Grave Peril

[marycatelli]

Grave Peril by Jim Butcher

I think this is one of the weaker ones.  It doesn't help that we open with a new character whom Harry already knows well.  Michael is definitely interesting, but he doesn't get introduced as if new.  Though their charge through the city to the hospital to deal with a ghost definitely has its charms.

This leads into a plot revolving about ghosts and vampires, and nightmares, and .  A young woman seeks out Harry to look for protection, and Harry sends her to a church.  When he and Michael arrive there the next day, they find that something tore up the rose bushes -- and the woman is gone.   And Murphy calls in Harry to help a former cop -- left on disability after an incident in which both Michael and Harry were involved.  Harry also gets an invitation to a party celebrating a vampire's rise in rank -- a formality, because he is expected to refuse.

Not to mention that Susan is, as usual, looking for a story, though she and Harry are getting on well.

The rest of the tale involves how to get a good revenge on Michael, Harry's dressing up a really cheesy vampire, Bianca's abusing the laws of hospitality in a technically legal way, a gravestone, a discussion of the three different types of vampire, the use of holy water and garlic, a medium whose statuary is plaster and shows it, and more

Reflections on what lies ahead: Thomas is barely recognizable in this tale.  Not to mention that if Justine is dependent on him for her sanity, how on earth did she manage when he couldn't feed on her?