: Shadow of the Leviathan

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  • A Drop of Corruption
    An impossible crime has occurred. A Treasury officer has disappeared into thin air - vanishing from a building whose entrances and exits are all sealed. To solve the case, the Empire calls on its most brilliant and mercurial detective, Ana Dolabra, and her bemused assistant Dinos Kol. Ana soon discovers they are investigating not a disappearance but a murder -...
    By Robert Jackson Bennett
    Paperback
    $2500
    Elsewhere:
    $2799
    (1)
    In Stock
    Ships today
  • Pre-order
    A Trade of Blood
    In the canton of Sapirdad, two of the Empire's most powerful families are moments away from going to war with each other, their hundreds of retainers gathered with swords drawn. If blood is spilled, the whole of the empire may be plunged into starvation and chaos. To deescalate matters, someone must do the impossible: prove that one family's eldest son...
    By Robert Jackson Bennett
    Paperback
    $3199
    Elsewhere:
    $3799
    Pre-order
    Out 11 Aug 2026
  • Pre-order
    A Trade of Blood
    In the canton of Sapirdad, two of the Empire's most powerful families are moments away from going to war with each other, their hundreds of retainers gathered with swords drawn. If blood is spilled, the whole of the empire may be plunged into starvation and chaos. To deescalate matters, someone must do the impossible: prove that one family's eldest son...
    By Robert Jackson Bennett
    Hardback
    $6000
    Pre-order
    Out 10 Aug 2026
  • A Trade of Blood
    Brilliant detective Ana Dolabra must prove a man's innocence to stop a civil war in the third book of the series that began with The Tainted Cup, named an Edgar, Hugo, and World Fantasy Award Finalist and one of the best books of the year (New York Times Book Review, NPR, Elle)—from the bestselling author of The Founders Trilogy. “Great...
    By Robert Jackson Bennett
    Hardback
    $7500
    Available
    Ships in 2-3 weeks

Book Details

INFORMATION

ISBN: 9781399725446

Publisher: Hodder & Stoughton

Format: Paperback / softback

Date Published: 26 March 2026

Country: United Kingdom

Imprint: Hodderscape

Audience: General / adult

DIMENSIONS

Spine width: 34.0mm

Width: 122.0mm

Height: 192.0mm

Weight: 340g

Pages: 480

Collections

2025 Best Sellers Best Sellers at Book Hero Best Selling Books Crime & Thriller Fantasy Fiction General Fiction Horror & Supernatural In Stock Books In-Stock Fiction Books New Release Fiction Robert Jackson Bennett Sci-Fi & Fantasy Series: Shadow of the Leviathan

About the Author

Robert is the author of American Elsewhere, The Troupe, The Company Man, Mr. Shivers, as well as The Divine Cities trilogy and The Founders Trilogy. The final installment of The Founders Trilogy, LOCKLANDS, is in stores June of 2022.

His work has received the Edgar Award, the Shirley Jackson Award, and the Phillip K. Dick Citation of Excellence, and he has been shortlisted for the World Fantasy, British Fantasy, and Locus Awards.

Also by Robert Jackson Bennett

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  • The Tainted Cup
    A peculiar crime. A brilliant investigator. A mystery of epic proportions. In an opulent mansion at the borders of the Empire, an Imperial officer lies dead—killed when a tree spontaneously erupted from his body. Even here, where contagions abound and the blood of the Leviathans works strange magical changes, it's a death at once terrifying and impossible. Called in to...
    By Robert Jackson Bennett
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    $2500
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    (1)
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    Ships today
  • Foundryside
    Foundryside is a captivating beginning to a thrilling new epic fantasy series crafted by Robert Jackson Bennett. Enter the world of Tevanne, a city thriving on scrivings—industrialised magical inscriptions that endow lifeless objects with consciousness. From the wheels of carriages to the looming walls of its great buildings, scrivings fuel the lifeblood of the city, ushering in incredible advancements and...
    By Robert Jackson Bennett
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    $2999
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  • City of Stairs
    You've got to be careful when you're chasing a murderer through Bulikov, for the world is not as it should be in that city. When the gods were destroyed and all worship of them banned by the Polis, reality folded; now stairs lead to nowhere, alleyways have become portals to the past, and criminals disappear into thin air. The murder...
    By Robert Jackson Bennett
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  • City of Blades
    Do the dead sleep soundly in the land of death - or do they have plans of their own? A generation ago, the city of Voortyashtan was the stronghold of the god of war and death, the birthplace of fearsome supernatural sentinels who killed and subjugated millions. But that was then. Now the god is dead and the city lies...
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  • Locklands
    Once, Sancia Grado was just a thief with a grudge and a rare talent. Then she learned how to use that talent and beat the great merchant houses of Tevanne at their own game. With Clef and Berenice, she even saw off an immortal hierophant—but the war they're fighting now is one they know they can't win. Absolutely riveting ....
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  • City of Miracles
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  • City of Miracles
    Sigrud je Harkvaldsson is back, and this time he's out for vengeance. Shara Komayd, once Prime Minister of Saypur, has been assassinated. News travels fast and far, even to a remote logging town somewhere northwest of Bulikov, where the silent Dreyling worker 'Bjorn' picks up the newspaper and walks out. He is shocked, grieved, and furious; he's been waiting thirteen...
    By Robert Jackson Bennett
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  • Shorefall
    Exciting . . . Prepare for ancient mysteries, innovative magic, and heart-pounding heists Brandon Sanderson, New York Times bestselling author of Oathbringer The upstart firm Foundryside is struggling to make it. Orso Igancio and his star employee, former thief Sancia Grado, are accomplishing brilliant things with scriving, the magical art of encoding sentience into everyday objects, but it's not enough....
    By Robert Jackson Bennett
    Paperback
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    Ships today
  • Pre-order
    A Trade of Blood
    In the canton of Sapirdad, two of the Empire's most powerful families are moments away from going to war with each other, their hundreds of retainers gathered with swords drawn. If blood is spilled, the whole of the empire may be plunged into starvation and chaos. To deescalate matters, someone must do the impossible: prove that one family's eldest son...
    By Robert Jackson Bennett
    Hardback
    $6000
    Pre-order
    Out 10 Aug 2026
  • Pre-order
    A Trade of Blood
    In the canton of Sapirdad, two of the Empire's most powerful families are moments away from going to war with each other, their hundreds of retainers gathered with swords drawn. If blood is spilled, the whole of the empire may be plunged into starvation and chaos. To deescalate matters, someone must do the impossible: prove that one family's eldest son...
    By Robert Jackson Bennett
    Paperback
    $3199
    Elsewhere:
    $3799
    Pre-order
    Out 11 Aug 2026
  • Foundryside
    “The exciting beginning of a promising new epic fantasy series. Prepare for ancient mysteries, innovative magic, and heart-pounding heists.”—Brandon Sanderson “Complex characters, magic that is tech and vice versa, a world bound by warring trade dynasties: Bennett will leave you in awe once you remember to breathe!”—Tamora Pierce In a city that runs on industrialised magic, a secret war will...
    By Robert Jackson Bennett
    Paperback
    $5200
    Available
    Ships in 2-3 weeks
  • A Trade of Blood
    Brilliant detective Ana Dolabra must prove a man's innocence to stop a civil war in the third book of the series that began with The Tainted Cup, named an Edgar, Hugo, and World Fantasy Award Finalist and one of the best books of the year (New York Times Book Review, NPR, Elle)—from the bestselling author of The Founders Trilogy. “Great...
    By Robert Jackson Bennett
    Hardback
    $7500
    Available
    Ships in 2-3 weeks

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