A review by clevermird
Brief Cases: More Stories from The Dresden Files by Jim Butcher

adventurous funny hopeful lighthearted mysterious tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

To be perfectly honest, I wasn’t all that excited to tackle Brief Cases. The previous attempt at a Dresden Files short story anthology, Side Jobs, was my least-favorite book in the series so far – it was repetitive and only a couple stories added anything new to the characters or the world. But those few stories were pretty decent and more to the point, I’m trying to properly experience the Dresden-verse in its full glory, so I plunged in anyway. 

Just like its predecessor, Brief Cases contains twelve shorts of varying lengths, some of which focus on Harry’s mini-adventures in between the world-shattering action of the main books, others of which follow side characters as they have adventures of their own. 

“A Fistful of Warlocks” – It’s the days of the wild west, and young Warden Anastasia Luccio’s hunt for a fugitive brings her to Dodge City. This was a great start to the book – a couple of fun little twists, an unexpected cameo or two, and a look into the mind of someone who I felt like never got quite enough development in the main storyline. 

“B is for Bigfoot” – Harry is hired by one of the Forest People to help his son deal with bullies at school. I absolutely adored River Shoulders, the Bigfoot in question, and found his relationship with Harry endearing, but the actual plot was pretty basic and suffered from trying a bit too hard to be cool and nerdy. 

“AAAA Wizardry” – Harry teaches a group of group of young Wardens the basics of dealing with supernatural threats by means of telling them about an old case. This was another strong one. The class format and the students’ input was a great framing device, good enough to buoy a somewhat week main plot. 

“I Was a Teenage Bigfoot” – Several years after their first encounter, River Shoulders hires Harry to help out with his son again, this time to find the source of a mysterious illness that’s plaguing him. Although the ending of this one made me laugh and River Shoulders continues to be awesome, it was pretty forgettable overall, very basic without much in the way of twists or cool action. 

“Curses” – A representative of the Chicago Cubs hires Harry on the down-low to break the infamous Billy Goat Curse that’s keeping the team from getting to the World Series. I feel like I’m running out of ways to say “this one was a lot of fun”, but I’m going to say it again. I will also, however, say that I didn’t quite buy the ending. I saw what Butcher was going for, but it didn’t land for me. 

“Even Hand” – Gentleman Johnny Marcone may be a criminal, but he likes to think of himself as an honorable man, so when a woman shows up asking for sanctuary, he finds himself forced to fight an enemy who may be too much for him. This was another forgettable one. The insight into Marcone’s mind and operations was interesting, but the story itself was kinda simple with the end twist not quite worth it. 

“Bigfoot on Campus” – The final adventure in what I took to calling the Son of Bigfoot trilogy, Harry has to bail out River Shoulders’ son for a final time as he picks up a college girlfriend who might also have a connection to the supernatural. This was by far my favorite story in the collection, with a character I’ve come to adore as the centerpiece and the appearance of some of my favorite Dresden-verse supernaturals, as well as some genuinely funny moments and a cute ending. 

“Bombshells” – Probably my second favorite story. After Harry’s death, Molly Carpenter tries to fill his shoes as protector of Chicago, and sometimes that means bailing Thomas out of a tight spot. But she’s gonna need some help (and some really expensive shoes) to make that happen. This was classic Dresden Files shenanigans: dangerous, action-heavy, a bit sexy, a bit funny. 

“Cold Case” – Molly must adjust to her duties and responsibilities as Lady Winter as she investigates a supernatural threat looming over a small Alaskan town. This was another story that was a bit too simple for me, but I found the world-building information hidden inside it and the look into Lady Molly’s head to be worth the time it took to read. 

“Jury Duty” – Now that Harry has been raised from the dead, he has to get used to having mortal obligations and one of those is jury duty. But what looks like an open-and-shut case might be just a bit more complicated and he can’t resist pulling at the threads. This story was just fine. Not bad, not amazing, just an entertaining read that probably won’t stick with me all that well. 

“Day One” – Newly-minted Knight of the Cross Waldo Butters tries his best to handle his first solo mission. This one was very similar to “Cold Case”, in that the actual plot takes a backseat to characterization of the protagonist and to developing the specifics of the role they fulfill. I found it less interesting than “Cold Case” simply because I’m more interested in the fae courts and Molly than I am in Butters or the Knights, but it was solid nonetheless. 

“Zoo Day” – Harry takes his daughter and his dog to the zoo for some bonding time, but all three find themselves caught up by supernatural difficulties that they have to solve without ruining the reset of the group’s day. I really appreciated the down-to-earth (relatively-speaking) nature of this one and the chance to see a bit more of Maggie and Mouse. I did struggle to buy Maggie’s narrative voice a bit, she didn’t quite sound like an actual kid to me, but her and Mouse were cute enough to make up for it. 

Taken as a whole, while Brief Cases might not be the best book in the Dresden Files series, it’s a solid popcorn read that should offer something for most fans of the series and I found myself eager to pick it up every time I sat down to read another chapter.