The Dresden Files/White Night

Book #9 in The Dresden Files.

When Harry Dresden investigates the deaths of magic practitioners in Chicago, he finds that all clues point to an unlikely suspect--his half-brother Thomas. Determined to clear Thomas’ name, Harry finds himself unravelling a conspiracy within the White Council that threatens everything he hold dear...

Tropes associated with White Night:

 * Another Mans Terror: Subverted in a scene that had all the necessary elements but the terror. The woman in question had been killed by a White Court Vampire; when Molly experiences her last few moments, at first they think she is gasping in pain...
 * Back-to-Back Badasses:Harry and Carlos Ramirez.
 * Big Brother Instinct: Harry, despite being the younger brother, does not take well to Murphy even implying that Thomas may be behind the killings. To the extent that he nearly unleashes destructo magic on his surroundings at the mere thought of his brother being threatened.
 * Burn the Witch: Harry and Murphy discover people being murdered by someone who writes the passage from the Book of Exodus with the aforementioned proclamation in it. Harry tells Murphy that the original wording was "harmful spell-caster" (in other words, only kill people who use dark magic, something the White Council tends to do itself with some gusto) but that King James changed it to killing witches in general when he translated the Bible because he didn't like them.
 * Camp Gay: Thomas' hairdresser persona. He does this mainly because it is socially expected that a hot, well-dressed hairdresser will be gay as Christmas, and because it pulls in money. It also makes it a lot less likely that his customers will try to molest him.
 * The Cavalry:
 * Destructo-Nookie: Two examples:
 * Inverted:
 * Bob thinks this happens when he is asked to investigate a crime scene where a Succubus was involved.
 * Did You Just Punch Out Cthulhu?: Harry is a bit surprised when he discovers that  is an Outsider, one of his universe's Eldritch Abominations.
 * Explosion Propulsion: The end of White Night.
 * Foreshadowing: An amusing one in White Night, when Harry is explaining the White Court's antics to Ramirez. He says that "You're worried Malvora's going to come smashing in like a big old grizzly bear and kill anything in their way." Later on, when
 * Gambit Pileup: This is a given, as the White Court are involved. House Raith (under Lara Raith's command) are pushing for peace with the White Council, because Lara "loves peace." House Skavis  Meanwhile, House Malvora is   Madrigal Raith (in league with Malvora) adds to the complexity by  . And in the opposite corner, there's Thomas, who is   Of course, it turns out that Vittorio Malvora, the agent for House Malvora in this case, is   And at the end of it all, the entire thing was a gambit by   and it worked beautifully. But the one who ends up on top of the whole situation is Gentleman Johnny Marcone, who leverages everything to , approved by Lara Raith, Donar Vadderung, and Harry Dresden.
 * Heel Face Turn:
 * Heroic Sacrifice: commits heroic suicide to save Harry by giving him power that allowed him to save himself but also
 * It Makes Sense in Context: Describing stuff like how Harry gets away from the explosion at the end of White Night is necessarily going to involve saying this.
 * Making a Splash: Carlos Ramirez specializes in water magic. Rather than conjuring and manipulating actual water though, he uses spells which take on some of the more useful qualities of water. Such as a shield which disintegrates bullets before they can reach him, just like what happens when you fire a gun into water.
 * Roaring Rampage of Revenge: Harry goes nuts when  Ramirez is visibly disturbed.
 * Scare'Em Straight: Harry to Molly, Chapter 30,
 * Stealth Pun: Monoc Securities.
 * This Is Sparta: "I. Am not. Yoda."
 * Trial by Combat:  The challenge itself is awesome.
 * Unspoken Plan Guarantee: Played straight when Harry's planning the assault on the White Court in the Deeps.
 * Unstoppable Rage: During the Flash Back to New Mexico, when  Harry's response would make Jack Bauer proud.
 * Your Approval Fills Me with Shame: The "Bowling for Vampires" incident. Harry does something particularly clever in his duel with Madrigal Raith and follows it up with one of his patented wisecracks. The White Court vampire audience cheers. Harry is discomfited.