A Drop of Corruption

Book 2 of the Shadow of the Leviathan duology

‍

Much better than the first book in the series. This one feels more solid all the way around. It has better characters, more compelling side stories, a very well-conceived mystery, and much more lore about the world the author created for this series.

‍

This book follows the foul-mouthed, elderly and very odd senior investigator, Ana, and her assistant, Din, as they unravel a murder in a strange land on the outskirts of the Empire.

‍

“I did not think your appetite for oysters was so tremendous, ma’am.”

“Oh, I’m not actually hungry, Din. Really, it’s that each oyster is different. You can taste in each one which reef they came from, which side they grew upon, which waters they flourished within. They are like melodies of the ocean itself rendered in flesh.”

‍

In the world this story is set in plants have a starring role. They are used for everything from building houses to conferring extra-sensory powers (like ensuring a person has incredible physical stamina or granting a person the ability to see in the dark), and they have been bred to assist people in all manner of things, from fungus that works as a DNA-sensitive padlock to a reagent that is sprayed on a person to disinfect them from contaminates.

‍

Then he went to his desk and brought back an unsightly specimen: it appeared to be a small clay tray filled with moist earth, yet growing over the earth was a strange, fleshy pad of gray-white fungus.

“You simply place your hand to the pad…Go on. It won’t hurt you.”

I did so. The flesh was cold and moist. As I took my hand away, the pad turned a dark, mottled color before slowly turning back to gray-white.

“This response indicates you do not bear the correct blood authorities,” said Tufwa. “If you had been a Treasury officer of deserving rank, it would have changed to a corresponding color.”

‍

The source of the magical plant life is the blood and fluids that have been extracted from the leviathans that rise from the sea each wet season to wreak havoc on the Empire.

‍

In this book, the author creates a veil of mystery around one of the main characters and then pulls the veil down a bit. It would seem there might be more books set in this world because the mystery surrounding this person wasn’t made clear.

‍

While I’m not usually a fan of murder mysteries, I would read another book in the series if one were released as they seem to be getting progressively better.

‍