Proven Guilty
core novel 2006 The Dresden Files
Record
| First published | 2006 |
|---|---|
| Original language |  EN |
| Work type | novel |
| Canon status | core |
| Reader rating | 4.39 (132,128 ratings, collected 2026-09-13) |
| Page count | 547 |
| First-edition ISBN | 9780451460851 |
| Internal chronology | 8 |
Synopsis
Proven Guilty is the eighth novel of the series, opening as Harry Dresden, newly confirmed as a Warden of the White Council, is sent to a horror-film convention in Chicago after reports that costumed movie monsters are attacking attendees for real. Investigating, he identifies the culprits as phobophages, fear-feeding creatures crossing over from the Nevernever, and must find who is summoning them before more people are hurt. The case becomes personal when he learns his young friend Molly Carpenter, daughter of his ally Michael Carpenter, has been secretly using unsanctioned magic to help people around her, putting her at risk of execution under Council law if discovered. Dresden must balance his official Warden duties, his growing suspicion of treachery inside the White Council's own ranks, and his effort to protect Molly from the consequences of her actions.
Where it sits
- Universe: The Dresden Files
- Series: The Dresden Files core; position 8 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 A 19th novel (Mirror Mirror) is announced for 2027 but unpublished and is not registered.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 8 of 18: previous Dead Beat (2005) · next White Night (2007)
Sources
- Jim Butcher's official site
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Dresden_Files
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Proven_Guilty
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