This was one of those books in a series where you can understand why the author felt it was necessary to go there, but you don't particularly enjoy the ride. I didn't much anyway. 
 You take Harry Dresden and essentially subtract all the things that make him awesome to read about. He has no magic (view spoiler)[ for most of the book (hide spoiler)]. His interactions with the supporting cast is severely limited because, well, he's dead. Speaking of, some of those friends (the women OF COURSE) have just fallen to bits and pieces and need a good slap in the face. 
 So yes, we get lots of character development with Harry here, and quite a bit with Molly too, but this was such a WEIRD place in the series to do this. In fact, the ending (view spoiler)[where Harry gets to go to each of his loved ones and see that they are okay, including his daughter (hide spoiler)] felt like the perfect ending to the series, and the fact that he was brought back after that left me feeling a little cheated. What better way could there possibly be for Harry to go out and it was used up for some character development that could have been done in a million better ways?