Jun 012018
 

Cover of Brief Cases by Jim Butcher.Publishers Weekly: This entertaining collection assembles 11 reprints and one brand new novella, all set in the world of Butcher’s popular Chicago based wizard PI, Harry Dresden (last seen in 2014’s Skin Game).

In a trio of lighthearted Bigfoot-centric stories, Harry helps out an erudite Sasquatch named River Shoulders on behalf of his half-human son, Irwin. In “Bombshells,” Harry’s apprentice, the quick-thinking Molly Carpenter, goes up against a powerful foe (while wearing a little black dress, no less), and in “Even Hand,” Harry’s sworn enemy, dapper crime boss John Marcone, takes drastic steps to protect an innocent child. The Wild West–set crowd-pleaser “A Fistful of Warlocks” features White Council Warden Anastasia Luccio, who teams up with Wyatt Earp to put a stop to some very dark deeds. The standout is the tender original novella, “Zoo Day,” in which Harry takes his 10-year-old daughter, Maggie, to the zoo. First they encounter a young warlock in need of Harry’s help, and then Maggie is attacked by a group of haunts.