Started rereading Storm Front and I had forgotten how much the tone was different. Dresden is such a nice cute puppy that you want to scratch under chin, all while trying to maintain that "noir detective" vibe. And trying to stand everything up while trying to keep the vibe of "some of these characters know each other". I like it, but it is obviously Dresden very early in his career.
Edit
The perspective is much more binary with less shades of grey and the characters are all much more "one note". Murphy is the character that is much more schizophrenic in that regard - in one scene she is hammering on Dresden, the next she is tucking him in with a blanket and teddy bear.
The story structure is overall similar to the later Dresden stories, a primary villain and a support "obstacle", but the presentation is much more muddled in comparison to the later stories.
Very true. I have started to work my way through the series again and as I get through each book I'll be making comments.