When a series runs as long as the Dresden Files has, it's bound to move away from its roots at some point. We've definitely seen that with the Dresden Files: as the series has gone on we've moved away from the hardboiled detective, monster of the week theming into a much larger overarching plot with more characters and much larger stakes.

This novella takes the series back to its beginnings, and it's a breath of fresh air after the wildness of Battle Ground. Here, we see Harry doing what he does best - helping a woman in need. The case is simple, the cast small, and the stakes relatively low. The Law is set after Battle Ground, but can safely be skipped if you're only interested in the main plot, as it doesn't advance it in any way. Instead of cataclysmic events and massive displays of power, we see a Harry much more similar to the Harry of the earliest novels: lots of conversations, arrogance, and intimidation. In some ways it seems Harry's character development has reset a bit - there's quite a bit of observation of women on display here that falls in line with the Harry of the early novels but feels a bit out of place given the recent events in his life and how Butcher has written the character in more recent books.

This story is well worth the read if you're a fan of the series, but I'd definitely recommend being caught on the series before reading, and fans that enjoy the more in-depth worldbuilding and high stakes of the later novels may be a bit disappointed here.