The Moor

Solid. That's the first word that comes to mind.

Also. This is one of the rare series in which I am so invested in the characters (though their psychology is not as fleshed out as I would like) that it inspires a patience in me I would not lend to a lot of newer novels. I have such a soft spot for anything Holmes or Holmes-adjacent that I had to approach this fantastical dark whimsy with an open mind.

It's slow and laborious because there's so much blatant research thrown in your face via the Baring-Gould memoirs and library at large, that you must have patience and possibly a love for mystery rather than a passing flirtation to slow down and enjoy it for what it is.