Cup of Death

A detective-style fantasy featuring a peculiar pair of investigators in the style of Sherlock Holmes and Doctor Watson

In the most magnificent house in Daretana, an imperial officer is found dead—apparently killed by a tree that sprouted from his body. Such a death is extremely unusual and terrifying, even on the borders of the Empire, where various plagues fester and the blood of leviathans causes strange magical changes.

The case is taken on by Ana Dolabrova, an investigator famed not only for her cunning but also for her eccentricity. It is said that she goes everywhere blindfolded and can even solve seemingly unsolvable mysteries without ever sticking her nose out of her house.

She is assisted by a new aide named Dinios Kol, whose magically enhanced memory makes him Ana's perfect partner. His superior's behaviour alternately shocks, mystifies and infuriates him, but as they unravel the tangled case, Din witnesses her sharp wit leap from one surprising deduction to the next, and he has to admit that Ana truly is the best investigator in the Empire.

When the two detectives uncover a plot that threatens the entire Empire, Din realises he is far from solving the puzzle that is Ana Dolabrova herself—and he begins to wonder how long he can hide his own secrets from her piercing intellect…