I've been resisting this series for a while, and now I'm glad I finally relented and gave this a shot! I wasn't sure I was in the mood for complicated explanations of magic and the rules of magic and so forth, but luckily for my short attention span, this jumped right into the action. I very much appreciated that the author did not go into great detail about how the magic was done and how the structure of the magical world worked; instead the book focused on solving a mystery and magic was just one of the tools used.
And the character using the tools is a lot of fun! Harry Blackstone Copperfield Dresden is a wizard and you can find him in the phonebook under "Wizards" - he's the only one listed. He is a consultant to the Chicago PD, in a world pretty much exactly like ours except magic is a bit more prevalent. When the police run into something out of the ordinary, they call Harry. Of course there are folks on the police force who don't entirely believe in magic, but who also are too scared to look Harry in the eye or ask a lot of questions about his work and methods.
In this book, the first in a series of currently 17 books (as well as short story collections, graphic novel adaptations, and a short-lived TV show), Harry is called in to investigate a pair of gruesome murders and it quickly gets him involved with a local big-time gangster who doesn't want Harry poking around in his business. Harry's character is accessible and likeable: he might be a wizard, but his work isn't that lucrative so he takes odd jobs to pay the bills (hence the phone book listing), much more like a private investigator than a magician for hire. There are a lot of great jokes about his life and powers, and the side characters are complex and memorable as well. The magic is important to the story, but it doesn't bog down the reader with intricacies and explanations - it's part of the action, but not the main focus. It's possible in future books we'll learn more about how Harry became a wizard and how the White Council, which controls the people who use magic, functions, but it seems like the author will dole this out in small chunks while keeping the story moving.
I finished this book in just a couple of days and it held my attention, which I needed! In these times I'm having a hard time focusing but this book, with plenty of action and solid writing, kept me turning the pages. I will definitely continue with this series.
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