Brief Cases recap

This volume collects short stories and novellas from across the Dresden Files, most previously published elsewhere. They span the timeline widely and shift among several points of view: cases seen through Harry, an interlude told by the Chicago crime lord who rules much of the city, a client's early adventures alongside a set of Bigfoot cases, and stories following Harry's apprentice Molly during a period of his absence. Each piece stands alone rather than advancing a single continuous plot. The collection ends with a longer original novella told in turn by Harry, his daughter, and their guardian dog during an outing that turns dangerous, offering a rare, intimate look at Harry's life as a father and the constant, quiet vigilance that protecting his child requires.

Harry Dresden, Chicago's professional wizard, has survived years of escalating supernatural conflict alongside allies such as Karrin Murphy, the Knight Michael Carpenter, his apprentice Molly, and his half-brother Thomas. After a devastating war with the vampiric Red Court, and the desperate lengths he went to in order to save his newly discovered daughter, Harry accepted the mantle of the Winter Knight, becoming the mortal champion of the Winter Court of Faerie and its formidable queen. He returned from the brink of death changed and more dangerous, took up residence in a strange island stronghold, and continued to defend Chicago from threats both mortal and supernatural. Molly, once his student, has taken on a powerful faerie mantle of her own. By this point Harry has repaid old debts, faced fallen angels and rival powers, and reassembled a fragile life around his daughter and his surviving friends, even as his obligations to Winter hang over everything he does.