A Drop of Corruption by Robert Jackson Bennett

NATIONAL BESTSELLER • Step into the atmospheric world of Yarrowdale, where the Empire’s most brilliant detective faces her most formidable adversary yet. From the masterful Robert Jackson Bennett, author of The Tainted Cup, comes this spellbinding fantasy-mystery that will keep you guessing until the final page.

When a Treasury officer vanishes from a locked room within a heavily guarded tower, the Empire summons the incomparable Ana Dolabra—an eccentric genius whose methods are as unconventional as they are effective. Alongside her steadfast assistant Dinios Kol, Ana discovers they’re not investigating a disappearance at all, but a murder of extraordinary cunning.

The stakes couldn’t be higher. Their quarry isn’t just clever—they’re seemingly omniscient, predicting Ana’s every move while slipping through warded doors like a phantom. And their ultimate target? The Shroud, a high-security compound where the Empire harvests volatile magic from fallen titans. If it falls, the entire Empire crumbles with it.

“Wonderfully clever and compulsively readable . . . another winning blend of fantasy and classic detection.”—Publishers Weekly

As the body count rises and Ana’s legendary deductive powers are pushed to their limits, even her loyal Din begins to wonder: has she finally met her match? Perfect for fans of locked-room mysteries, intricate worldbuilding, and detective duos with undeniable chemistry, this is fantasy-mystery at its finest—where magic meets logic, and nothing is quite as it seems.

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