The Tainted Cup by Robert Jackson Bennett

It is a simple Holmesian concept of genius detective and narrating sidekick, but in The Tainted Cup by Robert Jackson Bennett he creates a very new world in which to set his mystery.  Ana Dolabra is the brilliant investigator and Dinios Kol is her assistant and it is their job to find out who killed an imperial officer.  His death is not the only mystery; trees also grew from his body.  This is a world of viscera.  Kol collects all information for his boss; she never leaves her room if it can be helped.  He ties memories to smell so he can be exact in his reports.  It’s a dangerous outpost where their realm is being threatened by Leviathan that periodically try to come on land and destroy their kingdom.  It has a lot of military subdivisions and it’s Kol’s job to navigate and regurgitate anything Ana may need.  This world that Bennett has created seems steamy, sticky, and smelly, but it's also a great classic detective story.  It’s all in the details.

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