Proven Guilty, by Jim Butcher, is the 8th book in the Dresden Files series. Harry Dresden, the Chicago-based Wizard/Private Eye is once more called upon to save the day ... and possibly, the universe! Although Harry has few friends on the White Council of Wizards, due to the bloody and continuing war with the vampires thinning out their numbers, he is made a warden and is called upon to investigate rumours of black magic in the city. He comes across a Horror Film convention, and it is there that beings from the Never Never are utilising fear to enable them to cross into the human world and wreak mayhem. Mixed up in all of this is Molly, the daughter of his friend Michael, the wielder of one of the holy swords ... it turns out that she has magic and has used it on two people, with unintentional bad consequences - which makes her a target for prosecution and probable execution by the Council of Wizards. Can Harry save the city and Molly too? But to do so means crossing into the Faerie Kingdom of Mab, the Queen of the Winter Court who is decidedly unhinged. This book has so much going on, but it brings together many characters that we have become familiar with. There's Murphy, the cop who Harry regularly works with and with whom he has a flirtatiously deep connection that's always been there in the background but never quite come to fruition. In addition, there's his faithful dog, Mouse; Bob, his talking skull; and Thomas, his vampiric brother, who all pull together to keep Harry from killing himself. Surprisingly, previous bit part player, Charity, the mother of Molly, comes into this book much more. She and Harry really don't get on, but with Molly's life on the line, all enmity is put to one side. The characters may be familiar, but they are growing all the time with new information or sides we've not seen before. The black humour is very much to the fore, which cuts through the danger and scary creatures. It's a roller coaster ride of action and sarcasm, but there are also quiet and tender moments that give this book a huge hunk of heart. As always, the audiobook is excellently narrated by James Marsters - I can't think of Harry Dresden without his voice in my head now! If you like a bit of magic, monsters and detective work, this could be the series for you. But, I would recommend that you start from the first book, as you would lose out on the complexities of the relationships and situations Harry gets himself into ... there are a lot of threads that run through the series that pop up and are expanded upon with time. One of my favourite series and I'm already looking forward to the next thrilling instalment.
My STAR rating: FIVE.
Length: 496 print pages.
Price I paid: £7.99.
Formats available: print, unabridged audio download, ebook.
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