Three words... oh my god!!! I absolutely love this book! A great blend of fantasy and mystery! An interesting take on the well loved characters of Sherlock Holmes and John Watson! Angel's, vampires, hell hounds, werewolves, interesting cases and Jack the Ripper, all jam packed into an excellent read! I definitely recommend!

Thank you for the arc of this book.
Unfortunately I didn't enjoy this book at all, some of the time I found myself confused and thought I had missed a page where something was explained, but not the case.
I enjoy a good Sherlock Holmes, but this just don't hit the mark for me.

This was a charming Sherlockian romp with enough twists and unusual moments to keep me up far past my bedtime. Addison's world-building is A+, with just enough details revealed over the course of the story to keep you nodding and saying "ohhhh got it!" out loud, but not so many that you feel like you're wading through an infodump. She takes the heart of the Sherlock stories and molds them into something utterly different and engaging. I also appreciated that the parts of the Sherlock stories that are my least favorite were dealt with summarily and with a kindness to the original work but without needing to dwell on their excision from this new world.

Thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for the ARC. The Angel of the Crows sounded like an interesting read, unfortunately it follows its inspiration a little too closely. Inspired by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's classic Sherlock Holmes stories, Angel of the Crows looked to transform those classic stories into something more. Unfortunately for me, that transformation did not take place. Essentially following the original storylines from Doyle's classics like Hounds of the Baskervilles and adding in fantasy elements like angels and vampires, I think that this would be a good read for fans of the original Sherlock Holmes stories or for readers who have never read any of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's stories and don't know the answer to the mysteries.

First of all I want to thanks Netgallery for giving me the opportunity to read this book before its release.

I started The Angel of the Crows with high expectations, thanks to an amazing plot and an interesting setting. Unfortunatelly for me, it wasn't my cup of tea at all. I couldn't relate with the characters, nor with Crow and neither Doyle, and the more I read the more I found them flat. Maybe it just me, but I couldn't empathize with them, nor I was interested in their lives and what happened to them.
Talking about the plot, I have to say that reading this book for me was like reading a novel by Sir Conan Doyle all over again and that was not what I was looking for. What I was looking for was something original, something who simply made this book remarkable and interesting. I think that Katherine Addison didn't try hard enough to make this book hers, to create something new with two amazing characters like Sherlock and Watson. Such a pity.

That said, I think that if you never read anything by Sir Conan Doyle you should give this book a try anyway. I really think that you will appreciated this book so much more than I did, because the plot will be way more interesting and unexpected.

Written in the true spirit of Sherlock Holmes with a delightful foray into the fantasy genre. This is a refreshing update to the Holmes canon. Featuring a cast of vaguely familiar characters is new and not so new situations. I appreciate Crow as the detective and the worldbuilding of the Angels is magnificent. The author’s voice shines through when describing the small details, which is perfect for a detective story. I’m not surprised this started as a fan fiction. It’s my opinion that this contributes to why it’s so good. Fan fiction writes are some of the best in business and it’s a treasure to get a chance to read what they have written. If you like detective stories this is for you. If you like Sherlock Holmes this is for you. If you like found family stories then this is for you.

Thanks to Netgalley for the Arc and the opportunity!

I decided to apply to review this book because the synopsis intrigued me right away.
I've never read anything about this author, but the cover has done its fair share, so here I am talking about the novel.
The Angel of Crows is a sort of retelling of Sherlock Holmes, a character we know from Arthur Conan Doyle's books and yes, also thanks to the films.
The novel is set in the Victorian era where our protagonist, Dr. Doyle meets Crow. The two of them move in together to 221b Baker St.
The story takes place in the wake of murders, and our protagonists have to solve them.
Yes, they are reminiscent of the wonderful duo Watson and Holmes.
Perhaps it was precisely this that didn't convince me at all about this book, because the story recalls too much the original.
I mean, what's different about it? The supernatural?
Another thing that didn't excite me was the characterization of the characters.
I found them rather anonymous, nothing to do with what Holmes is with his deduction and nothing to do with Watson his companion.
In itself the book reads quickly, too bad though, I expected something more.
I am curious, however, to read other books by this author.

Vote: 3.7

As a huge fan of Katherine Addison's earlier book The Goblin Emperor, I was eager to read anything she's written, and The Angel of the Crows did NOT disappoint!
Set in an alternate universe version of Sherlock Holmes, neither Holmes nor Watson's names are used. It's obvious though, from the first chapter set in Afghanistan, that this is Watson retelling their account of war and injury. Ending up in London, desperate for affordable lodgings, fate takes a hand when he is introduced to a strange figure at St Barholomew's...
This is a world where the supernatural is taken as read; there are angels and demons, ghosts and fetch's and ghouls abroad, yet deductive logic supplies the detective with answers.
Fans of Holmes will enjoy tremendously the fresh take on favourites like The Speckled Band, The Sign of Four and of course The Hound of the Baskervilles. The detective and assistant characters have likewise been given an invigorating and unexpected twist.
Devoured it, loved it, strongly recommend it!

This book was such a delight to read. It is a Sherlock Holmes retelling with a fantastical twist- London is full of supernatural creatures. Our Sherlock is an angel named Crow with a very peculiar set of circumstances, and our John is an army doctor named Doyle who, after nearly dying after an encounter with a Fallen angel in Afghanistan, ends up moving in with Crow. The pair work together to investigate crimes all over the city and surrounding areas while Jack the Ripper stalks London at night.

I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book. The thing that stuck out to me the most were the characters. I absolutely fell in love with Doyle and Crow, as both of them were so well developed and loveable. I sympathized with their struggles and felt as though, despite the fantasy elements of the novel, that they were real people who I could relate to quite deeply. Their dynamic was equal parts hilarious, heartwarming, and endearing, and their interactions were always so enjoyable to read. Aside from our two main characters, there was quite the cast of side characters making appearances throughout. They made the book so much more enjoyable, although I did sometimes have trouble keeping who's who straight in my head, as we do meet many characters through all of the mysteries that Crow and Doyle investigate.

The world featured in this book was extremely intriguing to me, and I loved learning about it while reading. All kinds of supernatural beings are present, including (but not limited to!) angels, demons, vampires, hellhounds, macrophages, and witches. The way in which they all interacted was very interesting and gave the setting a layer of depth that keep me engaged throughout. I loved the details that were peppered in, especially hearing about the legal practices involving these beings and the more intricate details about angel society. I really hope to see more works set in this world from the author in the future, as there are still so many facets to be explored that one could not fit it all into one 400 page book.

Something that I found very interesting about the book was the way that the plot was set out. While the "main" storyline focused on Crow and Doyle's search for Jack the Ripper, there were many other smaller mysteries solved along the way in little side quests of sorts. This was perfect for me, as I'm the sort of reader who loves an action packed story, and even when there were lulls in the main case, they were easily filled in by shorter adventures. This stopped the book from dragging along at any point and made it feel much more realistic, as the pair did not put their entire lives on hold for one difficult case, but instead mulled it over while continuing on with their regular day-to-day life of helping clients with their cases as well.

I would highly recommend this not only to fantasy lovers, but also to anyone who enjoys a good mystery or buddy-cop type of story featuring a strong partnership and classic cases with a fantasy spin..

It's probably first important to point out: The Angel of the Crows first started as a Sherlock wingfic. For anyone unfamiliar with the term, wingfic is a fairly common sub-genre in the fanfiction community for stories where the characters are given wings. How/why they have wings is unspecified. They can be angels/devils/some other supernatural creature, humanity as a whole has evolutionarily evolved to have wings, they were the result of human experimentation, etc. In this world, there exists a society of angels, and our Sherlock character is one of them.

I point this out for two reasons. Firstly, because this only gets mentioned in the Author Notes after finishing the book, it helped me reframe and clarify some of the perceptions I already had. And secondly, because it amplified the disappointments I already had with the book.

I'll start with the first point. I've read my share of Sherlock Holmes retellings over the years, but The Angel of the Crows easily comes closest to the original material. Set in 1880s Victorian England, our Watson character (Dr. Doyle) comes back wounded from Afghanistan, complains to his friend that he won't find a flatmate, then meets the Sherlock character (Crow) later that afternoon and within a week they move into 221b Baker St. Sound familiar so far?

They work their way through A Study in Scarlet, The Adventure of the Copper Beeches, The Hounds of Baskervilles, and then The Speckled Band, in that order. In the backdrop, the Jack the Ripper murders are taking place and Crow (Sherlock) is getting increasingly frustrated at being unable to solve them. Also, there's a whole slew of supernatural societies (a flock of angels residing throughout London, werewolf packs, a powerful vampire den run by a Moriarty) place throughout this version of London.

The problem is, none of the added elements seem to matter. While a detail might turn to the supernatural (the victim's a vampire! what if the hound is actually a werewolf?), the overarching story remains painfully the same. The day-to-day behavior of character groups may be affected because, surprise Moriarty's a vampire or there's an angel blocking my way, in the long run there's no real effect on the outcome. There's no real effect that these elements contribute. Yeah, it's kinda cute that Crow emotes through his wings instead of his face (because he can't blush, we are reminded over and over again), but I wanted to know more about the impact angels have on England society, details into how the Vampire covens operate, or insight into the formation of werewolf packs.

Even before knowing that this started as Sherlock fanfic, I had my guesses. Dr. Doyle and Crow are written so closely to the original characters, they may as well have been the original characters with different names. For the first 40%, it was genuinely hard for me to differentiate the two. Crow did eventually manage to evolve into his own character (somewhat), but Doyle remained static. Between that and the lack of original plot, reading that this was original fanfic hit me with big "ohhhhhhhh".

Moving onto the second point, one of my biggest disappointments when reading this was that Crow and Doyle never establish a more 'fixed' relationship. They start as amicable flatmates, go on detective-y adventures, each undergo emotional trauma that the other helps them deal with, and end up... amicable flatmates. There's hints, I guess, that the two of them view each other as something more, but to my great disappointment, it never really gets explored.

Of course, knowing that this was fanfic just makes that disappointment so much worse. Those familiar with the Sherlock fandom will know the extreme to which John and Sherlock get shipped. For anybody unfamiliar with the term 'Johnlock', Google it. I dare you. I've read romance novels where the main pairing has less chemistry with each other than these two did. So that fact that the two did not end up together, or even have some level of discussion about it? Disappointing.

Fanfiction-related complaints aside, I did have issues with other components. For one, the pacing. The Angel of the Crows is written in a Victorian-esque style, which already forces me to read slower. But there were just certain arcs, particularly the Baskerville arc, that just dragged. I read enjoy Sherlock Holmes stories because I find the character of Sherlock Holmes fascinating. So when Doyle ditches Sherlock to have his own adventures, when Doyle ditches Sherlock for nearly a fifth of the book, I'm not very happy. Especially when Doyle is the least interesting character of the cast.

The overarching Jack of the Ripper arc also felt both unnecessarily stretched out and anticlimactic. Keeping with the mystery of the real Jack the Ripper murders, Crow offers no deductions than what is known about the real murders. And the real murders left behind very little. Which leaves Crow and Doyle doing absolutely nothing to actually help solve the murders and Crow just angrily telling the police they're wrong about whatever theory they cook up. In the end, when Jack is finally 'caught', the whole even happens in about twenty pages with very little fanfare and left me thinking, I endured the Baskerville arc for this?

I finish with a more minor complaint. For a book about deductions, there's very little deducing. My favorite part about Sherlock Holmes stories is the deductions Sherlock makes from even the smallest amount of overlooked evidence. Emphasis on evidence. Beyond the initial deductions in the Study in Scarlet arc and the ones about Doyle's pocket watch (both from the original material), Crow doesn't really deduce things. He often makes conjectures that happen to be right, but he rarely seems to actually present evidence to back up his claims. Purely by power of the protagonist is he right and the police wrong.

Overall, I rate this book a 3.5/5. Despite how much I rag on it in this review, I found the writing and Crow to be quite interesting. However, the pacing and the lack of depth on the supernatural aspects really hurt my enjoyment of the overall story.

Review to be posted: 5 June 2020

A curious mesh of Victorian steampunk, angel-fantasy and Sherlock retelling with guest-appearance by Jack the Ripper. If you are a fan of any or all of these, you will probably love this book.

Many thanks to the Publisher Macmillan-Tor/Forge and Netgalley for the ARC.

I finished this book yesterday and after a day of digesting it, I still don't know what to think about it.

Maybe the problem is that I started reading it with EXPECTATIONS, not because of the cover blurb, but because the author's other book, "The Goblin Emperor" has been 1 of my favourite books ever since I read it first (and at least 3 times since then). It was wonderful and unique!

I am rather indifferent to angel-apocalypse fantasy books, as well as to werewolves/vampires (and the blurb strongly suggested that this is what I would get), still, I expected something unique to equal the reading experience of "The Goblin Emperor".

ALAS, I was ... not disappointed, but a bit bewildered, when almost from the first page on the Sherlock Holmes-Dr Watson retellings were "staring back at me" so to speak, even if dressed up as angels/steampunk/fantasy characters.

While I really appreciate Sherlock Holmes, as a famous literary detective and enjoyed his original stories, I am not a huge fan, so I was not that keen or reading the retellings, even with the twists and even though they were well written. Obviously, the author made a thorough research of it as well as the Jack-the-Ripper aspects.

But what I would have been really interested in, was the angel-aspect of the whole story, which was used as a kind of literary glue, but very thinly applied, with some details here and there. I wish it was laid on much thicker.

All in all the book was interesting enough for me to finish, but it never draw me in.

This book has everything I love!! Sherlock fanfic, vampires, werewolves, hellhounds, Jack the Ripper, and angels. Sherlock is one of my favourite series and I’ve read them countless times so it was fun to read the twist that the author spun on it. I was highly entertained and never wanted it to end. It reads as sherlocks books went and is a series of short stories all held together by the Jack the Ripper case in the background. The world was well thought out and explained, the characters were believable in their roles, and the cases were similar to the originals with the proper twist to make them unique to this universe.
This book has all things that I love and I thoroughly enjoyed it. It’s a top read for me for sure.

An interesting take on the Sherlock Holmes universe. Crow, the angel version of the Great Detective, is much more gentle than the human counterpart. The character's disregard for the social niceties of the Victorian era is turned into the incomprehension of another species, rather than the disdain of a superior mind. Most of the narration is from the point of view of the angel's roommate and friend, here called Dr. J. H. Doyle (who is also hiding a few secrets that distinguish this version of the character from Dr. Watson). There are references to many of Holmes' great cases and supporting characters, with a supernatural twist (plus a lot of Jack the Ripper on the side). An enjoyable book from an author I always look forward to reading!

I was really looking forward to reading this. Vampires, Werewolves and Angels... What's not to like?
One of the tag lines for this book said, this is not the book you were expecting..... No it wasn't.
The book is Sherlock Holmes fanfic, and the main character is called Crow (Sherlock) the Angel of London who lives at 221 Baker street with Dr Doyle (Watson).
The main story here is the Jack the Ripper murders with the re-telling of A Study in Scarlet, The Sign of the Four, The Hound of the Baskervilles, and The Adventure of the Sussex Vampire which seems to be there to pad out the rest of the story.
I liked a lot of the characters and the overall ideas, but I thought that the Arthur Conan Doyle titles didn't have enough changes to them to make this feel like a fresh new story.
Thanks to Netgalley and Publisher for the ARC.

The Angel of the Crows is a pleasant surprise that combines the best known sherlockian stories with a supernatural twist.

The reader gets to meet a doctor returning from war who hides more than one secret.
And an oddly charming Angel who loves his crime solving almost too much.
Together, they solve crimes in an episodic fashion while the overall story is held together by the question: who is the Ripper of London?

The book sounds crowded, and some characters are sadly not more than plot devises, but although it sometimes feels too much the author kept me reading because of her two main characters. And while they are clearly based on the Sherlock tv series, each one comes with a special twist. Although the stories are known, the supernatural elements keep them fresh and give them an extra kick.

I really enjoyed this story, Crow and Doyle are a great re-imagined team and Moriarty is more than just a man.
If you like your Sherlock supernatural with entertaining twists, this book will keep you reading!

Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for this eARC.
I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Very readable but not a complete 5 star read for me. It felt a bit crammed, with most of the Holmes books stuffed into one. A bit more focus on the very interesting main characters would have boosted this book immensely. Particularly important, the reason for Doyle’s lifestyle choice. It felt thrown in as shock device but left me more eh? than aah!

Those would be my only criticisms, though. In terms of Holmes adaptations it’s certainly better than anything else that’s out there.

More from The Goblin Emperor universe, please.

The Angel of the Crows is not only nothing like its predecessor, Addison’s first and much-loved title The Goblin Emperor, it only slightly resembles its blurb, which mentions Whitechapel but does not mention the book opens with an epigraph from “The Reichenbach Fall,” Sherlock S2:3. Angel of the Crows also treats of way more than just the titular angel, though he’s certainly present, and portrayed beautifully with a conceit that goes a long way toward explaining his relationship with his world.

Oh, dear. This isn’t very helpful. Okay. This is a series of loosely connected Sherlock Holmes tales based on canon, but with literal hellhounds, angels, werewolves, and vampires. Readers who’ve spent any time on AO3 will nod their heads, sit down, and read the whole thing in one day. Those who haven’t put together entire websites in the attempt to puzzle out the overarching structure of BBC’s Sherlock—they might not love it quite as much. It’s certainly not the lyrical, coherent, blindingly brilliant and heart wrenching work of genius that is The Goblin Emperor. It is, however, damned good wingfic. I’ve been quarantined in this house for six weeks and have been unable to read a single book, until I downloaded this last night.

Addison’s put together a lovely pastiche with a lot to unpack, and numerous delightful throwaway moments nodding to things like Eris’ apple of Discord. I am deeply fond of the most charming vampire James of the Moriarty Hunt, and that he has a Master, and her name is Kate. This will not be everyone’s cup of tea. Perhaps you drink coffee. But for once, the sidekick isn’t treated as such, has a ton of agency, and has a number of fascinating secrets. Thank you, Katherine Addison. Bless you.

So I wish the description had been a little clearer about this being Sherlock Holmes-inspired so I would've had a clearer idea of what I was getting into before I began reading. And, adding to that, I wish that the book itself had not adhered quite so closely to the Sherlock Holmes stories. It's fine to be inspired by something, but there's a line between inspiration and full-on fanfic; this needed to be more House, less Sherlock. Especially considering that Addison opted to bring multiple real world murders into it which...left me with a little bit of a bad taste in my mouth, honestly.

Doyle - aka Watson, aka our narrator - also kind of left me with a bad taste in my mouth. Even after something major is revealed about him halfway through the book I found him to be really grating at points. He's such a judgy curmudgeon - and not in a way that would seem reasonable to me. But this, I know, is a very personal thing and other readers might enjoy him as a narrator.

All that said, when the book does break away from the Sherlock Holmes formula - that is to say, when it decides to put its attention to the angels and werewolves and vampires - it becomes a much more entertaining, engrossing read. I enjoyed every single foray into occult life this book took, particularly when it decided to lean into the creepiness of a moor (which is easily the book's best section). I would've liked much, much more of that, honestly.

All in all, this was an entertaining enough read, and readers who are bigger Sherlock Holmes fans than me will probably enjoy it a lot, but personally I was let down by how closely it stuck to that formula. There was way more interesting (and original) stuff that could have been focused on here.

THE ANGEL OF THE COWS by Katherine Addison is the reimaging of Sherlock Holmes as wingfic. In this case, the story is set in an alternate Victorian London, populated by angels, vampires, and werewolves. Here a madman named Jack the Ripper treads the streets at night.

With classic elements of Sherlock Holmes set into a fantastical fantasy world inhabited by angels, vampires, and Hellhounds.
Here, in this alternate London, Sherlock Holmes is envisioned as an Angel named Crow. His character comes complete with huge wings and the astute observation and deduction skills readers would expect. Dr. Watson is played by the eccentric surgeon Dr. Doyle who is recently returned from the war and finds himself a flatmate and assistant to the sleuthing Crow.

Told from Dr. Doyle’s perspective, Addison weaves into the main plot Crow and Doyle aiding the Scotland Yard in the grisly Whitechapel murders. Their search leads them into the dark underbelly of London, searching for the identity behind the notorious serial killer known as Jack the Ripper.

Readers familiar with the classic stories will find threaded among the plot such investigating cases as A Study in Scarlet and The Hound of the Baskervilles.
This is a fun read with its Sherlock Holmes retelling and mix of supernatural elements combined with the Jack the Ripper mystery. Angels, Vampires, and hellhounds—oh my! Fans of the classic will enjoy the character dynamics and brewing friendship between the feathery Crow and eccentric Doyle. As each case takes our duo one step closer to Jack the Ripper's identity, readers will feel like they're within familiar stories. An engaging plot and mystery round out the story. My only wish was for a better feel of the Angels and the Fallen's history.

My Rating: 3.5 of 5 Stars

This book reminds me of a classic Sherlock Holmes adventure but in an amazing paranormal society.

The characters are interesting and fun. The dynamide between Doyle and Crow is fantastic, full of moments of humor and a very good team work!

I really liked the paranormal universe and knowing about the angels, fallen angels and the other creatures. Also, the book has a couple of plot twists that are very good.

I would have liked a better development of the universe, but overall it was a very entertaining read and to be honest I want more adventures with Doyle and Crow