I’m very happy with Robert Jackson Bennett’s A Trade of Blood: An Ana and Din Mystery (Shadow of the Leviathan: Book 3). I’ve had some complaints lately about late-series books that are merely “the further adventures of” their protagonists without advancing their characters or advancing their worldbuilding to any significant degree, but that’s not the situation here. I mean, yes, it’s another episodic book, with Ana and Din solving another murder mystery; however, Bennett also reveals more about how their alchemical-steampunky Empire works (specifically agriculture and animal husbandry, but it’s more interesting and disturbing than expected), and explores more of Din’s alienated family history (more complicated than even he had known)! Additionally, Din himself is undergoing some changes. Also, the case itself is quite intriguing, in some horrifying ways. This is a thoroughly satisfying sequel, which picks up a few plot and character threads from previous books and continues to weave an ever-richer tapestry.