The Tainted Cup has everything. It’s a murder mystery in a rich second-world fantasy setting. It’s a Sherlock Holmes / Watson duo—where Sherlock is an eccentric woman and Watson is her wash-out apprentice with a photographic memory. And the murder weapon is…a tree. (I promise, that’s not really a spoiler.)
It has a fascinating plot filled with lots of reveals and a satisfying ending. The magic system is biologically based. Dangerous, highly volatile, contagions abound, and humans are enhanced by carefully selected parasitic—I mean mutalistic—organisms. Kind of creepy, but cool results.
The weakest part of this story for me was the characters. They were interesting and unique, but for some reason I never fully latched onto them. Still, it was a solid read!
Disclaimer: This is the first book of a series and the rest of the series hasn’t come out yet, but it stands alone well enough that I feel comfortable recommending it on its own.
You can learn more here: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/150247395-the-tainted-cup
Content:
Language: there was quite a bit of language. R rated
Violence: quite a few murders and some gore.
Sexual: some scenes with intense sexual undertones, with some descriptions of nudity. But no sex scenes. R rated