The Butcher and the Wren

Content Warning: This section of the guide discusses graphic violence and potentially disturbing themes related to a serial killer and his crimes.

Wren Muller, formerly known as Emily Maloney, is the protagonist of the novel. She is a forensic pathologist for the New Orleans jurisdiction. She attended Tulane Medical School and went into the field of forensic pathology after she graduated. She married her husband, Richard, and changed her last name to Muller. She also changed her first name to Wren after surviving Jeremy’s attempt on her life. She has friends, but she spends much of her life dedicated to her work, with her husband even using a “you look a lot like my wife” joke on her repeatedly (56), which highlights how infrequently she is home at normal hours. Her work is important to her, due to her belief that the dead “speak” to her (164). She listens to their stories to help solve their cases, especially the murder victims, hence Going Beyond the Call of Duty. 

Wren has a strong sense of justice, due both to her occupation and what Jeremy did to her in The Bayou.