Over Thanksgiving break when I was back in Arizona, my new sister-in-law (and the rest of my wife's family) gave me a bunch of book recommendations. Before we left to go back to Colorado, I stopped by our local indie bookstore and picked up the books they recommended. Those being:

• Ancillary Justice by Ann Leckie

• Our Share of Night by Mariana Enriquez

• The Tainted Cup by Robert Jackson Bennet

I haven't gotten around to those first two yet, BUT, I have read The Tainted Cup and it was FANTASTIC.

The short pitch for the series is that it is a murder mystery set in a fantasy land. There is a very detailed world and system of hierarchy and magic that I won't get into right now, but what I will say is that it revolves around a junior investigator who pairs up with a kooky, older investigator to solve a series of murders surrounding one of the most important and wealthy families in the land.

This might sound sort of run of the mill, but what makes this series stand out are three things:

• The characters

• The world/magic

• The humor

Within the first few pages, i found myself chuckling at the way the book was written. Bennet's prose is witty and the way he writes dialogue is incredibly entertaining. I should point out that the humor here feels a step above the millanial aw-shucksness of books like Project Hail Mary (as much as I enjoyed that book). There is something much more precise and less dorky about the humor here that gelled with me completely.

I don't want to give too much away about the magic in this series, but I think aesthetically, it doesn't quite feel like anything else I've read. It's not quite steampunk, and it's not quite forest-core, but there is a great emphasis on nature, plants, smells, and tastes that gives the world a real lived-in quality. The cover of the book is a great representation of the general vibe going on within its pages.

The characters here are the real reason to stick arond. Ana and Din (master and student) are an incredible pairing, and their characters develop into a real strong cup of tea by the time the book ends. The side characters are distinct and all feel like they serve a purpose. It's a bummer when a fantasy world is interesting but the characters aren't. Lucky for me (and you if you pick up this series), the characters are just as strong as the fictional world they inhabit.

If you see this out on the shelf of your local bookstore, pick it up! There is a sequel already publiched (A Drop of Corruption) with a third on the way later this year (A Trade of Blood).