The reason why the new book The Butcher and the Wren is significant to me is that my favorite crime podcast host, Alaina Urquart, released this book after writing it for about five years. Since I have been listening to her podcast Morbid for so long, I loved seeing her journey through her writing process.
I pre-ordered the book months ago and I was finally able to open it up and give it a read! When I first met the main character, Wren, I kept picturing the author, Alaina, in my head. After all, they are very similar to one another – Wren being a forensic pathologist and Alaina being an autopsy technician. They also had very similar personalities as each other, especially in their word choice. Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed that aspect because I felt like I already known her character before reading!
I would tell someone who has not read the book yet to read it if you enjoy an easy, quick read about mysteries and thrillers. The book introduces a serial killer (the Butcher) who, from his perspective, tells the reader the process of how his victim selections occur and why he enjoys killing, specifically women. You get a very gory and interesting insight into the mind of a killer, which is something I have never read before.
The other perspective you get is the forensic pathologist, Wren, who is the one receiving his bodies and she spends the book asking herself why, where, how, and who’s next during each autopsy. This process takes a toll on her mental health, and in the end, we discover something very shocking, but a great twist to the story!
Alaina left the end of the story as a cliffhanger, indicating that she is going to give us another book. I can see why this book was number two on the New York Times Best Sellers list! I will continue reading her books because the first one was entertaining, however, I am also very excited to see how she improves as an author since this was her first book ever.