The Dresden Files, book 7 : Dead Beat by Jim Butcher

Meet Harry Dresden, Chicago's first (and only) Wizard P.I. Turns out the 'everyday' world isfull of strange and magical things - and most of them don't play well with humans. That's where Harry comes in. Luckily, however, he's not alone. Although most people don't believe in magic, the Chicago P.D. has a Special Investigations department, headed by his good friend Karrin Murphy. They deal with the ...stranger cases. It's down to Karrin that Harry sneaks into Graceland Cemetery to meet a vampire named Mavra. Mavra has evidence that would destroy Karrin's career, and her demands are simple. She wants the Word of Kemmler - and all the power that comes with it. But first, Harry's keen to know what he'd be handing over. Before long he's racing against time, and six necromancers, to get the Word. And to prevent a Halloween that would truly wake the dead. Magic - it can get a guy killed. 


So, Harry is blackmailed by Mavra (leader of the Black Court of Vampires) to recover the "Word of Kemmler", but isn't told what it is, or where it is.  He is harried and hunted by three groups of former disciples of Kemmler who also want the word, and the power that its knowledge will convey.  His brother Thomas is a major pain in his life, he finds a girlfriend, he is weighed down by a coward who he has sworn to protect, is hounded by someone out for revenge and to top it all off, Lasciel (of the Order of the Blackened Denarius) the demon bound to the coin he picked up at the end of Death Masks begins her seduction.  All is not what it seems in the world of Harry Dresden and this is possibly his greatest challenge to date (again)......

What more can I say, another fantastic installment in the life of Harry Dresden - it just gets better and better for the reader, and worse and worse for poor Harry.

The Dresden Files, book 6 : Blood Rites by Jim Butcher

For Harry Dresden, Chicago's only professional wizard, there have been worse assignments than going undercover on the set of an adult film. Dodging flaming monkey poo, for instance. Or going toe-to-leaf with a walking plant monster. Still, there's something more troubling than usual about his newest case. The film's producer believes he's the target of a sinister entropy curse - but it's the woman around him who are dying, in increasingly spectacular ways. Harry's doubly frustrated because he got involved with this bizarre mystery only as a favour to Thomas, his flirtatious, self-absorbed vampire acquaintance of dubious integrity. Thomas has a personal stake in the case Harry can't quite figure out, until his investigation leads him straight to Thomas's oversexed vampire family. Harry's about to discover that Thomas's family tree has been hiding a shocking secret: a revelation that will change Harry's life forever.

Harry is convinced by Thomas that he owes him a favour (and he probably does) so he hires him to protect a friend of his as people around him are getting hurt.  It turns out that his friend is a director in the adult film industry and does indeed have some kind of entropy curse around him.  Harry gets drawn into a web of intrigue and deceit, gets attacked by black court vampires set on revenge and makes a startling discovery about his family history.

Another excellent helping of Dresden slowly evolving his story and building on his previous tales.