The Dresden Files/Fool Moon

Book #2 in The Dresden Files.

Business has been slow since the events of Storm Front, to the point that Harry Dresden is wondering if his next square meal will be a block of ramen.

However, things start to look up when the police discover a brutally-mutilated corpse with some odd, wolfish footprints neaby. It looks like someone has full moon fever, and Harry must draw upon all his magical resources to find out how to stop them.

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Tropes associated with Fool Moon:

• Arson, Murder, and Jaywalking: When contemplating who could have magically armed Victor Sells and the Hexenwolfen:

Black wizards don't just grow up like toadstools, you know. Someone has to teach them complicated things like summoning demons, ritual magic, and clichéd villain dialogue.

• Artistic License Geography: Butcher calls the neighborhood surrounding the University of Chicago Lincoln Park. In reality Lincoln Park is an affluent neighborhood on the North Side of the city. The University's neighborhood is Hyde Park, which (apart from parts of neighboring Kenwood) is a less affluent area on the South Side.
• Chekhov's Gun: Similar to the previous book, Harry mixes a couple of potions early on which come in handy later. A pseudo-invisibility potion which makes it difficult for people to notice him allows him to sneak into the SI building where the Loup-Garou is being held, and a super energy drink potion gives him a burst of energy when he needs to fight on very little sleep but this backfires, as he overexerts himself magically, leaving him nearly incapable of magic for the rest of the book.
• Deal with the Devil: Harry made a deal with a demon he calls "Chauncey", giving up one of his four names in exchange for information to help him with a case. (Chauncey already had two of his names, the first and last, making this a risky deal indeed.)
• Face Death with Dignity: Played for a spot of fun when Harry faces MacFinn in his transformed loup-garou form, and is trapped in the corner. As he faces his possible demise, Harry reconciles to himself that he would at least die at the jaws of what he saw as the perfect predator rather than by a scabby troll or whiny, angst-ridden vampire.
• Flippant Forgiveness: Murphy shoots in Harry's direction to save him from some crazy who was about to kill him. Harry, who was facing the opposite way at the time, had not seen his attacker and thought she shot at him instead because she doubted his loyalties. However, he had previously betrayed her trust, so he decides he can not blame her for thinking him a bad guy and he forgives her for shooting him. Murphy thinks he is a big idiot for thinking that way, and lets him know it.
• Hereditary Curse: Harley MacFinn, whose family curse originated from St. Patrick himself. They are all cursed to become Loup-Garou (super-Werewolves) during the full moon.
• It Was a Gift: Because both Harry and Murphy have received gifts of silver from family, they can fight the loup-garou.
• Locked Out of the Fight
• Police Brutality: Murphy beats Harry up while arresting him for withholding information. Keep in mind Harry wasn't resisting and was even pleading with her to listen to him.
  • Possibly justified, as she honestly thought he'd turned bad and had no idea how much freedom of movement he needed to cast spells, so had to incapacitate him quickly and completely.
• Silver Has Mystic Powers: Especially inherited silver, which is the only thing that can stop Loup-Garou type werewolves.
• Stealth Pun: Billy Borden and the rest of the Alphas first learned their shapeshifting when they were in college. If this happened in Billy's freshman or sophomore years, then it's likely that Billy was a teenage werewolf.
• Stop or I Will Shoot: Police do not seem to think twice about shooting at Harry, even when he is just running and giving no sign of fighting back. It turns out that the FBI agents who were shooting at him were actually the werewolves responsible for the murders he was investigating, and had been trying to kill him from the moment they realised he was a true wizard.
• Stout Strength