The Dresden Files

Harry Dresden is the only professional wizard in Chicago and he knows his stuff. But is there something going on behind the scenes that eludes even a wizard? 

This expansive detective novel series, almost pulp fiction-like in style, is set in modern day Chicago. Don’t be tricked though - this is not your mother's Agatha Christie. Harry is a regular guy who owns a consulting practice and just happens to have some wizarding skills. He struggles with money, is often mocked and isn’t accepted by his magical colleagues.

Harry’s unconventional detective work takes us into the underbelly of Chicago, where he faces off against mobsters and vampires (with a healthy dose of werewolves). This series is a thriller but throws in equal measure of humour and playfulness. 

Our narrator is James Marsters of TV’s Buffy the Vampire Slayer fame. Marsters’s voice is perfectly suited to this character and to many series fans he is Harry Dresden (much like Daniel Radcliffe is Harry Potter). In an interesting editing choice, the narrator’s breathing sounds, including other related sounds, have been kept in. This gives the listener the feeling they’re literally sitting in a room with Harry, getting a debriefing after the case.

Butcher wrote three books he describes as ‘terrible’ before coming up with the first Dresden Files book Storm Front in 2000. Since then, he’s created 15 books plus a number of short stories. Skin Game – the 15th book in the series – was a finalist for the 2015 Hugo Award for Best Novel. 

Other works set in the Dresden Files universe include graphic novels, a role-playing game and a card game. In 2007, a television series based on the Dresden Files aired on the American Sci-Fi Channel.