Dead Beat
core novel 2005 The Dresden Files
Record
| First published | 2005 |
|---|---|
| Original language |  EN |
| Work type | novel |
| Canon status | core |
| Reader rating | 4.41 (137,656 ratings, collected 2026-09-13) |
| Page count | 528 |
| First-edition ISBN | 9780451460271 |
| Internal chronology | 7 |
Synopsis
Dead Beat opens three days before Halloween, nearly a year after the events of the previous novel, as wizard private investigator Harry Dresden works cases for the Chicago police while quietly carrying a shade of the fallen angel Lasciel lodged in his mind, who keeps offering him power in exchange for his soul. The vampire Mavra, of the Black Court, threatens to frame his friend Karrin Murphy for an old killing unless Dresden retrieves for her a forbidden tome called the Word of Kemmler within three days. Dresden soon learns he is not alone in the hunt: rival groups of necromancers, including the wizard-hunters Grevane and Cowl, are also racing to obtain Kemmler's book and a second grimoire, intending to use them in a ritual meant to grant its performer terrible, god-like power over the dead.
Where it sits
- Universe: The Dresden Files
- Series: The Dresden Files core; position 7 of 18 in the series' recorded order
- Author: Jim Butcher
Notes
- From the series record (The Dresden Files): 18-novel main sequence (2000-2026, ongoing), narrated throughout by wizard-detective Harry Dresden. Publication order equals in-story chronological order for the entire main sequence. Peace Talks and Battle Ground (both 2020) were originally written as a single novel that grew too long and was split into two by the publisher, released 2.5 months apart, a genuine bibliographic quirk, not a numbering error. A 19th novel (Mirror Mirror) is announced for 2027 but unpublished and is not registered.
Neighbouring works
Publication order and internal chronology are tracked as two separate orderings, but they resolve to the exact same sequence for this book, so one combined line is shown instead of two identical ones.
- Reading order, within the series The Dresden Files: position 7 of 18: previous Blood Rites (2004) · next Proven Guilty (2006)
Sources
- Jim Butcher's official site
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Dresden_Files
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dead_Beat_(novel)
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dead_Beat_(The_Dresden_Files)
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