May's recommendation: Poison Study, by Maria V. Snyder.
I sometimes think one could organize a subgenre consisting entirely of Protagonists With Strange Occupations. In this case, the occupation is that of food taster: the person who eats and drinks before somebody more important, so if there's poison in something they can say so and/or fall down dead in warning. On that alone, you've got to give Snyder some props for originality.
Fortunately, the book isn't just a gimmick designed around that starting point. The character didn't choose her profession: on her way to the gallows for murder, she gets offered the chance to be the food taster instead. Her job -- once she survives her training -- is to serve the Commander of Ixia, the military dictator who took over her country fifteen years ago. So long as she serves, she will receive a daily antidote to the poison her employer has fed her on purpose. If she tries to run away, within two days she will be dead.
I think one of the things that made me like this book the most is the way Snyder handled the political situation. Yes, it's true that the dictatorship has imposed mandatory uniforms for everyone, sharp restrictions on travel, identification papers, and a draconian legal code, all of which are hallmarks of the Bad Guy. On the other hand, we're told that the previous monarchy, instead of being some fuzzy-hearted ideal, was a cesspit of corruption and inequality. For all its faults, the Commander's realm is also a place where justice is scrupulously impartial, and ability is rewarded as it deserves. Ixia under the Commander is far from a perfect place -- and its flaws are one of the things under examination in the plot -- but Snyder doesn't seem interested in giving us perfect places, which I applaud.
As far as the plot goes, while it isn't the best political intrigue I've ever read, it's competently handled. I particularly like the gradual expansion we get of who Yelena killed and why. Certain components of it, I guessed well in advance of their official reveal, but that didn't bother me. Mostly I liked the fact that Yelena doesn't wallow in the angst from it the way one might dread.
The characters in general are pretty good, though to some extent -- particularly with the Commander -- I'm hoping the later books fill them out more, since there are some questions that never got answered. Valek's also interesting to me, as chief of Ixia's intelligence service and the guy who trains Yelena, although a few of his interactions with her are a little awkward from my point of view. Not everything in the book gets carried off with perfect authorial smoothness. Also, it's worth mentioning that the publisher is Luna, a Harlequin imprint created for romantic fantasy; I bring it up not just to alert readers what to expect, but also to point out the ways in which you do not get what you might expect. There's a romantic plot, and as per the conventions of the romance genre it doesn't try to sneak up on you, but you'll notice that the focus of this recommendation has had to do with politics. So don't let the imprint put you off, if it normally would.
This is the first book of what I believe is a trilogy, though it might be longer than that. Magic Study is already out; Fire Study is not. I'm not sure if I'll read them (I've heard Magic Study might not be as satisfying to me as this first one was), but I may still give them a shot.