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4 1/2 stars. Even better than The Tainted Cup!

I am having so much fun with this series. Even though it is a high fantasy setting with an incredibly detailed world, the tone of the stories reminds me very much of urban fantasy mysteries I've enjoyed over the years. Once again, the plot is a murder mystery, and, once again, the delightfully funny banter between Din and Ana drives the narrative.

Before beginning this series I saw comparisons to Sherlock and Watson and I rolled my eyes and thought yeah, whatever, but it's actually a fairly good comparison in this case. Ana is just as brilliant as Cumberbatch's Sherlock, and even more prone to eccentricities and social faux pas. Din narrates the story Watson-style, recounting Ana's brilliance with no small amount of bafflement, while also showing ingenuity of his own.

The mysteries in both books have been really well-crafted, layered and satisfying. I've gotten much better at discovering culprits and spotting wild twists after years of reading mysteries and thrillers, but I have so far found Bennett's mysteries impenetrable. I think it is because there is so much going on and each mystery opens up to an even larger mystery before it is solved. By the time I got to the "Aha! So it's..." point, Ana was confirming what I'd figured out in the next paragraph.

But while much of this book is fun, underneath it is something deeper-- a criticism of autocracy in a genre enamored by kingdoms and divine rule. The author's note is a must-read.

Now to wait for the next book.