A Drop of Corruption

I enjoyed the incredible world-building of The Tainted Cup and I was vaguely worried that the sequel would mostly want to roll around in the world as described rather than giving us more. My concerns could not have been more misplaced. A Drop of Corruption effortlessly recaptures the creativity of the first novel and manages to advance all three of (what I think of as) the main threads while seamlessly pulling off another mystery which is candidly more creative than most of Doyle's work.

The key elements I see progressing here are (1) our macro understanding of the world: this bioengineered Roman-æsthetic empire, how it works, how it got this way, and what surrounds it; (2) the relationship between Dolabra (Holmes) and Kol (Watson); and (3) Dolabra's schemes, larger identity, and role within the empire. Beautifully, A Drop of Corruption lets us explore all three!

The story locates us on the edge of the empire where an independent polity is negotiating its accession into the empire, with all the legal and logistical complexity that entails. We see this outside region — Yarrowdale, which has something of a high fantasy vibe — through the lens of an imperial perspective, allowing Bennet to articulate nuances about the world through the juxtaposition of the two societies. This locality is also home to a major imperial bioengineering lab, working with the dangerous but valuable biology of the Kaiju around which the entire empire is organized. This naturally creates the opportunity to learn more about this apparently-secretive imperial branch layered as the investigation demands more access to their secrets and projects.

The crime/plot/mystery they're sent to unravel is delightfully centered on this power triangle between the empire, Yarrowdale, and the imperial bioengineering corps, and gives us an adversary very precisely tuned to be an interesting challenge for Dolabra, while creating exciting set-pieces for us to enjoy along the way. I think the pacing was perfect and the payoff was satisfying. Overall, another excellent installment which leaves me eager for the next one.