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amdyn 's review for:
The Butcher and the Wren
by Alaina Urquhart
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
I’m a sucker for a thriller set in Louisiana ⚜️🐊 and this one did not disappoint. I read it in one afternoon/evening and fought to keep my eyes open as I stayed up way past my bedtime to finish it- I just had to see how it ended!
➕positives
I loved the dual POVs as it flips back and forth between the medical examiner and the serial killer.
The author is an Autopsy Tech and I thoroughly enjoyed the authenticity of the casual medical conversations the main character has throughout.
Alaina Urquhart is also a co-host of a wildly popular podcast called Morbid and I did not realize who the author was when I initially bought this book. The FMC thinks back to previous serial killers and briefly tells their stories like it’s a podcast and I just ate it up.
The MUSIC!! 🎶Throughout the book, the serial killer plays certain songs and I had a blast stopping to play those songs… most times the lyrics were just perfect for the situation. I’ve never experienced this in a book before. It was such a creative touch and I hope others that read this do the same.
I read the physical book 📖 and also listened to the audiobook 🎧. I was beyond pleased with the voice actress for pronouncing the Louisiana words correctly. She only said one street name weird but got New Orleans (“New Orlins” not “New Orleeens”) and everything else perfectly!! 👏🏼 👏🏼 Huge Kudos to her! Nothing knocks me right out of a story than someone saying all the places wrong. And I also appreciated that she didn’t make any characters sound like a plantation owner - that “I do declare” accent that some actors use. No one in Louisiana sounds like that.
➖ Negatives
Only one scene bothered me - without spoilers- there’s a crime scene that the M.E. crawls into under a structure and she touches all around the body and removes evidence and I am by NO MEANS someone that knows anything about crime scenes but that part just bothered me. I guess since they were trying to save a life, they could disturb a crime scene and it didn’t matter. But it just wasn’t clear to me that they were trying to save a life. They were going to a body dump. And they were whispering and sneaking around even though they could smell the decomp and trying not to freak out the people at a concert. That whole scene just didn’t make much sense to me.
Minor picky things as a Nola girl- houses in New Orleans do not have basements. People are not buried in the ground. She even explains it but still has someone they have to dig up at the cemetery that is famous for their above ground tombs. Locals do not eat at Brennan’s (expensive tourist spot). And Jazz Fest on Bourbon Street? Did I read that right? None of these things knocked me out of the story though. I do wish she had made the tarot card reading scene more pertinent. It seems just thrown in there for vibes and could’ve had more impact on the storyline.
⬇️ Bottom Line
I loved it! It was a quick and entertaining read. Will it be my favorite book of the year? No but I would definitely recommend it to my thriller friends. Great first novel and I look forward to more.
💜💛💚🔪🩸❣️
➕positives
I loved the dual POVs as it flips back and forth between the medical examiner and the serial killer.
The author is an Autopsy Tech and I thoroughly enjoyed the authenticity of the casual medical conversations the main character has throughout.
Alaina Urquhart is also a co-host of a wildly popular podcast called Morbid and I did not realize who the author was when I initially bought this book. The FMC thinks back to previous serial killers and briefly tells their stories like it’s a podcast and I just ate it up.
The MUSIC!! 🎶Throughout the book, the serial killer plays certain songs and I had a blast stopping to play those songs… most times the lyrics were just perfect for the situation. I’ve never experienced this in a book before. It was such a creative touch and I hope others that read this do the same.
I read the physical book 📖 and also listened to the audiobook 🎧. I was beyond pleased with the voice actress for pronouncing the Louisiana words correctly. She only said one street name weird but got New Orleans (“New Orlins” not “New Orleeens”) and everything else perfectly!! 👏🏼 👏🏼 Huge Kudos to her! Nothing knocks me right out of a story than someone saying all the places wrong. And I also appreciated that she didn’t make any characters sound like a plantation owner - that “I do declare” accent that some actors use. No one in Louisiana sounds like that.
➖ Negatives
Only one scene bothered me - without spoilers- there’s a crime scene that the M.E. crawls into under a structure and she touches all around the body and removes evidence and I am by NO MEANS someone that knows anything about crime scenes but that part just bothered me. I guess since they were trying to save a life, they could disturb a crime scene and it didn’t matter. But it just wasn’t clear to me that they were trying to save a life. They were going to a body dump. And they were whispering and sneaking around even though they could smell the decomp and trying not to freak out the people at a concert. That whole scene just didn’t make much sense to me.
Minor picky things as a Nola girl- houses in New Orleans do not have basements. People are not buried in the ground. She even explains it but still has someone they have to dig up at the cemetery that is famous for their above ground tombs. Locals do not eat at Brennan’s (expensive tourist spot). And Jazz Fest on Bourbon Street? Did I read that right? None of these things knocked me out of the story though. I do wish she had made the tarot card reading scene more pertinent. It seems just thrown in there for vibes and could’ve had more impact on the storyline.
⬇️ Bottom Line
I loved it! It was a quick and entertaining read. Will it be my favorite book of the year? No but I would definitely recommend it to my thriller friends. Great first novel and I look forward to more.
💜💛💚🔪🩸❣️