A Drop of Corruption

A Drop of Corruption (2025) by American author Robert Jackson Bennett is the second book in the fantasy mystery series that began with The Tainted Cup (2024). The series name, as of the first book, was advertised as Shadow of the Leviathan; prerelease copies of A Drop of Corruption signaled the title as the second book in this series, but final print versions replaced the series title with “An Ana and Din Mystery.” Penguin Random House, who publishes the series, uses the Shadow of the Leviathan title on their website, as does Bennett on his personal website.

Some readers have speculated that this inconsistency signals Bennett’s intention to write more installments in the series following the success of The Tainted Cup. This would align with conventions of detective fiction, in which series’ eponymous investigators often appear in many loosely related, self-contained mystery stories. In a question-and-answer segment on social media platform Reddit, Bennett reported, “I don’t know how many Leviathan books there will be. More than 3, sure. But 6? 9? 12? You can decide this via dollars, and the buying of them” (“Hello, I Am Author Robert Jackson Bennett. AMA!” Reddit.com, 2019).