Cold Case

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Synopsis

As the new Winter Lady, Molly Carpenter has been tasked by Mab with collecting a long-overdue tribute from a tribe of people known as the Miksani who live in a remote area of Alaska. Upon arriving in the tiny town where they reside, she goes to the local bar to see if she can glean any information on where to find them. Instead she discovers a lot of weirdness and is accosted by a rough-looking sailor. However, chivalrous Warden Carlos Ramirez, who is there for his own reasons, swoops in to rescue her. The two agree to work together, and soon they find themselves fighting off Outsider cultists to save kidnapped children, while allowing their flirtatious attraction free rein. But Mab and the power of Winter could present a danger to them all.

Review

"Cold Case" is a short novelette in the Dresden Files series that takes place just one week after the events of the fourteenth novel Cold Days and it's another Molly POV story. As the newly minted Winter Lady, Mab has tasked Molly with visiting a tiny, remote town in Alaska to collect a long-overdue tribute from the Miksani people. Not knowing where to find them, she goes to a local bar, hoping to glean some information, but instead gets accosted by a rough-looking sailor. Although powerful enough to protect herself, she's rescued by none other than Warden Carlos Ramirez who is there on business of his own for the White Council. They agree to team up and help each other, but they get a little more than they bargained for when they realize that the sailors are Outsider cultists who are no longer human and that they've kidnapped a number of Miksani children. Together, they work to defeat the bad guys and rescue the kids, and along the way, their attraction for each other begins to blossom into a fun flirtation. But the power of Winter could spell disaster and lead to consequences for which neither of them is prepared.

I loved the last Molly POV story, "Bombshells," so when I realized "Cold Case" was also from her perspective, I was pretty stoked to read it. Molly had been growing exponentially in her wizard powers even before the events of Cold Days led to her becoming the new Winter Lady. Now the power of the Winter Court has made her stronger than ever, but it's also made her far more dangerous. I've always adored Carlos and felt like we didn't get enough of him in these stories, so I was even happier when I found out he was starring alongside Molly. I've shipped these two for quite some time. I know that Molly harbors an unrequited love for Harry, but I've always felt like Carlos was a better match for her and that a good man like him could easily overcome her infatuation for her mentor. That's why their flirtatious banter and a touch of sensuality between them was very welcome. However, I feared that Jim Butcher might just be teasing his readers with this pairing, and unfortunately it ended up being far worse than just a tease. The way the story ended, in more ways than one, was absolutely brutal and completely broke my heart. I know that what happened wasn't Molly's fault, and was just the power of Winter taking over her consciousness. But it makes me worry about what the future can possibly hold for her in her present circumstances. Molly was raised in a good family, and although she's had her fair share of problems, she still harbors an innate empathy for others, so the things that she did or had to do, both conscious and unconscious is bound to leave emotional scars when she was already badly wounded in both body and mind from the battle against the Red Court. It just hurt my heart for both her and Carlos, as well as some other characters. Much like with Harry, I hope she can find a loophole to either overcome the power of Winter or better yet get rid of it completely before it changes her in ways that there's no coming back from. This is the only reason I dropped a star from the rating of this story. Otherwise, it's well-written, just as good as any other Dresden story, but the dark denouement was a bit too much for me in a series that usually has fairly positive endings. I just hope this isn't a new trend for this author. "Cold Case" was previously published in the multi-author anthology, Shadowed Souls, before being reprinted in the single-author anthology, Brief Cases.

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Jim Butcher