It’s Monday again, and that means I’m back again to recap some more November reading! Last week had a feminist theme running through it. The topic wasn’t as highlighted in this week’s reading, but both books still included a strong female lead. Truthfully, I didn’t plan to follow any theme this week, but there ended up being a number of common threads between the two books that I got to. They had murders, long voyages, crime investigations, strong female leads, and scene descriptions that plant you squarely inside the environment with the characters. Both even used an alternating POV between two protagonists without being romance stories. Most importantly, they’re both books I would definitely recommend.

1. The Butcher Game – Alaina Urquhart

CW: Stalking, Graphic Violence

This is the second book of the Dr. Wren Muller series. The first one is called The Butcher and the Wren. I originally decided to pick it up because I listen to the true crime podcast that the author co-hosts with her sister. It’s called Morbid, and it’s one of my favorites. I’ve listened to every episode. From listening to her speak, she is clearly a very lovely person. Her big heart is obvious and she sounds so sweet. It absolutely amazes me how that same person can sit down and write something so utterly brutal. It is real talent.

Urquhart really knows her stuff. In addition to having impressive research skills to back up her lifelong fascination in true crime, she also has an established career as an autopsy technician. She knows how bodies work, and she knows what makes them stop working. In this series, she’s written a killer whose victims endure horrific torture before death – both psychological and physical. The level of realism the author is able to distill into the paragraphs is absolutely chilling. It is very difficult to feel safe while reading this, no matter where you are.

To be honest, it did not reduce the chills I got when most of this second book took place in some of my stomping grounds of western Massachusetts. The first book was located primarily in New Orleans. I lived there for some time many years ago, and my partner lived there for about a decade, so I knew to expect extremely accurate detailed descriptions of the area. Additionally, Urquhart is also a lifelong Mass resident. I did not realize how deeply unsettling it would be to have an already terrifying stalker character start peering in windows of houses I could drive to in an hour. Although in all honesty, this series will have you looking over your shoulder even if you’ve never set foot in any of the locations mentions.

2. The Fox Wife – Yangsze Choo

CW: Child Loss, Threat of SA

This book called out to me during my latest visit to my local library. I’d never heard of it before. I’d heard very good things about the author’s first book The Night Tiger, although I haven’t read it. It was the title that grabbed me. My partner’s last name is Fox. While I’ve always had a fondness for the animal and the folklore around them, once we started dating, my interest intensified greatly. So I picked it up, I read the summary, and decided that it was the book coming home with me that day.

I was captivated instantly. This is not a time or place in history that I have deep familiarity with, but on every page I was standing directly beside the characters, experiencing their world in perfect detail. When you close your eyes, you can almost smell the air around them. It’s vivid without being overly verbose.

I also fell in love with both protagonists very quickly. Snow is a grieving mother fox, who has shape-shifted into her human form (that all foxes have) to avenge her child’s death. Bao is an aging man who has become a detective in his retirement after his wife’s passing. He wants to be able to help people, and he has an uncanny ability for knowing telling truth from lies when he hears them. He’s had the skill since he was a child and his nanny prayed to the fox gods to take away his… something. Try as he might, he can’t remember exactly what. I’ve really enjoyed reading older characters lately (middle aged and up) and both were wonderful examples. They’re complicated and imperfect with both goals and regrets, pride and shame.

This story did not let me go, even to the last page. I was enraptured the whole way through. It’s sad, and fiery, and thrilling, and stunningly beautiful throughout its entirety. I’m left feeling much like many humans in the story after they’ve encountered a fox spirit: a bit wistful for something that has passed by, and yet blessed to have witnessed such magic. I will certainly be picking up more of Choo’s works.

More November to Come!

We’ve got some more November coming next week too. One more week before December! I don’t know how many people are participating in the “Ten Before the End” trend that’s been circulating social media, but I’m making it my goal to read ten more books before the new year comes. I heard about it shortly after starting The Butcher Game, so I’m counting that as the first. After finishing The Fox Wife, I’ll now need to finish 8 more books to hit the goal.

As always, I want to hear from you! What have you been reading lately? Are you having fun with it? Have you read any of these titles, and if so, what did you think of them? Tell me everything, and follow along for more!