Carpenter, a former heavenly warrior in the Knights of the Cross, was living a quiet life in Chicago with his wife and children after suffering injuries in his last battle.

The will of a Mexican woman leaves private investigator, and Greywalker, Harper Blaine a sum of money on condition she hand-deliver a small figurine of a dog to the grave of Hector Purecete in Oaxaca City on the Day of the Dead.

After a few dead ends, she eventually finds the grave of the correct Hector Purecete and the fraud and blackmail by the lawyer that necessitated the elaborate set up.

Sariel recruits the reluctant Remy to investigate and transports him to the oil rig where Noah had been living to examine the murder scene.

[1] While all four series use a private investigator as their main character, "The Warrior" of The Dresden Files, set in Chicago between Small Favor and Turn Coat, used more "dry wit", while the Nightside story "The Difference a Day Makes" used more "darker humor".

An unabridged audiobook version, narrated by Dion Graham, Richard Poe, Mia Baron, T. Ryder Smith, was released in April 2009.

"[4] Similarly, book reviewer Harriet Klausner wrote "Each tale is well written feeling complete even in the novella format and complement one another as the writers rose to the occasion of expectations from their fan base.

[1][2] Richardson's "The Third Death of the Little Clay Dog" was called "a delightful tale"[6] and "an intriguing mystery"[1] that "neatly merges noir conventions with a fantastical plot",[2] though the characterization was panned as being "flat and inexpressive".

[3] Another reviewer wrote that "Green goes overboard" describing Nightside so that "story is more about the setting than any actual plot...[making] the ending feel like a letdown".