WHITE KNIGHT by Jim Butcher

This time, when Harry Dresden gets a call from Murphy, it's off the record, because she has been demoted, things in SI are politically shaky, and the police have already declared a suicide. Once Harry gets a good look, though, the suicide is clearly a murder with magical intent. As he investigates, hoping as always to stop the killer before more die, evidence points to the worst possible suspect: his half brother. In another complicated case, there are a lot of very powerful players, and with the war between the White Council and the Red Court vampires, politics are played hard and fast. In tracking down the killer, Harry manages to catch the attention of the White Court vampires again, too.

On top of all that, he is still teaching strong-willed, occasionally impulsive teenager Molly Carpenter, and the teacher-student dynamic is difficult for him. And oh, yes, Lasciel, the demon trapped in a coin Harry has secured under his summoning circle, is a lingering presence. As usual in the Dresden Files, of which this is volume 9, Butcher puts the characters in a lot of danger, creates appalling moral choices for them, and spins an excellent noirish detective yarn in a well-crafted, supernaturally charged setting. The supporting cast is again fantastic, and Harry's wit continues to fly in the face of a peril-fraught plot.