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I read RJB’s Foundryside several years ago, but left it a bit letdown and not really wanting to continue the series. I found its magic system convoluted, unnecessarily layered, and full of infodumps about why exactly something works one way and not another. Other people really dug it, but I thought the word salad it turned into was hard to follow. Having said that, I’m really glad I gave him another chance, because I think The Tainted Cup is something special.

Dinios Kol (or, Din to just about everybody in the book) is an assistant to Ana Dolabra, something of an investigator in the realm of Daretana. Rather like a certain Sherlock Holmes, Ana is very eccentric, a bit unreliable, and rather brusque and sarcastic to just about everybody around her, but is brilliant at what she does. Din is her eyes, ears, and hands into these investigations, and we follow him as he begins the investigation into the mysterious death of a rather prominent officer involving a tree mysteriously (and gruesomely) growing out of his body. The investigation quickly starts snowballing, and the two find themselves called to the very front lines of Daretana’s most dangerous battlefront against a most massive foe.

Right off the bat I like that, this time around, the magic system is much more subtle, requires less infodumping, and feels more organic (hehehe) to the plot and setting. Rather than it being the pivot point and purpose of the story like it was in Foundryside, it takes a bit of a backseat here where it’s still involved and necessary, but doesn’t feel like you’re being beaten over the head with it. I also really like the overall plot. Once upon a time I lamented to a friend that there was a distinct lack of fantasy murder mysteries. This is exactly in the realm of what I was looking for. It really does feel like a Holmes/Watson adventure, with clues and leads and a mystery that Holmes (Ana) solves early on and Watson (Din, our eyes and ears) struggles to keep up with. The last 10-20% of the book was my favorite section, where things click into place, suspects are hunted, and just enough is left teased and hanging for there to be both a satisfying ending and an anticipated sequel to look forward to.

There’s also a bit of a romance! It’s not a major plot and not a ton of time is spent fleshing it out, but it’s there, and I’m actually kind of hoping it’s continued in the next book.

Keep this one on your radar if you’re a RJB fan, if you’re like me and love the idea of a fantasy murder mystery, or if you’re looking for something fast paced and fun.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with a free ecopy in exchange for an honest review.

Hey! We’re back in the Three Pines! And after a run of two books in the series that I didn’t care for, I actually enjoyed this one! Or maybe my feelings about the previous two books made this one feel not as bad. Unclear. I will say that, despite us being back in the Three Pines, on familiar ground, and working a familiar case, things managed to feel just a bit sloppy. I think if I didn’t actively dislike the previous two books, I’d probably rate this one lower.

Gamache & Co. are called on to provide security at a rally being held over the holidays. The person holding the rally is the most inconspicuous, likeable person you’re liable to meet, and yet they’re there to present some incredibly distasteful facts and figures. Someone takes a few shots at her during the rally, and the plot is off to the races! Her aide turns up dead, fingers get pointed, and it’s up to Gamache to unearth the various long buried skeletons in closets to get at the purpose and the truth.

First off, full stars for being back in the Three Pines. I missed it here.

But I had some issues with the book. Namely, it felt like it tried to do and be too many things at once. Major plot spoilers: For instance, Penny buries the lede hard on what exactly it is Abigail is presenting on for so long that I was expecting everything from anti-vax sentiments to a full-blown Nazi rally. It’s actually eugenics, but it seemed like that didn’t even matter to the larger murder reveal so I’m not sure why it was played so coyly. It also felt vaguely forced, like the other social issue books Penny’s written in the past, which took me a bit out of the story. It also felt rather repetitive in places, with Gamache & Co. rehashing the same points, the same strong feelings, the same sentiments in different locations frequently during the book. Penny is great at creating interpersonal drama over many different facets in a murder mystery, so when I was reading the same points rehashed several times throughout the book, I started to get a little bored.

I still am giving this a cautious 4 stars though, if only to keep myself in the game and happy to read the next book in the series. It’s an improvement on All the Devils are Here, but it’s definitely not the same caliber as the early books in the series.

I admit to knowing little and less about this region of the world and the problems the people of this region face. In reading this book, it really opened my eyes to the downright deplorable actions taken against Rohingya Muslims and the strangely blind eye the world has taken toward them. They’ve been stripped of nationality, of a home, of even the name of their people being spoken, subjected to imprisonment, torture, and death, and this was the first time I’d heard of it. What a world we live in.

The book follows Habiburahman, from his earliest memories growing up in the Rakhine province of Myanmar, to the caution and danger he faced as a child growing up Rohingya in a nation where to speak their name invited abuse, imprisonment, and worse. The boot at the back of the Rohingya’s neck presses ever harder throughout this book, until Habiburahman ends up fleeing first his home, then his region, and finally the country trying to find someplace where he wouldn’t eternally be on the run or enslaved by his own people.

This is a very sad story, told beautifully with the help of Sophie Ansel in the writing of it. That an entire culture of people can be effectively eliminated from a nation is a horrific thing to read about, but I’m very glad to have read it. Stories like this need to be read, heard, and spread.