Ghost Story
core novel 2011 The Dresden Files
Record
| First published | 2011 |
|---|---|
| Original language |  EN |
| Work type | novel |
| Canon status | core |
| Reader rating | 4.24 (108,265 ratings, collected 2026-09-13) |
| Page count | 481 |
| First-edition ISBN | 9780451463791 |
| Internal chronology | 13 |
Synopsis
Ghost Story is the thirteenth novel, opening in the months after Harry Dresden's presumed death at the end of the previous book. Caught between life and the afterlife, he is given a chance to return to Chicago as a ghost in order to investigate his own murder, discovering he has already been gone six months and that his friends have moved on without him. Stripped of his usual magic and barely able to affect the physical world, he seeks out the reclusive ectomancer Mortimer Lindquist and leans on allies including Karrin Murphy and Waldo Butters, who devises ways for Harry to be seen and heard. His investigation leads him back to the necromancer known as the Corpsetaker, an old enemy he once killed and who has returned as a vengeful spirit with designs on taking a living body for herself.
Where it sits
- Universe: The Dresden Files
- Series: The Dresden Files core; position 13 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 A 19th novel (Mirror Mirror) is announced for 2027 but unpublished and is not registered.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 13 of 18: previous Changes (2010) · next Cold Days (2012)
Sources
- Jim Butcher's official site
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Dresden_Files
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ghost_Story_(Butcher_novel)
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