Cutting to the chase, your problem is the failure to realize that Nov. 1 is still Halloween. Halloween lasts until sunrise.

That doesn't have to be sunrise, anyone who has roosters knows they can crow at any time in the night.  Anyone awake early enough knows that some birds start to sing as early as three and four in the morning... Some birds do their singing after dark.

That bird signaled the end of 'cosmic' Halloween.

Problem with that is it appears to be a "generic" bird instead of a specific species, so that in of itself could be a trap...

You must have enough spiritual space for it, woj cited as one of the reasons Harry did not get the lady mantle, no room left for it.
Mark that one of the things Lea did with Molly is letting her handle more and more magic, making room.

Murphy was in clear view of anyone when the Lady mantles were transferred, Maeve did not think she was a suitable candidate either. (otherwise she would have killed her).

Agreed,  plus she was as close as Molly when the mantle was transferred and the mantle goes to the next suitable candidate, didn't go to Murphy, went to Molly..   In my view making Murphy eventually Mab defeats the main reason for which her fans claim to love her, Murphy the ordinary vanilla human...  Yes, she is smart, brave, and a good shot, but that doesn't make her a candidate for eventually becoming the Queen of Winter.   I also think she'd make a terrible Lady because of her views, and Mab would find a way for her to die.

   My guess is not, because the Knight is human and remains human, he doesn't transform over time into a Fae...  So other than the higher risk for some birth defects due to Murphy being in her forties now, the baby would be all human with possible magical talent from Harry's side.   

I've noticed the touching thing, too. Not with Lara, but with Thomas and Harry. Someone said Arthur might've been wearing a long-sleeved shirt, which is possible. Or Lara could have had gloves on, but the idea that she was reining in her Hunger is more interesting. However, in the same book, Thomas describes how Lara and another vampire got sick after touching a love symbol (Lara even has the scar), so I don't think merely keeping the Hunger in check is viable.

Instead, I wonder if Arturo is an old-fashionable man and refused to consummate his relationship with his fiancee (or if she made the choice and he went along with it. I remember she said he falls in love easily). That way, he wouldn't have been protected from Lara's touch, as physical intimacy seems to be the key to it. Anything other than non-loving-sex could be considered platonic.

As for Thomas, he burns when he touches Justine because... the demon loves her, too? If the Hunger is capable of feeling love (and it understands the emotion enough to know it hurts it), then feeling it would be self-destructive, so it doesn't matter how much control Thomas has over it (and he has a lot, as he was able to feed off his clients without killing them), near Justine, the Hunger goes crazy, like Gollum (love her/hate her).

The  love between Thomas and Justine is true love, that is why he could not touch her until she had physical sex with someone else..  Remember she invited a gay woman friend at the end of Ghost Story?  Since though she might be mildly bi-sexual, she isn't gay, so the gay sex counts to break the true love lock that prevented Thomas from touching her and at the same time in their minds at least since she isn't gay stayed faithful.

Love tokens like a wedding ring or a rose can burn if they were exchanged in true love.   It's complicated, the best theory I
can think of is the Hunger Demon feeds on carnal lust and the "hormones/emotions" that calls forth, but true love is on a higher level...  Kind of like getting too near the sun,  the Hunger Demon feeds on the light and warmth until death of the victim.   Think of true love itself as the sun, touch it and you burn up.

If Harry had failed Nic's daughter would not have been sacrificed because the ice test was before the human sacrifice.  Nicodemus would have been upset but Harry Dresden would have been dead (a big plus for Nicodemus), and Mab would have still owed him a favor + interest for her failure to keep her end of the bargain.

   She did keep her end, not her fault that her Knight failed..

I don't think that Mab not telling Harry was a test.  You don't test someone like that over something so serious because it's no longer a test, it's real.  My guess is either she didn't see a reason to tell him, or even him knowing would be worse than not knowing, or part of the deal with Nicodemus meant she could not tell Harry the nature of the artifacts.

You are forgetting what Hades told Harry,  the process of inquiring the artifacts/weapons is a test... As in only the strongest and smartest is good enough to end up with them, this is the safe guard..  There are no cheat sheets,  for the war to come Mab wants her Knight to be the smartest and the brightest and holding the weapons..  Nick thinks he is the smartest and the strongest, so he thinks he is being clever just asking for the Grail, figuring he will then easily get the rest of the artifacts..  Mab is gambling that Harry is the smartest and the strongest, so he will end up with the weapons, and if not, he dies, she looks for another Knight...  Nic loses because if Harry fails he isn't going to get the weapons..  If Nic really was the smartest and the strongest he wouldn't have needed to call in the favor in the first place to use Mab's Knight.

Here's a question .... Why didn't Nick reveal that he wanted more than just the Grail?  He told the group that much, why not say he wanted all of the relics of the Crucifixion?  I know he doesn't want to reveal too much to his enemies, but if he had said he wanted all of them, then Harry would have been obligated give him all of them and not just the Grail.

When he told Harry and crew about what he was wanting, Harry didn't know they were weapons, so it could have been wrapped up in the need to fulfill the obligation to Mab.

Because if he did, the whole mission wouldn't have happened, or that is what he was thinking.   Personally I think it was like a line from "The Lion In Winter..."   Nic knows they were all weapons, Mab knows that they are all weapons, and Nic knows that Mab knows..."  The only one who didn't was Harry, who Mab happened to be testing further in my opinion... Don't be shocked if she is very aware that Harry pocketed the rest of the weapons and that they are just where she wants them...