History Literature / GravePeril

* BareYourMidriff:
** Susan does this on her first date with Harry, and later at the end when she is sunbathing in a bikini.
** Lydia wears a tank top, which becomes convenient for Thomas (see DistractedByTheSexy).

%%* FiveManBand: Most of the antagonists that were responsible for the resurgence of the dead fit in somewhere on this list.
%%** TheBigBad: [[spoiler:Bianca]]
%%** TheDragon: [[spoiler:The Nightmare, a.k.a. Leonid Kravos]]
%%** TheEvilGenius: [[spoiler:Mavra]]
%%** TheBrute: [[spoiler:Kyle]]
%%** TheDarkChick: [[spoiler:Kelly, Mavra, and Bianca.]]

* AdultFear:
** Agatha is a tormented soul who ends up killing dozens of children over her ghostly existence. She sings them a lullaby that makes them sleep until death. All the children are considered to have died from [=SIDS=].
---> "Hush, little baby..."
** The original Agatha was tormented as well, by the fear that her abusive husband Benson would turn on their infant daughter.
** After [[spoiler:Charity is brutally attacked by the Nightmare]], Michael's dread for his ailing newborn son, plus [[spoiler:he is mistaken for causing the harm to his wife and child]].

* EnthrallingSiren: Agatha Hagglethorn's ghost sings a lullaby that puts nurses in the maternity wing to sleep, and makes a newborn baby stop breathing.

[[TheOneWith The one with]] [[OurGhostsAreDifferent super-spirits]] and [[OurVampiresAreDifferent vengeful vampires]].

* RememberTheNewGuy: Michael, never once mentioned in the first two books despite his likely to be quite handy during those issues, is introduced as a long-time colleague of Harry's. Possibly justified if Michael was out of town during the events of the previous books, he wasn't there for Harry to call on for help, so no need to mention him. Also, [[spoiler: Michael's job isn't primarily to protect ''criminals'', who were the main targets of the villains from the first two books]].

* PoorCommunicationKills: If Stallings had only told Harry about [[spoiler: Kravos's suicide while in police custody]], the Nightmare could've been defeated a ''lot'' sooner.
** To a lesser degree, if Harry had laid out ''why'' going to Bianca's ball would be so dangerous [[spoiler: and why being invited meant they couldn't be harmed directly, but gatecrashing the party would be tantamount to suicide]], she might not have brushed his concerns off with an "I can take care of myself."

* RapeAsDrama: It is ''deeply implied'' that [[spoiler:Harry (and likely Justine) was gangraped by Bianca's Red Court. Harry being, well, Harry, he never speaks about what happened to him explicitly, but several books later still mentions having nightmares about it.]] When he does refer to it he generally says they did "things".

* TheOathBreaker: As mentioned above, Harry has a deal he is trying to avoid fulfilling with his godmother. [[spoiler:Harry ends up trying to renege on his deal after strengthening it while legally holding ''Amoracchius''. Not only did this cost him a chunk of his magical power, his freewill when Lea was nearby, but finally weakened ''Amoracchius'' enough that Leah could touch the blessed blade.]]
* OhCrap: Lea has one when she [[spoiler:realized Harry played her with a well crafted distraction just so he could consume a poison that would kill him in a matter of minutes.]]

** To a lesser degree, if Harry had laid out ''why'' going to Bianca's ball would be so dangerous [[spoiler: and why being invited meant they couldn't be harmed directly, but gatecrashing the party would be tantamount to suicide]], she wouldn't have brushed his concerns off with an "I can take care of myself."

* SacredHospitality: At Bianca's party, this is in application for the invited person and, if they brought one, a plus one. The protection of persons is guaranteed. That said, if a hostile action, such as poisoning a drink, is done to everyone, it is ''technically'' not a violation. Persons are also permitted to the right to defend himself or herself from viable threats. Uninvited guests are not guaranteed any protection and are fair game for any hostile action. [[spoiler:Bianca hopes to get Harry to violate this by forcing him into a no-win choice. See BeingGoodSucks]].
* SaintlyChurch: This books introduces St. Mary's of the Angels and the GoodShepherd Father Forthill.

* ScrewTheRulesImDoingWhatsRight: Harry faces a choice: [[spoiler:allow Susan to be taken away by Bianca, likely turned into a full monster and walk away with peace and staying in the safety of the laws of the supernatural world, or save his beloved and make one final act of violating Sacred Hospitality he previously violated and set off a war]]. Harry takes the latter.

* SeekingSanctuary: [[spoiler:Harry leads Lydia to St. Mary's to keep her safe from harm. But while the Nightmare couldn't enter, she feared not even the house of God could protect her and left]].

** When Harry and Michael manage to focus Agatha's attention by reminding her of what she did in life and telling her to cross over, she goes ''completely and utterly AxCrazy'' and turning her attention from the babies to them.

* HeroicSacrifice: Upon seeing Harry in great pain and suffering for [[spoiler:breaking his promise to Lea, Susan makes a deal with Lea to at least end the current pain Harry was suffering. After Lea gives some options which Susan refuses (like her eyes or name) they settle on one year of Susan's memories. As neither side said when this "one year" had to come from, Lea took her year's worth of memories of her and Harry dating.]]

** Harry sticks to the "ghost of a demon" theory throughout most of the book, despite Bob's skepticism. If he'd considered other possibilities, like [[spoiler: the Nightmare just being a normal ghost with some extra juice]], the book would have been much shorter [[spoiler: and there would never have been a war.]]

** Susan [[spoiler:[[ThanatosGambit brings Harry back to life after a brief death in order to allow himself and his ghost to both team up on Kravid]]]].

* DidWeJustHaveTeaWithCthulhu: Harry and Michael run into Ferrovax at Bianca's party. Ferrovax is a major power whose true form would damage, if not just break, Reality (and Harry's mind). [[spoiler:The dragon treats Michael with courtesy, despite the Knight's having killed one of his kind. Harry, not so much]].

* EarlyInstallmentWeirdness: Even though Rudolph is a {{Jerkass}} to Harry and skeptical of the supernatural in this book, he also shows genuine concern for Murphy, promising to kill Harry if he lets Murphy gets hurt, and Harry takes the threat seriously. This is in stark contrast to his appearances in later books, where he has become something of a SitComArchNemesis to Murphy within the police department, and ends up flagrantly breaking the law himself in order to depose her and get Harry arrested, [[UngratefulBastard even after they save his life]]. [[note]]This change could be attributed to his becoming so fed up of working on cases that he can't let himself believe are genuine that he's willing to try anything to get out of the department. Or, alternatively, his protectiveness could be romantically derived - Rudolph has had romance troubles before, it being how he ended up in SI in the first place - and she shot him down, leaving him embittered. Either way, it's still pretty jarring to contrast the apparent JerkWithAHeartOfGold in this book with the JerkWithAHeartOfJerk in the later ones.[[/note]]

** After [[spoiler:Charity is brutally attacked by the Nightmare]], Michael's dread for his ailing newborn son and [[spoiler:he is mistaken for causing the harm to his wife and child]].

* ContrivedCoincidence: A superpower for the Knights of the Cross. In this book, for instance, Harry and Michael need to [[spoiler:go rescue Charity,]] but Harry does not want to leave Michael's kids alone. Michael simply opens the front door (without even looking) to show [[GoodShepherd Father Forthill]], just about to knock, standing on the steps because his car just ''happened'' to break down. He looks between them and says, "You need a babysitter again, [[SeenItAll don't you?"]]

* RevengeByProxy: [[spoiler:Bianca is still angry about Harry "causing" the death of one her favorite lovers because Harry got her to stressed out when they last met she couldn't control herself. So she helps with Kravos' want for revenge by attacking those close to Harry.]]

* AdultFear: "Hush, little baby...", and Michael's dread for his ailing newborn son.

* BareYourMidriff: Susan does this on her first date with Harry, and later at the end when she is sunbathing in a bikini.

** Harry and Michael saving the children from Agatha's ghost would come back to help Harry in a later book.
** Bianca's party introduces several of them, in addition to being a who's-who of Chekhov's Gunmen (see below). The gravestone (and the cemetery plot that goes along with it) become significant in ''Literature/GhostStory'', and the black athame is referenced again in ''Literature/ProvenGuilty'' and ''Literature/ColdDays''.
** Within this novel, the ingredient list for Harry's ghost powder becomes important when [[spoiler: he dumps it on Lea and she's burned by its cold iron component]].

* BattleInTheCenterOfTheMind: Harry versus [[spoiler: The Nightmare/Leonid Kravos]]. Unusual in that the hero gets his butt kicked the first time seeing as he was [[spoiler: in a drug-induced coma due to vampire spit]]. In the rematch, however, Harry turns into a [[BodyHorror fanged and clawed monster]] and [[spoiler: Eats Kravos alive...er...undead. [[ThanatosGambit After letting it kill him for a moment]] [[CrazyAwesome so that he can get backup from his own ghost]]]]

* BerserkButton: Not quite ''berserk'', but Lea's suggestion that Michael trade his daughter Molly for the Sword actually makes the Knight [[PapaWolf lose his cool]] and threaten her outright.

* CPRCleanPrettyReliable: Susan [[spoiler:[[ThanatosGambit brings Harry back to life after a brief death in order to allow himself and his ghost to both team up on Kravid]]]].

* DeaderThanDead: [[spoiler:''Amoracchius'' is such a powerful blade, it doesn't just destroy the physical shell of a demon, but kills it. Fully and genuinely kills it.]]
** [[spoiler: Possibly not, as Harry ''did'' get a response when he summons and interrogates it in the mistaken belief that it's the Nightmare. But it probably can't ever return to the mortal world, so it's ''effectively'' this trope so far as its threat to humanity is concerned.]]
** [[spoiler:Not quite, what he summoned was the Nightmare, it just wasn't the demon which is why the summons didn't work at first. This does suggest that the demon was deader than dead though, because it wasn't summoned.]]

* GrowingTheBeard: While naturally up for debate, this book is frequently considered to be where the series really hit its stride, establishing characters, arcs, and themes that run through the rest of the series, rather than more MonsterOfTheWeek style format of the previous two books.

* ChurchMilitant: Introduces Michael Carpenter: Knight of the Cross[[note]]Also known as the "Fist of God"[[/note]].
* ColdIron: When Harry first meets Lea in the beginning of the book, he uses a powder with iron in it to get away from her. Later, [[spoiler:when he is captured by her, he throws nails at her . . . aluminum nails. So no harm done but an excellent distraction.]]

* EarlyInstallmentWeirdness: Even though Rudolph is a {{Jerkass}} to Harry and skeptical of the supernatural in this book, he also shows genuine concern for Murphy, promising to kill Harry if he lets Murphy gets hurt, and Harry takes the threat seriously. This is in stark contrast to his appearances in later books, where he has become something of a SitComArchNemesis to Murphy within the police department, and ends up flagrantly breaking the law himself in order to depose her and get Harry arrested, [[UngratefulBastard even after they save his life]]. [[note]]This change could be attributed to his becoming so fed up of working on cases he can't let himself believe are genuine that he's willing to try anything to get out of the department, but it's still pretty jarring to contrast the apparent JerkWithAHeartOfGold in this book with the JerkWithAHeartOfJerk in the later ones.[[/note]]
** In his first appearance, Michael comes off as more prudish and close-minded than he does in later appearances.

%%* FiveBadBand: Most of the antagonists that were responsible for the resurgence of the dead fit in somewhere on this list.

''Grave Peril'' is book #3 in ''Literature/TheDresdenFiles''. Now has its own [[ShoutOut/GravePeril Shout Out]] page.

* StopOrIShootMyself: Dresden swallows a poisonous mushroom to get Lea to back off - she can't have him if he's dead, but Michael here just happens to have a semi-antidote lying around, and he's willing to trade...