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The Butcher Legacy

Dr. Wren Muller, Book 3

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The Butcher Legacy

By: Alaina Urquhart
Narrated by: Cary Hite, Joe Knezevich, Sophie Amoss
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Summary
 *** INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER! ***

'Alaina does it again . . . amazing!' - reader review, ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

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Dr. Wren Muller is back! But has the Bayou Butcher returned, too?

Two months after the life-changing events on the tail of a serial killer known as the 'Bayou Butcher', forensic pathologist Dr. Wren Muller is back in the place she knows best: the New Orleans morgue.

She buries herself in routine, reuniting with her closest ally, Detective John Leroux, and tries to convince herself that normality can be rebuilt. But in the weeks leading up to Halloween, shadows begin to shift again as young girls vanish in both cities where Jeremy Rose, the unmasked Bayou Butcher, once ran rampant.

When bodies are discovered with all the hallmarks of Bayou Butcher killings, Wren and Leroux must mobilise.

Hundreds of miles away in Massachusetts, Philip Trudeau stands behind a pulpit. He is the revered pastor of a close-knit congregation, but beneath his calm composure lies something sinister - he has history with Jeremy Rose, and a hunger that did not fade when the Bayou Butcher was jailed . . .

Is Jeremy pulling the most gruesome of strings from behind bars? And will Wren ever be free of the Bayou Butcher's legacy . . . or will it be her downfall?

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Readers and reviewers love the Dr. Wren Muller series!

'Dr. Wren Muller is a fiery female protagonist that Scarpetta would call friend' - Patricia Cornwell

'Utterly compelling, this is crime at its most hypnotic' - Daily Mail

'I could not put this book down, finishing it the same day and having to sleep with the light on bc it is SO GOOD!!' - reader review, ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

'This captured me from the get go! Was morbidly fascinated . . . Can't wait to read the next one!' - reader review, ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

'Alaina, you have terrified me daily on your Morbid podcast and now in the pages of this glued-to-the-hand nightmare of a book. To coin a phrase used by you and the wonderful Ash, I am obsessed with this book and can NOT wait to see what happens next' - reader review, ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

'What a book! . . . I couldn't put this book down, the twists and turns are amazing. Loved it so much!' - reader review, ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

'I absolutely loved this book. I couldn't wait to keep reading it, and when it hit part 2 . . . I literally sat there with my mouth open!' - reader review, ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

'CAPTIVATING. The reader might want to shut their eyes, but the joust between the killer and the pathologist makes that impossible' ― DAILY MAIL

'Amazing twists. Unputdownable' ― Samantha Downing, author of My Lovely Wife

'Alaina Urquhart has set a new benchmark for the serial killer novel' ― Margot Douaihy, USA Today bestselling author of Scorched Grace and Blessed Water

'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 instalments' - Sarah Weinman, New York Times

'A read-in-one-sitting kind of book' - Sarah Gelman, CBS Mornings

'Alaina Urquhart treats fans of pulse-pounding novels to a thrill ride pitting a notorious serial killer in a battle of wits against the medical examiner determined to bring him down' - Books-A-Million©2026 Alaina Urquhart (P)2026 Little, Brown Book Group Limited Crime Fiction Genre Fiction Medical Mystery Thriller & Suspense Women Sleuths Murder Crime
All stars
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Twisty turny, loved every minute! Thought I had the twist pegged but I was wrong!

Love this!

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this is a another amazing book love it this can. lt be the last one of Jeremey and wren

love the way each chapters are written

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Alaina describes scenes, emotions and everyday things in the most beautifully vivid way throughout this whole series. It was a joy to listen to and become ungulfed in.

Beautifully written

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The third Butcher/Wren book is an ok read but sadly not as good as the first two. The story is very slow in the beginning and focuses excessively on character conversations, loosing the opportunity to develop the physical action and build the tension. The story is also punctuated by excessive use of similes and there are some basic editing features that should have been corrected (plague masks were medieval not Victorian, process for visitation of prisoners etc). The story is good but not nearly as gripping or punchy as the first two books. It leans toward Silence of the Lambs genre but without the intrigue. Narration wise, I’m personally not won over by the multiple narrators - it seemed an interesting concept with book 1 but it doesn’t seem to work here. I had pre-ordered and was very excited to get The Butcher Legacy and I am disappointed not to be able to write a more positive review.

Not as good as previous books

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