Reviews

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.

rebeccafish23's review

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adventurous mysterious slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.75

jlandie's review against another edition

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I don’t typically go in for Sherlock Holmes retellings and/or angel fantasies and/or Jack the Ripper, but I’m on this Katherine Addison kick at the moment…. so despite all that, I found it very enjoyable! It’s very like the Bone Key, as several short stories starting the same characters. The Holmes/Watson dynamic was done well and the insertion of fantasy elements into the Holmes stories was pretty seamless.

Honestly, I’m having the most fun seeing which elements from her books crop up again and again, but I do think I need a break at this point.

paula12's review against another edition

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adventurous funny mysterious relaxing tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

Damn this was so much fun to read. I loved the mixture of the supernatural and Sherlock Holmea with a dash of Jack the Ripper- like it all fit seamlessly well with each other. The mysteries were fun and although I didn't love the resolution of quite a few of them, the charavters and the world were too fun for me to be bothered for too long

grahamjohnson's review against another edition

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adventurous dark mysterious reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

An excellently created world, a finely crafted story, such interesting choices. Definitely worth reading. Addison’s ideas are just lovely. It holds very close to the Sherlock Holmes stories, and thus can be a bit predictable, but the changes made possible due to the supernatural are fantastically interesting.

turrean's review against another edition

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adventurous mysterious tense slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.75

The audiobook was superb.

This is a marvelous recreation of the world of Sherlock Holmes. It’s a mix of supernatural fantasy and mystery, with a richly imagined Victorian London peopled by hellhounds, angels, vampires, stolid constables, and cunning criminals. The “Holmes” and “Watson” characters are delightful, and the references to the Conan Doyle stories are clever and plentiful.

I was sorry when it ended!

Content Warnings

skycrane's review

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5.0

I didn't know going into this that it was an adaptation of Sherlock Holmes, but that was revealed very early on. Even if the epigraphs don't tip you off, the story begins in almost exactly the same manner as A Study in Scarlet. An army doctor comes home wounded from the war in Afghanistan, and is introduced to a very peculiar person in need of a flatmate to split the rent. The Angel of the Crows is the best Holmes adaptation I've ever read or seen, and is in my opinion even better than the originals. I've read most of Doyle's stories, and though I don't remember the details of all of them, I remember enough to see that Katherine Addison must be deeply familiar with (and probably very fond of) the sources she's drawing from.

What is really excellent about this book is the way the author makes the stories her own. J. H. Doyle is not John Watson, and Crow is not Sherlock Holmes. This London is different than our London. Discovering and exploring these differences made reading this book a joy.

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