Rating: ⭐⭐⭐

I have not listened to the podcast Morbid, although I am no stranger to the true crime podcast genre. When I heard that this novel, The Butcher and the Wren, had been written by Alaina Urquhart, and that she was the co-host of Morbid by night and an autopsy technician by day, that sounded like exactly the type of book I’d be into.

I wanted to like The Butcher and the Wren. It has many of my main pop culture food groups: crime scene investigation, a serial killer, and a strong connection to a true crime podcast. However, there are two major blows that, for me, have rendered this novel incapacitated and ineffective.

In the humid haze of a New Orleans summer Dr. Wren Muller, medical examiner for the NOPD, hunts a brutal serial murderer who tortures his victims before dumping them in public locations. The only clues are those the killer wants them to find: taunting scraps of cryptic information, and a grimy coating of Louisiana swamp muck. Meanwhile, sadistic psychopath Jeremy stalks his classmate Emily, learning her habits so that he can kidnap her and hunt her for sport. As Wren pursues justice for Jeremy’s victims, it begins to feel like the murderer is speaking to her directly. What connection could Wren possibly share with this vicious butcher?

The Butcher and the Wren is beautifully paced. Short chapters, alternating in viewpoint between Jeremy and Wren, keep the action moving right along. I listened to the audiobook version of this (shoutout to narrators Sophie Amoss and Joe Knezevich for a great read) and finished it in less than a day.

The scenes where Wren and the police are investigating the crime scenes are the reason to keep reading. Urquhart does a great job showing off her knowledge of the autopsy table, while still keeping things accessible to readers who may not be familiar with true crime or crime fiction. There is enough forensic detail to be fascinating, but not so much that it threatens to steal the spotlight from the plot.

Unfortunately, from an understandable desire to create a serial killer who doesn’t come off as an antihero, Urquhart makes Jeremy so unlikeable that I couldn’t wait for the book to be over. There is this (rightfully held) mantra in the true crime podcast world that Serial Killers Are Not To Be Admired. There is a line between fascination and exaltation that needs to be held. But in attempting to hold her fictional character to this standard and making him purposely unlikeable, I feel like Urquhart kneecapped her own novel. Jeremy is too whiny to be remotely charming, too arrogant to be pitiful, and too incompetent to be a genius. There’s no way to even kind of root for him, which makes this novel far less interesting as a cat-and-mouse game between fugitive and investigator.

Then, The Butcher and the Wren ends so abruptly. Immediately upon finishing, I intended to give it a two-star rating. I got to the acknowledgments and shouted out loud, “That’s IT?!?!” I felt very let down and like I had wasted my time. But after giving myself time to think about the story, I realized that it had at least hooked me enough to get me upset that there wasn’t more of it. That deserves a little consideration.

Because, at the end of the day, this book does do some things well. This book made me double-check that all my doors and windows were locked before I went to bed at night. And the detailed chapters from the point of view of our morgue-dwelling protagonist were good enough that they made spending every other chapter with Jeremy almost bearable. I think his unlikability may not have bothered me as much if there had been less Jeremy and more Wren.

The Butcher and the Wren gets three stars from me. It’s not terrible for a debut novel. However, too much time spent with an unlikable POV character, and an ending that doesn’t really resolve much of anything meant that it just didn’t hit for me. It seems like this is supposed to be the first book in a series, which is bold for a first-time author. I think Urquhart can become a good writer if she sticks with it. I don’t think, though, that I liked Wren and Jeremy enough to pick up another book about them.

Are you a fan of Morbid? What did you think of The Butcher and the Wren? Leave a comment so we can chat about it!