I loved this Sherlock Holmes remix set in a Victorian London full of guardian angels, hell-hounds, vampires, and other sundry supernaturals. There are tons of familiar elements—names, crimes, narrative roles—but Addison twists everything just far enough out of sync with the original stories that there’re plenty of surprises even for readers who know the source material pretty well.

The episodic structure did hold me at a slight distance at first, but it pays off in a big way as each new adventure reveals more layers of worldbuilding and characterization. I had a great time piecing things together, and I genuinely miss both Crow and Doyle now I’ve said goodbye to them. (Crow is especially delightful; a nice surprise, given how many Holmes-equivalents tend to be jerks.) Recommended to anyone who yearns for more fantasy mysteries on their reading list.

This book = Sherlock Holmes + Jack the Ripper + gaslamp fantasy.

The reader is largely left to pick up the nature of Addison’s world as they go along, which made the book a bit slow going for me at first. In brief, though, her London is full of variety of supernatural creatures, like vampires, werewolves, ghouls, and demons; for the purposes of the story, the most important of them are the angels. Angels normally exist in a Nameless state, where they are part of a collective mind and, while intelligent, have no individual personality or volition. However, an angel can take on a name if they become associated with a public space, like a train station or a monument. If the angel’s habitation is then destroyed, they may turn violent and become Fallen. Humans that are attacked by a Fallen may be infected by them, turning them into creatures like necrophages, hemophages, and hell-hounds.

The book’s Watson, Dr. Doyle (no, not that Doyle), was injured by a Fallen while treating soldiers in Afghanistan and needs to find an affordable place to live after he is invalided out of the army and returns to London. That, of course, leads him to his Holmes, an extraordinary Angel named Crow, who is not Fallen and yet has no habitation. What he does have is an interest in crime and a talent for solving the most difficult cases.

The novel is episodic, with Crow and Doyle conducting several different investigations over the course of the book that mirror the original Holmes stories, such as “The Hound of the Baskervilles” and “The Adventure of the Speckled Band.” Various other elements from the stories also show up, like the Baker Street Irregulars, who in this case are Nameless angels who agree to perform tasks for Crow. On top of these Holmesian bits, the author also throws in the real-world murders of Jack the Ripper as one of Crow’s cases.

I’m not a huge fan of Sherlock Holmes, and I’m not all that interested in Jack the Ripper, either. I appreciated the callbacks to the original stories that I recognized but didn’t get too bogged down in the similarities or differences. Similarly, I recognized enough to know the author was playing fair with the details given about Jack the Ripper while putting her own spin on them. Readers who have an interest in either Sherlock or Jack might get more out of those parts of the book than I did, though.

I personally was more interested in the worldbuilding and the relationship between Doyle and Crow. Addison’s gaslamp fantasy world is a bit vague at times, which was a little frustrating. For example, hell-hounds seem to have some mystical connection to the dead, based on the events of the book, but their nature is never fully explained. I did like the variety of supernatural creatures in her world, though, and especially her angels, who are quite different from anything I’ve read before. Crow is, of course, unique even among the angels, and Doyle has secrets that make him special, too. They are two lonely souls, and I enjoyed the friendship that grows between them over the course of the novel.

I’ve been in a bit of a slump with my fantasy reads this year; not many books have captured my interest, but this one managed it. Overall, I thought it was a fun read. Recommended!

A copy of this book was provided through NetGalley for review; all opinions expressed are my own.

I loved, loved, loved this book and couldn't put it down being hooked till the last page.
It's the first book I read by this author and won't surely be the last as I adore her style of writing and storytelling.
Even if the plot are quite similar to the original Conan Doyle I loved how the author was able to develop an alternate Holmes and Watson making them likeable and interesting.
The world building is fascinating and the angel lore well thought and interesting.
I would be happy to read other stories featuring this characters and to learn more about this world.
I strongly recommend it.
Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this ARC, all opinions are mine.

Too similar to Sherlock Holmes for my taste, but it is an interesting concept. Could have deviated more from the source material and created a much more original tale. The beginning in particular was beat for beat the same as A Study in Scarlet, which I found disappointing.

The Angel of the Crows is a Sherlock Holmes retelling in which Crow, an Angel who some believe to have Fallen and Doyle, a discharged army doctor solve crimes. The book includes both an overarching plot (which I'll talk more about later) and many small side-quests, most of which are direct retellings of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's Adventures of Sherlock Holmes.

As someone who enjoys Sherlock Holmes, I would definitely have preferred knowing beforehand that what I was reading would be Sherlock Holmes But With Creatures. I went into the book with exceedingly different expectations than I would have gone into it with, had I known.

However, I did enjoy this version of Sherlock. Crow and Dr. Doyle have a very charming dynamic. I think it was clever to have Crow be an Angel who the other Angels think is Fallen - it makes sense in the universe. Additionally, I think the magical universe was pretty well fleshed out, for one so complicated.

Some other things I enjoyed included the inclusion of LGBT+ people in a story set in the 1800s and the hell hound subplot. I really enjoyed the inclusion of The House of the Baskervilles, as it really flowed with the fantastical setting. Some of the other mysteries borrowed from the original book did not flow quite as well into the new setting.

Additionally, the overarching mystery did not land very well with me. I am always skeptical of stories in which the detective has to find Jack the Ripper. Jack the Ripper is so built up in popular culture that any capture of him seems anticlimactic. (Though I did enjoy the portrayal of him as slimy and NOT suave.) It might have been more powerful had they not caught the murderer.

Overall, the book was an interesting Sherlock Holmes retelling, even if I would have preferred it a) strayed a bit more from the source material and b) had a different big bad. I really loved the world building - so much so that I almost feels wasted on this premise. Remove some of the Sherlock plots, emphasize Doyle and Crow's feelings towards family into a stronger thematic element, and spend more time on the interesting stuff (AKA THE FREAKING MAGIC) and it could have been something I adored instead of casually enjoyed.

There is so much to love in Katherine Addisons new book, a dark, urban fantasy, it is so well written and positively drips with atmosphere.

The world building is done with style and imagination, so richly descriptive that you can picture city, an alternate 1880's London. HEAVILY influenced by Sherlock Holmes. I absolutely have to commend the writing style of the author, as I was so enamored with it. The writing was lyrical, almost poetic at times, but also gritty, raw and darkly humorous. I don't think that I've ever highlighted so many quotes in an urban fantasy book before. Many a times I caught myself swirling those phrases and word choices around in my head, savoring the elegant simplicity with which it was all put together.

The problem is this: while this achieves its aim for an urban fantasy feel, it lacks that ever so important distinctive voice which these types of books need to stand out, regardless of genre. There is absolutely nothing about Doyle to hold on to. He really is the cliche. Character wise, there’s nothing to redeem him, making you wonder why you should care. He only barely seems to want to redeem himself, which doesn’t help either.

What makes it worse is that the plot is slow. S l o w. There are only 3 main action scenes I can recall: one past battle, one major fuck up, and one part of a chucked in thread that seemed to have no bearing on the main plot at all. There's lots of plodding investigation and information cues.

A thrilling alternate history with echoes of Phillip Pullman and Anne rice. The perfect summer and quarantine read!

The Angel of the Crows is an interesting new take of the Victorian era, except in a world where there are angels, and monsters, who live along-side humans. The blurb absolutely drew me in, I quickly was absorbed into the plot and found it a refreshing retelling of the Sherlock Holmes series. I enjoyed reading the rest of the story and following Mr Doyle on his adventures. However, I wish that the author had explain more about the world and invested in some world-building. I would recommend to those who enjoyed reading Sherlock Holmes and like historical fantasy!

This book promised a lot, but for me, it just failed to deliver. Starting life as a Sherlock Holmes fan fiction, this tells the story of Dr. J. H. Doyle, an injured veteran returning from Afghanistan and Crow, the Angel of London. Our crime fighting duo work their way through a variety of mysteries, including the hound of the baskervilles and the Study in Scarlet, all with a twist. Throw in vampires, hell hounds, vampires and various other paranormal elements and you have the set up for an incredibly entertaining tale. Unfortunately, it missed the mark for me on a few key things. Firstly, the world building is pretty surface level. Crow (Sherlock) is an angel, which inhabit the world, but there is little explanation of the dynamics under which they operate, which left me confused at times and ultimately unsatisfied. Secondly, the Sherlock Holmes tales are very faithful re-tellings with only slight differences, which just felt like a bit of a cop out. I liked the relationship between Crow and Doyle and I thought Doyle particularly was a very interesting and well fleshed character. Overall however, I was generally underwhelmed. I think it will appeal to fans of paranormal fiction more than it will to Sherlock fans and honestly think you would really enjoy this book if you were less familiar with the source material than I am.
I received a free copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for a fair and honest review.

I thought the world was really unique, but I couldn't get past the narration's voice. I didn't think the "posh" voice matched with the story so well. Because of this, I couldn't get into the story.

This story is Sherlock Homes meets Supernatural. It takes elements from Angel mythology and other supernatural elements and it throws it into the Sherlock universe. Plus Jack the Ripper. And it appears that this all started as a Sherlock WingFic. Which is basically just a Sherlock fan fiction written with angels... This book does change a little of the Sherlock character and the Watson character. Instead, you have Crow, an angel, and Dr. Doyle, who is a war veteran with a secret. But that is as deep as the changes go.

I really enjoyed the angel lore that Addison slowly drips into the story. You aren't given this big info dump on everything that is going on with the angels, the nameless ones, the fallen, vampires, and werewolves. It is all integrates into society and accepted as fact. It is part of their world, so a lot of these terms are embedded in their dialogue and into their mindset.

My problem comes with the fact that this isn't just inspired by Sherlock Holmes, it is a recounting of several of the Sherlock stories. They are scene by scene by scene tellings of cases in the original Sherlock, which leads to a very boring story. If you have read Sherlock before or if you know a lot of the well-known cases that a lot of retellings/adaptations use, then you're not gonna find anything overly exciting in this read. Yes, there is a supernatural element that every once in a while pops up in the story and changes it just a little bit. but it isn't enough to stand on its own feet. The characters are all the same. This very much does feel like a fanfiction, which it is.

I also have a problem when gender identity is used as a plot twist or for shock value. Yes, the gender choice makes sense for the character, but the way everything it was revealed and how it was used, I just don't think you should do that with gender identity. It is something that should be integrated into the character's perspective, not something added to spice up the story.

Basically, if you've read Sherlock Holmes, you've read this book. It needed to be more of a retelling or an inspired by, to really keep my interest. Otherwise, it was just very bland. And it takes a lot of those older elements of Sherlock, keeps it in there, and it doesn't really translate for a modern audience/reader. So while the premise of this story sounded very interesting; Jack the Ripper, London, Sherlock, paranormal, it didn't quite get there. It still felt like it was a fanfiction that needed a lot of revisions to become its own thing.

I was thrilled when I read the description of The Angel of the Crows and requested it instantly. So naturally, I went into this, with high expectations.

Three things that a reader should note is this is a historical fantasy fiction, the authors can sometimes alter the original history to suit the story flow, enjoy the characters instead of finding logic!

This entire novel is set is 1880’s London and the atmosphere is a full on Gothic darkness. Crow, is an Angel who guards London from supernatural evil forces. His accomplice is Dr.Doyle. Many people compare these characters to Sherlock and Watson, which would seem fit! After the London streets are terrified with a mystery killer, Crow and Doyle should conduct their own investigation to find the killer and stop him. What is 19th century London without Jack The Ripper?! In this story, Jack the ripper is seen as an supernatural element and hence the Crow’s involvement (this is one of the places where the reader shouldn’t compare with the original history). I loved the character portrayals and their usage in the story. Only thing that fell short for me was the world building, which felt cryptic at first, but did not stand up to the expectations! Ms.Addison has tried to mimic the language and writing style of 19th century writers, which is enjoyable and well suit the mood.

This may not be everyone’s cup of tea, but being a sucker for Supernatural fantasies, I loved the story and enjoyed it throughout!

4/5 ⭐️

Thank you Netgalley, Tor Books and Katherine Addison for the ARC. This review is my own and not influenced in any way.

Final rating: 3.5/5 Stars

In Victorian London, every public building is watched over by an angel, a supernatural being that protects and assists the people inside its dominion.  When Dr. Doyle arrives in London after sustaining an injury in the Afghanistan War, he could never have predicted he would have ended up with an angel as a roommate. But Crow is not like the other angels. He doesn't guard a single building.  Crow is the Angel of London, and as such, offers his services as a consulting detective to any being, supernatural or otherwise, with a mystery to solve.  But after a string of successful cases, Crow and Dr. Doyle find themselves with their toughest case yet.  Prostitutes are being brutally killed in the East End by an unknown assailant - one the newspapers will eventually call Jack the Ripper.

Have you ever wanted to read the original Sherlock Holmes adventures, but with supernatural creatures and elements mixed in?  If so, have I got a book for you!  THE ANGEL OF THE CROWS is a faithful (sometimes too faithful) retelling of many of the original short stories.  While the lead characters have been renamed, they still live at 221 Baker Street in the late nineteenth century, they frequently work with Inspector Lestrade, and yes, they will absolutely take a trip to the countryside to investigate the Hound of the Baskervilles.  But this is a world where the Hound might realistically have demonic origin, and if someone claims they've seen a ghost, that isn't a notion to scoff at.  Werewolves and vampires openly walk in the streets, and a young woman can receive a respectable certification in clairvoyance.

As someone who has avidly consumed several iterations of Sherlock Holmes over the years, from the original short stories to the Jeremy Brett TV series to ELEMENTARY, I had mixed feelings about this latest outing with the famed detective. On the one hand, these are well-written adventures written much in the style of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's original tales, and are certainly a cozy way to pass the time.  On the other hand, I found myself most enjoying the book when it offered a new angle or element to the material, and that was something it didn't do enough.

THE ANGEL OF THE CROWS has one broad mystery - that of tracking Jack the Ripper - but the majority of the plot follows Crow and Doyle over a series of several mysteries of varying length. Some take place over several chapters, while a few are only a chapter or two long and serve as an interstitial that allows a deeper dive into Crow and Doyle as characters and serve up some secrets about Doyle's background in particular. Sherlock enthusiasts will recognize several cases, from THE SIGN OF THE FOUR to THE SPECKLED BAND, many of which have been given a supernatural twist.  The more I saw of this London with its angels and hellhounds and vampires, the more I craved to see, to the point where I found myself wishing that the author had created original adventures for Crow and Doyle set in this world, rather than being largely guided by the source material.

That, at the end of the day, is what defined my takeaway from THE ANGEL OF THE CROWS: the desire for more. I had a perfectly lovely time with Crow and Doyle, but I wanted to know more about them, especially Doyle, who has a surprising backstory that merited more exploration than what we are given.  A little more explanation about some of the author's original elements, like the angels, or the difference between a vampire and a hemophage, would have also shored up the book.  Nevertheless, THE ANGEL OF THE CROWS is a book I enjoyed, and can certainly be recommended to those looking for a comfort read with a splash of new elements.

I received an advance copy of this book via NetGalley.

So many things about this book are perfect for me. An homage to Sherlock Holmes with fantasy elements! Victorian London! Plus, it is written by the author of the enchanting <i>Goblin Emperor.</i> My expectations were high.

And yet, it took me a week to get through the book. It struggled to hold my attention, and there was no glaring reason why. The writing is by no means bad. I loved Crow, the angel-winged ethereal guardian of London who plays the role of Holmes. I had to really mull why the book left me with such a vague sense of disappointment.

Foremost, there is the format. This is Sherlock fanfic that takes on a voice similar to the original work, as you follow Doyle (aka Watson) the newly-injured army medic as he meets Crow/Holmes and initiate their intimate friendship at 221 Baker Street and begin to solve fantastical rewrites of the original cases. One reason I never really engaged with the original books is that the POV of Watson was very distant, as the focus is on Sherlock. Here, Crow is a major subject, but I found myself craving an intimate understanding of Doyle. Very, very slowly, the reader finds out more secrets about Doyle, but even then, there is a profound aloofness from the character that left me feeling shutout. And that's a shame, as the type of secrets involved are usually ones that would snare me, big time.

I was also disappointed in how Doyle's secrets solved the overall plot arc of the book, the mystery of Jack the Ripper. Doyle has no agency. He solves it, beyond his own conscious control.

The biggest reason the book didn't click for me, though, is that so much about the book felt aloof. The worldbuilding is painfully slow and teases about a lot of cool things that are never explored in detail. The ways of angels are very gradually explained, but I was left wanting to know more. I'm okay with the steampunk elements being contained to scant mentions of airships and mechanical guard dogs (that's a sound marketing choice at this time, as steampunk books don't sell) but an alternate history aspect is hinted at but never explored. The Americas are still colonies! How, why? What else is changed? As someone who loves alt history, this frustrated me. This element piqued my curiosity far more than the vampires and werewolves that play important parts in certain cases. The cool, original aspects felt like they were ignored as the book replayed tired old tropes instead.

Angel of the Crows by Katherine Addison


This book is gosh darned delightful.

I was tempted to leave my review at that but I guess I should say more.

Like many people, I first encountered Katherine Addison when I found the Goblin Emperor on a bunch of awards ballots. I was immediately enchanted. Within six months of reading it, I doubled back and listened to the audiobook. Goblin Emperor is charming and delightful and wonderful and even deeper than I realized the first time though.

So I was thrilled beyond belief when Tor and NetGalley gave me an eARC for her new book, the Angel of the Crows. (I must’ve spent 15 minutes trying to explain to my bemused wife why I was so excited.)

I have a shameful secret I must confess: when I start a new book, I often skip to the end to read the acknowledgments. I don’t exactly know why. I’ve been doing it for at least the last thirty years. I think it comes from reading single-author short story collections that have forwards and afterwards and really enjoying the authorial insight. I don’t want to have to wait until the end of a novel to get that insight, so I skip ahead.

And am I glad I did!

<spoiler alert>

Ms. Addison explains at the end of the novel that this books genesis was in fanfic. Specifically, something called wingfic (which I have never heard of before, but is fanfic where a character has wings). She explained that the story began as wingfic from the BBC show Sherlock, the one with Benedict Cumberbatch. Understanding the DNA of the story really made me appreciate it more.

The Sherlock analog is Crow, the angel of London, and the Watson analog is Dr. Doyle, and they become roommates and solve mysteries together in a world where werewolves and vampires are commonplace and it’s just wonderful! Sorry to gush. But as I said at the beginning, this book delights me to no end. The only possible complaint I could have with this book is that it feels a little episodic and the overarching plot seems thin, except that the overarching plot isn’t the heart of this novel, but instead it is the characters and relationships.

I cannot enthuse enough about this book. Go buy it right now!

The synopsis said something along the lines of this isn’t the story you know or the characters you know, but let’s be real — aside from the two main characters having their names changed, this *is* the story you know. There’s even a Lestrade and a Moriarty. Having said that, as far as retellings go, this one was a pretty good interpretation of Holmes and Watson. Only one of them is an angel and the other is permanently injured from being attacked by one.

I’m not sure what I thought this was going to be prior to reading it, but I found it rather surprising and fairly enjoyable. Being a fan of Sherlock Holmes and Sir Doyle, I do appreciate any and all retellings, even the ones that don’t particularly add anything new or stray too far from the original. I liked what Addison did with her reimagining and I like the unique touches she threw in, like incorporating angels and quite a number of other mythological creatures into the tale. But then, on top of putting a fantasy twist on this classic, she comes back in and adds yet another layer by incorporating the story of Jack the Ripper and his famed victims, and that part certainly took me by surprise (and put at least some truth into the statement made by the blurb.)

The pacing for this one, though, was a little off for me. The beginning, while slow, was interesting enough that I kept running back to it. However, after that first third, things start to really slow down and it felt like perhaps there was too much happening at once without anything really happening at all, if that makes sense. But! I liked this world and these characters enough that I was able to overlook the pacing issues for the most part and just enjoy the story.

My favorite aspect of the whole book was, hands down, the characters, particularly Crow and Doyle and how they play off of each other in the famed Holmes and Watson way. I also liked the world Addison created, though it does feel like a tried and true version of Victorian London, albeit one that has vampires, werewolves, angels, and other mythical creatures running amok. But sometimes there’s comfort in the familiar and I think overall, Addison’s world and her familiar-feeling version of Holmes and Watson is definitely a story that will be appreciated by both established Sherlock fans and anyone who just likes a good historical mystery. 3.5 stars.

*eARC received via NetGalley.

I’d never heard the term ‘wingfic’ until the afterword of this novel, where the author informs us that The Angel of the Crows ‘started’ life as wingfic of Sherlock Holmes. Started? It’s well written, it’s pleasurable enough to read, but AotC is absolutely a fan fiction retelling of Arthur Conan Doyle’s stories – with added supernatural elements.

It does work, in the main. This is a world filled with angels – Nameless, or named after a building they patronise – as well as werewolves, vampires, and many more. Our Great Detective is a semi-outcast angel, explaining his social awkwardness and obsession with solving mysteries as something to do. His new flatmate and our narrator is Dr JH Doyle, a veteran of the wars in Afghanistan where he was almost killed by a Fallen angel. We get to read about their meeting and growing friendship, against the background of some very familiar mysteries.

And that’s my main problem: it’s not a mystery when you’ve read the original or seen countless adaptations. The first case is not only completely familiar, but the supernatural elements barely seem to affect anything. That does change as the cases continue – the Hound of the Baskervilles has a different mood in a world where werewolves and hellhounds are part of society! – but it takes its time to expand the ‘new’ bits of the world. Throwing in the Jack the Ripper case was, shall we say, a bold choice and not one I’m sure could be resolved enough to bring any satisfaction – and missed opportunity not to show a link with the paranormal elements.

The real meat of the tale is the relationship between Holm- urm, Crow and Doyle, and that’s done well, with a few twists along the way. I would have liked a lot more exploration of the unique factors of the world: what’s the real difference between vampires and haemophages? Are hellhounds born or made? What precipitated the angels being on Earth, and what are the different kinds really about? It’s all background, not wholly explored for the reader, which felt like a missed chance to focus on perhaps more interesting elements?

Overall, I did enjoy the read but it’s not without its limitations and frustrations. That the author is passionate about the topic is clear, and that in itself makes for a decent read. Still, I wasn’t expecting fan-fic, however well written, and I think this will go down as quirky rather than standing out. I could perhaps see a sequel that expands the more novel elements – and I’d read that in a flash.

Full review for my website coming tomorrow.

I enjoyed the take on Sherlock Holmes & Watson in a steampunk/fantasy world. As with the original works and shows and moves based on them, the relationship between the two is what moves the story and keeps it fun and interesting.. Addison creates an interesting world here for the two of them to inhabit without really fully explaining for exploring it. i would love to see more world-building take place and I don't think enough occurred though the author did drop interesting nuggets throughout the plot, paced it well, and didn't resort to covering data downloads in place of actually advancing the plot more organically.

I think this book holds up well with really no prior knowledge of the original books. Of course, I do believe that you would certainly get more from it if you were more aware of the events and characters being discussed. But this book holds up as its' own entity. I believe I said something similar in my review of The Court of Miracles by: Kester Grant, regarding Les Miserables. But, this is also not just a straight retelling, this is more of a fantastical reimagining. In fact, in the author's note in the back of the book, Addison mentions that this book has its origins in fanfiction. So, while the book has the vibe and some of the characters from the original Sherlock canon, it isn't the same. There were some fun little references to the original characters. For example, the main protagonist/narrator is named J. H. Doyle. He is the “Watson” of the pair. At one point they reference the name “John Watson” being a clearly preposterous fake name. Which I thought was really fun. Also, one of the habitations that Crow (Sherlock) used to reside in had the name “Sherlock” in the title, which was another fun little tidbit.

The story is set up in a pretty interesting way. There is still linear storytelling, but there are different subplots, in the form of individual cases, that are playing out while the overarching plot involving ‘Jack the Ripper’ plays out. I think it’s really cool, it stops the main plot from getting stale, but it also stops the new cases from feeling serialized. It all feels like one cohesive story, not like small cases that are happening in a row. But it is still able to maintain the classic "Sherlock Holmes" kind of vibe. It was also fun, because you never really knew what the story was going to turn into. You knew for sure that there would be a plot line regarding the Jack the Ripper murders, but other than that, the rest of the stories were new discoveries. It was very close to feeling like a book of short stories, even though it was actually one cohesive work. Which was a big positive for me. When I would pick it up to read a section, I would be hooked. It certainly doesnt read that fast, but that doesn’t mean it was a difficult read. It was just the kind of book to which you need to pay attention. As I previously mentioned, the subplots change per section, so it is easy to put down between sections. However, there is an overarching plotline that is consistently going in the background or concurrently with the subplot.

The writing is also very appropriate for the time period that it’s intended to represent. Addison does a great job portraying her point and giving it the vibe of a normal Sherlock Holmes novel. As I've said, I'm not overly familiar with the original works. However, I do truly believe that Addison did a good job at accurately portraying the time period in her manner of narration and word usage. There are certainly some archaic words spread throughout that I had to look up. FYI, a fetch is more or less a bad omen that appears when one is meant to die soon. That one wasn't the easiest definition to find. The writing was very descriptive, and lofty. But, it didn't feel very heavy. Sometimes books written in an old kind of prose can feel heavy and hard to digest. I personally have a hard time with true, public domain classics because of the writing (I find them to be hard to endure). But, this had all the beauty and authenticity of an older novel, without weighing the reader down. Most of all, I liked how there were some pretty dark topics breached more than once, but the story never felt too dark. There was always something lighthearted to lift the reader back up and even out the mood. It was all done so well, that the story felt very balanced.

My main problem with the book was with the exposition. I was having a hard time keeping up with the lore for some of the fantasy races. We all know that authors will borrow from a similar set of “rules” when they write fantasy breeds. Like vampires, werewolves, etc. but it’s when new/unfamiliar types that there are issues. For example, I’m still confused regarding the hellhounds and hemophages and necrophages, the fallen, etc. Not in that I don't understand what they are, it's more that I have questions regarding their appearance or how they are different from other races mentioned. I'm aware that a hemophage and a vampire are different, but I'm not really sure how they became different. By which I mean, their outward characteristics and temper are clearly different, but they kind of accomplish the same goal, so wherein is the need for the both of them? Addison mostly dropped hints regarding the different aspects of the creatures, rather than just outright stating what they are and how they came to be or how they ultimately differ from what we know. To be fair, Doyle was the narrator, so we only knew what he knew and was able to express. But, I just wish there had been a bit more detail regarding the different creatures mentioned and maybe more regarding occult law. Because those were the things that I mostly found myself to be questioning.

It is honestly my hope that this is meant to be a series or some kind of duology/trilogy. Because I have questions that I would like to have answered. I want to know more about Doyle's background and more about Crow's background especially. There were some things that were kind of mentioned in passing, that I would like to be resolved. But, this book has been one of my favorites that I've read this year. It is certainly my favorite ARC that I've read in 2020. If you're a fan of mysteries with fantasy elements and very likable characters, then this one is perfect. I'm so glad that I read this book. I really hope that Addison intends to make this book into a series

In Author's Note at the end of The Angel of the Crows, Katherine Addison wrote that "this book started as Sherlock wing-fic"- a subgenre of fanfic where characters have wings.
On paper, you couldn't have found a better fit for me.
I love The Goblin Emperor.
I am huge fan of classic mysteries.
I am an ever bigger fan of Sherlock Holmes, both original and various interpretations and media alterations and takes. And I remember SFSquee podcast episode with Sarah and some cool guests (can't get cooler than Elizabeth Bear and Paul Cornell*) where she shared her love for "consulting detective" as well.
And I love fanfiction.

But this book didn't do much for me and after giving some serious thought about why exactly, I came to this: the note cited above note implies that this book "started as a wing-fic", as in it's not anymore, it evolved into something else entirely. Having read it, I don't think this is particularly true.
This novel is just a basic retelling of Sherlock's adventures.
And it's that thing, precisely, that doesn't work for someone who is familiar with ACD's stories. The reason someone like me can enjoy and like various versions of Sherlock in media is twofold: staying true to characters even if they wear a different name in a completely different setting or if you focus on stories itself, then putting a different spin on them. Kind of like what BBC did with their modern version of Sherlock.
Other than main character names who are not Sherlock Holmes and John Watson, but Crow and J.H. Doyle, some other characters even retain their original names: you have your Lestrade and Moriarty and even the names of "canonical five", Jack the Ripper's victims. I immediately knew which stories Addison used (The Sign of The Four, The Adventure of the Speckled Band, The Adventure of the Copper Beeches...) not because they were cleverly intertwined with this whole novel concept of winged creatures and magical world. No, I knew they were these stories because she set them up the same way: The Hound of Baskerville starts with Watson and Holmes theorizing about the man who forgot his walking stick. Same happens with Crow and Doyle. I recognize the names of characters, so I couldn't even be surprised by the outcome which took the mystery element out. This, of course, excludes the confrontation with the Ripper.
Speaking off, it's not the first time famous detective is pitted against Jack the Ripper: in fact the last book I've read on this theme was Dust and Shadow: An Account of the Ripper Killings by Dr. John H. Watson by Lindsay Faye which was great. If you are familiar with the case, Addison used the victims and their injuries, word by word transcript of Goulston Street graffito and "Dear Boss" letter, the whole shebang.
So, with so many things retold and things I already knew about, what was left? Well, I guess, the wingfic element which, and I am perfectly honest about this, just never mashed that well with this premise. Sometimes it seemed like it was entirely forgotten and left in the background, sometimes it was used as an additional flavor, a character trait to spice it up (like Moriarty is a vampire) and sometimes as a Deus ex Machina, but it's never mashing with some adventure or other to make it fresh or interesting.
I loved how much importance Addison gave to making Crow's and Doyle's friendship believable. Tentatively friendly building up to complete trust. She also made Doyle just as important character in art of solving mysteries, but, again, I wasn't fan of using (view spoiler) as a plot twist. I liked the idea quite a lot, just not how it was written into story. When it comes to setting, the whole thing with angels is incredibly interesting and their involvement in war is something I wanted more to read about. I almost hope she wrote a whole different book around this idea and not tying it to Holmes.
This was a well written retelling of Sherlock Holmes where he has wings and is called Crow in a form of journal entries from the perspective of Watson whose name is Doyle who's also more than appears, and had I expected exactly this, I guess I would liked it more.


*This was years ago and it dawned on me all three of them wrote something Sherlock-y since.