Lea

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Lea’s Bookshelves

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Lea is Currently Reading

Lea is currently reading

The Castle and the Cloister (Daughters of Light, #1)

by Laura E. Weymouth (Goodreads Author)

bookshelves: physical-tbr, currently-reading

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Aug 09, 2026 04:31AM

Lea is currently reading

A Trade of Blood (Ana and Din Mysteries #3)

by Robert Jackson Bennett (Goodreads Author)

bookshelves: 2026-reads, favourites, currently-reading

Reading for the 2nd time

read in April 2026

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Lea said: " Sometimes all it takes for a small family reunion to happen is a deadly neuro-fungus.

Themes & Sparks: Knives Out but make it a high fantasy murder mystery, deadly flora and fauna, a brilliantly unhinged and chaotic investigator duo, worldbuilding rev Sometimes all it takes for a small family reunion to happen is a deadly neuro-fungus.

Themes & Sparks: Knives Out but make it a high fantasy murder mystery, deadly flora and fauna, a brilliantly unhinged and chaotic investigator duo, worldbuilding revelations, just Ana Dolabra (yes, that’s the theme), imperial power and power dynamics, worldbuilding revelations

The waiter left and never returned with my next course (book 4), so I am now left starving in the restaurant after what was the brilliance of A Trade of Blood by Robert Jackson Bennett.

In this third novel of the Shadow of the Leviathan series, we accompanied our chaotic genius Dinius Kol and our brilliantly unhinged Ana Dolabra to a canton that lives and dies on the never-ending hunger of the empire. There, we not only met two feuding gentry families with a deadly neuro-fungus and buried secrets (as well as other mind-blowingly familiar faces (joke fully intended)), but we were also confronted with cleverly interwoven references and links to the agricultural business of our own real world.

No matter if they are wandering around an unsettling, semi-sentient forest or playing with bees and butterflies on a dusty country road, I will truly never grow tired of the impeccable dynamic, chemistry, and banter between Din and Ana, which once again made me fly through this novel in no time at all.

In addition to yet another captivating and gruesome crime, what also made this novel unputdownable were the new revelations the reader received about the neon fluorescent world, as well as the mysterious religion and history of the empire. Which all eventually led to a cliffhanger that left me screaming and throwing a pillow against the wall.

I don’t want to write too much about the story’s investigation for the sake of keeping this review spoiler-free, but just as with the two preceding novels, A Trade of Blood was yet another clever, chaotic, suspenseful, and smart gem of a fantasy murder mystery. I could eat a whole platter of these books and never grow tired, and I wholeheartedly hope that RJB gets to write more Ana and Din novels!

Thank you so much to PRH, Dely Rey and Inklore for this e-ARC in exchange for an honest review!

P.S.: Pls find my initial reaction here:
Waiter !!
Where is book 4 ?
I’m done with this course!
...waiter ?! …..WAITER !!
I NEED MORE AFTER THIS ENDING!! ...more "

progress:

(50%)
— Aug 08, 2026 01:04PM

Apr 14, 2026 04:36AM · see review