The Butcher and the Wren

Jeremy Rose, who uses the fake name Cal at medical school, is the antagonist of the novel. He is the Bayou Butcher who kidnapped Wren/Emily seven years ago and has returned to resume his killing spree and play a game of cat and mouse with Wren and the authorities. It is implied that he murdered his mother via hemlock poisoning to inherit her home that he transforms into the scene of the torture and death of his victims. He is described as having blonde hair (though he dyes it for his alias) and a “crooked smile” (162), portraying him as attractive and alluring and yet potentially threatening.

Jeremy’s psychology plays a role in his character development. From the opening chapter, from his perspective, his lack of empathy for others is clear. Through his free indirect speech, the narrative exposes Jeremy’s inner dialogue and his contempt for other people around him. The lack of empathy and sense of superiority bleeds into Jeremy’s desire to kill, especially those whom he deems beneath him. The exception is Wren/Emily, who Jeremy views as a peer; however, he also uses her as an experiment surrounding survival instincts versus empathy when he challenges her to leave Katie behind to die. 

Jeremy is a round character but exhibits minimal growth during the seven-year time jump. He retains his obsessive tendencies, particularly about Wren/Emily, and his anger-fueled bloodlust. However, his character arc follows him further and further into his increasing rage, culminating with his botched kidnapping and attempted murder of Tara. Jeremy from seven years ago would not have been careless. Jeremy is extremely upset when he “fails,” which he likens to the sensation of eating “broken glass,” a simile that highlights his violent mindset. Jeremy devolves towards baser, more murderous urges as the novel progresses.

John Leroux is a detective in the New Orleans Police Department who oversees the Bayou Butcher investigation. He is older than his police partner, Will, and has been on the force for a number of years. He and Wren also have a strong camaraderie and friendship, cultivated over working past cases together. His father was part of the police investigation into Wren’s case after she escaped, so he is a second-generation detective. Due to his father’s work on the case prior to his retirement, John feels as if he’s “letting [his] dad down” in his inability to catch the killer (88), which provides further insight into John’s motivations as a police officer.

John feels an immense responsibility for the case, even before he finds out Wren’s personal history with it. After the buried alive victim is uncovered, John says to Wren, “[w]e’re no closer to nailing him. Any further loss of innocent life is on my hands” (146). This provides insight into his view of his occupation and the duty behind the badge. He also has a few ticks and descriptions that hint at the stress he’s under, from “running his hand through his hair” to his noticeable “dark circles” (45-47). Urquhart hence portrays the toll that murder investigations take not just on victims and families but also on investigative staff.

John is a party rounded character whose police identity intersects with his identity as an LGBTQ+ man with a male partner. His boyfriend, Andrew, is a notable chef in the New Orleans community and appears briefly in a phone conversation. That conversation is one of only times that John feels like a human being outside of the badge. The other time is when he holds and “rocks” Wren like a child as she sobs after revealing her ordeal at Jeremy’s hands (169). John is not a flat character, but his character development is small and gradual. His emotional investment in the case grows deeper with each new victim, and then even deeper still when he discovers his friend’s past. 

William Broussard is a detective in the New Orleans Police Department and John Leroux’s partner. He is a flat, supporting character, meaning that he does not undergo significant or meaningful change over the events of the novel. He first appears in the bar where Wren runs into John after her night out for Lindsay’s birthday. He appears sporadically throughout the narrative to offer police assistance to John and the other officers or to be a sounding board for John or Wren’s ideas. John also describes him and his fellow officers as “a shiny gang of youths” (124), demonstrating his fulfillment of the stereotype of the idealistic, young cop. This idealism is further clarified when he expresses disbelief that the ideas behind the Satanic Panic of the 1980s still linger in the evangelical Christian communities in the South.

Will is the one who shoots Jeremy when Wren cannot bring herself to and is the one who directs her back to safety after they identify that the dead body with the bullet wound is not Jeremy, which demonstrates his “protective nature” (237), another attribute that fits his stereotypical mold and portrays his motivation to become a police officer.