Just realized I never posted my review of this book. Review originally appeared on my blog, Bea's Book Nook. 
 My friend Nifty sent me a copy of "Written In Red" (Thanks Nifty!) and I jumped into this just a week after reading it and stayed up until dawn to finish "Murder of Crows". I was a very tired puppy. :D But it was worth it. "Murder of Crows" is a different book than "Written in Red"; it's much more plot driven. I did miss the time we spent with Meg, Simon and the others. Not only is the story more plot-driven but we spend significantly more time in the minds of other characters both old and new. I loved that we spent more time outside of the Courtyard and got to see other areas and learn more about the world. 
 Bishop moves things forward with book; some plot threads are tied up and new ones introduced. We learn a good deal more about the cassandra sangues, Meg develops confidence (at one point Simon thinks to himself that she's getting snippy and would be nipped for her attitude if she were a Wolf), Simon makes progress working with the local police, we learn more about Captain Burke who is a man of mystery it seems, and more about Tess. There are lots of revelations big and small, most of which took me by surprise, in a good way. I was pleased to see that some of my guesses about the cassandra sangue were correct. Nifty and I had talked about them and we were eager to see how our predictions fared. We both were pretty accurate. 
 Unlike Nifty and Cerulean, I haven't read other books by Bishop other than this series but I appreciated her humor, her detail, her knack for characterization, and her ability to mix in serious issues such as race, prejudice, and environmental awareness. The themes are woven into the story and never shoved down our throats, something else I appreciated. 
 There's a brewing, slow-burning romance between Meg and Simon. Given the inherent differences in their respective species, I have doubts about the viability of a long-term romance between them but I am hoping it will work. The romance moves slowly and it was amusing to watch Simon feel his way and acknowledge, at least to himself, his feelings for Meg. I actually like that it's moving slowly given Meg's background and her inexperience, it's much more realistic this way. 
 I didn't love "Murder of Crows" as much as "Written in Red" but I did enjoy it and want to read it again. The next year of waiting for the next book will be a long one.