If you are not reading Robert Jackson Bennett’s Ana and Din Mysteries you are doing yourself a great disservice. Now on its third book, this series only keeps getting better; a feat considering how outstanding the first was. As he continues to develop these two characters while also convincingly filling in the details of the world around them, these have remained some of the most well-crafted and gratifyingly entertaining novels of the decade.

When Iudex investigator Ana and her assistant Din are summoned to the cattle-farming canton of Sapirdad, she is convinced they are in for a run-of-the-mill, dull, open-and-shut case. Of course, the reality quickly reveals itself to be anything but when the murder scene suggests the killer may not have been acting of his own accord.

With the area’s meat production monopolized by two powerful families, naturally their bitter rivalry makes them seem like suspects, but with bodies piling up on both sides the solution to the crimes grows ever more elusive. Ana and Din will have to decide who they can trust among the surviving family members, local law enforcement, and Din’s estranged sister if they have any hope of determining who or what is to blame before the situation threatens the Empire’s food supply.

I cannot emphasize enough just how much fun these are to read. Din’s inner conflicts and Ana’s mercurial nature make them some of the most intriguing and compelling characters in fiction today, and they only grow more so as we get to know them better. Bennett surrounds them with equally interesting allies and suspects, which when combined with his penchant for vivid world building makes the Empire feel almost real.

The mystery is once again well crafted; filled with convincing red herrings but also enough clues that readers could conceivably solve it for themselves, though they likely won’t. Discussions about what society is willing to tolerate in exchange for comfort lend the material some extra thematic weight and make it a good choice for more adventurous book clubs. But for all that Bennett isn’t afraid to shy away from darker material—this time even bordering on becoming horror—these books manage to keep a smile planted on the reader’s face, reminding us of just how joyful reading can be to a degree that is matched by little else. ★★★★★