True-crime podcast co-host Alaina Urquhart showcases her propensity for the macabre in chilling cat-and-mouse thriller Sabienna Bowman, Popsugar As body after body piles up on Wren's examination table, her obsession grows. Pressure to put an end to the slaughter mounts. And her enemy becomes more brazen.

We are introduced to a mastermind serial killer, a sadist killer— Jeremy (known as The Bayou Butcher); chronically understimulated, he fed his own huger by experimentation. His father's early advice echoed in his mind over the years. "You want to learn about something, son? You have to open it up." Dignity is key in both my work as a true crime podcaster and as an autopsy technician. For example, I always try to part the victim’s hair in a way that allows me to make the necessary cuts without damaging their hair. Just like the person on my autopsy table is a human being who has people who love them, the people we discuss on Morbid are mothers, fathers, daughters, sons, and friends. Gallows humor has a place in the death industry, to allow workers to cope with the sometimes suffocating sadness that comes with the job, but it can never be in relation to the victim. While on the podcast, I maintain a more fact-based/clinical tone to avoid having the stories of real victims feel like exploitative entertainment, in my fiction, I allow myself a bit more creativity in my narrative style. This novel follows our main character Wren, a forensic pathologist, who ends up doing more detective work instead of staying at the morgue where her ass belongs. She examines the bodies of people that will killed by the so-called "Bayou Butcher", Jeremy who provides the secondary perspective in this novel. I want to preface this by saying a HUGE thank you to Zando for this #gifted ARC in exchange for an honest review! I practically cried when I received this beautiful book mail last week. I have wanted a copy of The Butcher and the Wren ever since hearing about it on Morbid a few months prior. Urquhart paints a tense and dangerous world for us right from the start and delivers it all with a skilled and evocative hand.” - Aaron Mahnke, creator of the Lore podcast and author of The World of Lore series

I hate to give The Butcher and the Wren such a low rating because I think it has great potential, but it's just not quite there. For example, this is an actual line in the book: "... she spots them among the massive crowd of people laughing and enjoying their beautiful plates of Louisiana seafood" Reasons to read: If you're a big Morbid fan, you'll love to see one of your fav hosts writing a book.

Urquhart paints a tense and dangerous world for us right from the start and delivers it all with a skilled and evocative hand AARON MAHNKE, creator of the Lore podcast and author of The World of Lore series True-crime podcast cohost Alaina Urquhart showcases her propensity for the macabre in chilling cat-and-mouse thriller.” - Sabienna Bowman, Popsugar The writing is a lot of telling and not much showing. It's choppy in most places with bouts of info-dumping and repetitive descriptions of the hot NOLA weather. Too many short sentences one after another can take the reader out of the story. It could benefit from a lot of appositives and basic reworking to look more presentable to the reader, but this is just my opinion since most readers wouldn't mind. The MC, Jeremy, is the serial killer. I actually really enjoyed his character because he had a funny personality and we got to see him go through a range of emotions in almost every chapter. We also got a tiny tiny glimpse into his childhood, which of course helped his character arc. Urquhart has crafted a thriller that is necessarily graphic but not exploitative. The crisp detail, the narrative brevity and the blade-sharp connections between the pathologist and the killer all bode well for future installments.” - Sarah Weinman, New York Times

To me, this felt more like a beta read. Which would make for a GREAT novel because the bones are there and there is SO much to work with/ add on. But since this almost the final copy, I am not sure how these plot holes, flat characters, and underdeveloped storylines will be fixed in time of pub date?