Rounded down from around 3.5 stars ⭐️

The Butcher and The Wren follows Wren, a forensic pathologist on the hunt for a serial killer ‘The Butcher’. Can she track them down before it’s too late, or will they get to her first?

I absolutely loved the start of this book, one particular scene actually sent chills down my spine and arms! I was completely sucked in. I loved being inside the mind of the serial killer during their chapters. The darkness absolutely thrilled me, I just wanted to get into their mind more! Unfortunately, the other characters lacked depth for me. I didn’t connect enough to Wren and found her smug attitude annoying. I also became a little frustrated by things that happened with Wren that just would not happen in real life, due to ethics. Alaina’s expertise in true crime and autopsies definitely shines through and I loved this. But that means the ethical issues were completely ignored in order to push the story along. 

I absolutely loved the short chapters which helped to keep the pace up. I also really enjoyed the twist which I did not see coming. It took me a while to wrap my head around it because it completely blindsided me! However, after the twist I felt things slipping a little. The ending felt really abrupt and came out of nowhere. It is clear it was setting up for a sequel but I was left feeling a little unsatisfied. That being said, I loved the sprinkling of true crime facts throughout and will definitely be reading the sequel if there is one! I think this was an impressive debut that shows a lot of promise!

I would recommend this book to fans of thrillers and true crime if you don’t mind an incomplete ending. I want to thank Tandem Collective UK, Michael Joseph Books and Alaina Urquhart for sending a copy of this book so I could give my personal thoughts.