After having read Suspension, I jumped at the opportunity to go back to old New York (more than 100 years ago) for another look at a sharp detective and the City, itself. The Empire of Shadows left NYC early and shifted to the Adirondacks and while it was interesting to read about the early days of resort development upstate, the long foray into the woods to find the culprit was too long. The book is well written but I am looking forward to the next in this series which returns to NYC. I think Crabbe does his best work in the gritty old city.