Quick Synopsis – The heir to one of the Empire’s most powerful families sits in jail, accused of murder. His hands are covered in the victim’s blood, and he can neither deny his guilt nor explain his actions.

But if the great detective Ana Dolabra cannot save him from the noose, the farming canton of Sapirdad will explode into war, threatening to plunge the whole Empire into starvation and chaos. As Ana investigates—her assistant Dinios Kol, as ever, acting as her eyes and ears—she fears her task is even more daunting than it seemed. For this murder is just the latest in a deeper, subtler web of death, woven by a mastermind with an ancient weapon at his disposal.

With their customary skill, Ana and Din pursue their adversary through the canton’s wild ranges, sprawling ranches, and reeking slaughterhouses. Yet even they are not prepared to learn the horrifying secret behind their opponent’s powers.

Song This Reminds Me Of – Fuel to Fire by Agnes Obel

Publication Date – Aug 4, 2026

Bookshop Link – A Trade of Blood by Robert Jackson Bennett

My Reviews of the Other Two Books in The Series – The Tainted Cup and A Drop of Corruption

Content Notes – There is blood, gore, suicides, death by fire, graphic discussion of burns, graphic discussion of medical procedures, and things bursting out of bodies Aliens style.

Rating – ⭐⭐⭐.5 out of 5

Review – I really love this series, but this book was just okay for me. I think it’s because the plot device for the murders was too similar to some other things I’ve read and watched in the last year or so. I also wish that the plot synopsis wouldn’t focus on Ana so much. Din is the character whose point of view we are reading through. Ana is a main character of course, but the crux of the story is told through Din.

I did love that we got to learn more backstory for both Din and Ana. There were introductions of characters and family ties that enhanced the current story and easily set up the next story in the series. In this book I felt like the worldbuilding really enhances the characters and provides more history without fully spelling out where the series is going to go. My favorite thing about Bennett’s books is that I can’t always figure out the plot before the aha moment. There are bits and pieces that are obvious to me as the reader, but there is so much more that I can’t guess on my own. At same time, I never feel like the story is having to spell everything out to me in a massive info dump at the end of the book.

The main issue I had with this story is that there is a major plot point that never gets resolved. I realize it could be cleaned up in like two paragraphs in the next book, but it bothered me that it wasn’t taken care of in this story. I don’t want to spoil the plot for anyone either. It just seemed off character for the author not to say oh this was resolved. Especially because it was a key plot point.

I will honestly read every book in this series, I hope there is like 10. This one just wasn’t my favorite.

Thanks to NetGalley and Del Rey for the gifted ARC. All opinions are my own.