© James Pyles

I was going to review another book before this one, but when I was halfway through that other book, my request for this one came through at my local public library. Library books have to be returned at a certain date, so this one got priority.

Jim Butcher’s White Night is the ninth novel in his Dresden Files series. Harry Dresden is a functioning and advertised wizard working in Chicago. It’s urban fantasy like Sam Spade meets Lord of the Rings, only sort of.

We last left Harry as a newly promoted Warden of the White Council, basically a police officer/enforcer for a conglomerate of good wizards who defend their laws and protect the world of mortals from the supernatural.

They are currently engaged in a war with the Red Court vampires (there are several courts, all with different characteristics). It’s a war that Harry inadvertently started and so far, things have been going badly for the White Council.

Add to that Harry’s new apprentice Molly. Molly is a late teen girl and daughter of devout Christians (her father Michael is literally a Holy Warrior, magic sword and all) but she, having inherited some magic ability from her mother (long story), used her powers badly and was nearly executed by the White Council. Harry went to bat for her and now either Molly plays the straight-and-narrow as his student, or the Council executes them both.

All caught up?

Good. Spoiler Alert!

Evil is again afoot in Chicago. Some minor to mid level magic users, all female, are being systematically assassinated. The problem is, to an outsider, including the police, all the deaths look like suicides. Fortunately Harry’s friend on the force, Sgt. (recently demoted) Karrin Murphy gives him access to the crime scenes and that starts Harry off on his hunt for a serial killer.

Molly is involved, but if Harry can help it, as little as possible. He discovers that his half-brother, the white vampire Thomas, has been keeping secrets and being an incubus, he feeds through sexual contact with his victims. He’s been holding off, trying not to hurt any more women, but suddenly, he’s well fed and has an unknown income stream. Could he be the killer Harry’s looking for?

His first love Elaine is also involved as an occult private detective from L.A., plus others from Harry’s rogue’s gallery including the high-level gangster Marcone become drawn into this web of murder, subterfuge, and mystery.

To top it off, his fellow Warden Carlos Ramirez tumbles onto a lot of Harry’s secrets including his alliances with said-rogue’s gallery and Harry’s worried Ramirez might turn him in.

It’s another winner in the series, but there was one point that really surprised me. While in his brother’s upscale apartment, he’s caught by security plus Chicago P.D. To get out of it, Harry pretends to be Thomas’ gay lover. To do this, Harry pulls out every gay stereotype he can think of and it seems to work.

Then Harry (and Butcher) in an internal dialog, complains about how the guard and the cop fall for the stereotype as if they’re bigots or something. Harry (and Butcher) were seemingly playing both ends against the middle, so to speak. It was one of those rare moments in a Dresden novel where I was drawn out of the narrative by blatant social commentary. Sure, fantasy and science fiction are loaded with such commentaries including Butcher’s books, but it’s best when they aren’t smashed in your face like a cream pie.

This actually plays into the big reveal of Thomas’ new career at the end of the book, one as a high-end beautician who is, of course, a gay man. I mean flagrantly, overwhelmingly, fake French accent gay.

Good grief. It was funny, but it certainly (again) played into the stereotypes a lot of people have about A) male beauticians (or male nurses or male anyone in a traditionally female occupation) and B) how gay men behave.

It’s a happy ending for once, but we’re reminded that since book one, there’s been a hidden, secret baddie in the shadows manipulating all of Harry’s misadventures. What will we see in the future?