A wonderfully twisty psychological thriller that really makes you question what you really know. The town of Black Harbor has its share of crime. But things change when the towns children begin to show up dead. Who is killing all of the girls? Is it a serial killer? Is it the local taxidermist? And will anyone figure it out before they lose another child? It’s dark and twisty, and Black Harbor is not a place I want to live. Thanks to NetGalley for the opportunity to read this one.

A dark twisted psychological mystery! The suspense, creepy atmospheric setting and lies were an absolute wild ride. When I'm Dead was hard to put down, as I had to know the "who" was committing the crimes.

Black Harbor, Wisconsin has a nefarious criminal on lose targeting young girls from the local high school. A local cop and his wife, the town coroner, iare racing against the clock to save their daughter after her friend is found murdered. This town is small yet menacing as the parents take the investigation into their own hands.

A heart-pounding thriller!

Thank you St. Martins Press for the complimentary copy.

I read widowmaker and I have been dying to get my hands on the next installment. All it did was deliver.

I am going to first point out that it is not necessary to read the other books first. They all work as excellent standalones.

I loved the characters and the dark undertones that came off the pages in waves. The pace was decent and it was mty favorite read of oct!

4.5 stars thank you for my gifted copy @minotaur_books and netgalley

This is book three in the Black Harbor series, but each can be read as a stand-alone. I've enjoyed all of them, and this one was my favorite. It was dark and disturbing in the best way possible.
When I'm Dead, it is filled with twists and turns that kept me riveted all the way through. It was a perfect psychological thriller with great characters. I was deeply invested in all of their outcomes.
I seriously hope there's more coming in this series!

I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review.

When I'm Dead is book three in the Black Harbor series by Hannah Morrissey. I read this one not knowing it was part of a series and I think it read just fine as a standalone. There might have been some references to the previous books that I just didn't pick up on. Main character Rowan Winthrop is a medical examiner investigating the death of her teen daughter's best friend. Shortly after this death, Rowan's daughter goes missing. From there the story delves into the secret lives of residents of the town that Rowan is desperate to leave. Plenty of mystery and secrets keep this plot moving right along. Read and enjoy!

What a suspenseful and creepy story that takes us on an unforgettable exploration of human psyche.
The story revolves around 2 parents, one a medical examiner and another a police detective and their teenage daughter.
If you read the synopsis of the story, you pretty much know what the story is about. Lots of mystery, intrigue, suspense and twists and turns.
I have not read the previous books in the series and had no issue reading this as a standalone.
Thank you to NetGalley, the publisher and author for the opportunity to read this book for my honest review. All opinions expressed are my own.

Reading Between the Wines book review #129/115(met goal in Sept!) for 2023:
Rating: 3 🍷 🍷 🍷
Book: When I’m Dead
Author: Hannah Morrissey
Available Now!!

Sipping thoughts: I enjoyed this book and really liked the different narrators and point of views. The major downfall was Rowan’s chapters. I really like audiobook but did not like Rowan’s chapters only because the narrator was VERY hard to understand. The voice was low, mumbly and just hard to really listen to. Most times I listen to an audiobook I can do something else like get dressed. These chapters were so hard to understand that I had to sit still and barely breath just to hear it. I had the ebook as an ARC so I just started pausing it and reading the Rowan chapters. Once I got passed that, the storyline was so good-dark, twisty, and unexpected.

Cheers and thank you to @StMartinsPress, @MacmillanAudio and @Netgalley for an advanced copy of @WhenImDead.

#WhenImDead #HannahMorrissey #StMartinsPress #MacmillanAudio #advancedreadercopy #ARC #Kindle #Booksofinstagram #readersofinstagram #bookstagram #nicoles_bookcellar #bookworm #bookdragon #booknerd #booklover #bookstagrammer #bookaholic #bookreview #bookreviewer #IHaveNoShelfControl #ReadingBetweenTheWines #fiction #thriller #suspense #mystery #MysteryAndThrillers #GeneralFictionAdult

Short synopsis: When Rowen and Axel are called out to investigate a murder, their daughter Chloe goes missing.

My thoughts: This is the third book in the Black Harbor series, but can totally stand on its own. In fact, I haven’t read the other two, and while I’m sure there’s stuff in the other books that overlap I didn’t feel lost at all. I breezed through this one on audio in less than 24 hours and the multiple narrators made the story so great.

This one definitely got dark and gruesome, and the twists and turns just kept coming. The ending wasn’t completely unexpected but I didn’t see it coming.

I can’t wait to pick up the previous books in this series because I’m sure the other stories are just as good as this one.

Read if you love:
- Police procedural
- Multiple perspectives
- Thrillers with missing or dead teens
- Thriller series
- Taxidermy (iykyk 😬)

One of my favorite books of 2023 for sure! This kept my attention which has been difficult for me lately. Can’t wait to read more from this author!

When I'm Dead by Hannah Morrissey is an entertaining thriller, with several interesting twists. Someone is killing teenage girls in the run down town of Black Harbor, Wisconsin. Rowan and Axel are married and both work in law enforcement. Their daughter Chloe goes missing at the same time a friend of Chloe's is murdered. The plot is narrated by several different characters and it is these viewpoints that keep the reader guessing. Some of the story is a bit predictable, but it is still an enjoyable and interesting read.

This one was…odd. In some ways it was your typical thriller, but these characters are a little more out there. For example, one of the characters whose POV we get is a teenager who is learning to do taxidermy. That’s right, TAXIDERMY. It was a bit of a slow start, and I feel like I occasionally got a bit confused as to who was speaking, but this was also a part of a series, so it may be easier to people who are more familiar with the characters. It is not the best thriller I’ve ever read, the killer was fairly obvious, but it was still a good read.

This book was dark, twisted, and definitely not what I was expecting. This was my first trip to Black Harbor, and I’ve already purchased two more trips.

Rowan is the Black Harbor medical examiner, and her husband Axel is a member of Black Harbor’s Police Force. They are called away from their daughter’s high school play to the scene of a crime. This begins a story that is scary, haunting, and twisted. And along with a horrific crime to start this story, their daughter Chloe goes missing.

Each chapter is told from the perspective of a different character in the story. The reader really gets the opportunity to go inside the heads of all of the major players. This character-driven tale leaves no stone unturned, and all of the major players scarred. It was difficult to read at times, but that was the point. I was so invested in getting to the end that I couldn’t catch my breath at times. I also really appreciated that the town/city of Black Harbor was a character of its own.

This story was brutal at times. It is a true thriller and police procedural with a bit of horror. It reads like a movie in your mind. Hannah Morrissey is a new author to me, and I already have the other two Black Harbor novels on my shelf. I can’t wait to dive back in!

Thank you to NetGalley, St. Martin’s Press, and Minotaur Books for the advanced reader copy of this story. I love the opportunity to read a new author, and I’m very appreciative! I highly recommend this book - it’s perfect for a cold, chilly night!

When I’m Dead by Hannah Morrissey

Living in Black Harbor, Wisconsin’s most dangerous city, would be challenging enough for any family. But when you’re a medical examiner like Rowan Winthorp, and your husband Axel is a police detective, danger and death are a constant, no matter how hard you try to balance family life against them.

So neither Rowan nor Axel is entirely surprised to get a call that takes them out of their only daughter Chloe’s opening night high school performance of Beetlejuice: The Musical. When Rowan metaphorically draws the short straw and has to break the news to Chloe during intermission, the fifteen year-old is understandably crushed by this latest in a long line of disappointments:

QUOTE
Rowan suddenly remembered the roses. The cellophane crinkled as she handed them to Chloe. They seemed a cheap consolation now. “These are for you. We love you so much, Chloe. You’re killing it, you really are. But work–”

“Do you?”

Rowan paused. She felt her brows knit. “What?”

Chloe sighed. Her pointed bangs made everything about her look barbed, scary. And then she uttered seven little words that cut Rowan to the bone. <i>You’ll love me more when I’m dead</i>.
END QUOTE

As a professional, Rowan tries to set her guilt aside, even as she’s examining the brutal murder scene she’s been called away to. It’s an awful surprise to learn that the victim is her daughter’s best friend Madison Caldwell, who was likely attacked and strangled while walking to school to watch the evening’s production. Even worse, someone has knocked out her teeth, scattering them on the ground around her corpse.

Rowan has no idea how to break the news to her daughter, but a different sort of emotion soon overtakes her when she gets home and realizes that Chloe isn’t there. A series of miscommunications meant that Chloe did not have an adult chaperone home. Rowan’s worst fears are soon realized when no one can say where Chloe might have disappeared to. When another of Chloe’s classmates is found dead, Rowan has to confront the terrible likelihood that her daughter might have been killed, too.

Axel, on the other hand, has a worse fear. Is it just his desire for Chloe to still be alive that convinces him that she is not a victim, but might actually be a willing participant in all this? Regardless, the Winthorps will do everything possible to bring their daughter home, even if their marriage itself shatters in the process.

When I’m Dead is a book that isn’t afraid to tackle human weaknesses. So many children of couples who both work in law enforcement are portrayed as chipper and resilient, usually because it’s easier to not introduce that complicating sort of parent-child conflict when trying to wrap up fictional plotlines. Chloe, however, is understandably messed up by her parents’ devotion to their work, especially when she finds herself at an emotionally vulnerable phase of her own life.

The brooding backdrop of Black Harbor is as compelling as any of the characters in this novel’s pages, too. The polluted, crime-infested city has beaten down both Axel and Rowan, as well as other law enforcement officers like Axel’s chief, Niko Kole:

QUOTE
“Ah, fuck, Rowan, why do we live here?”

“No better place to be if you’re a cop, right?” Rowan repeated a line she used to hear from Axel, whenever he’d come home all electrified after making an arrest or testifying on the stand. Those days are long over. Now, he’s utterly defeated. A husk of the man she married.

“I used to think like that, but now I don’t know,” admitted Kole. “Dead kids everywhere you turn.[“]
END QUOTE

I appreciate how each installment of the Black Harbor series concentrates on a different inhabitant of the city, usually one with ties to its beleaguered police force. Each book contributes to a greater picture of a dark place being slowly overwhelmed by conflict and crime, despite the best efforts of the people within it. For all that, this novel is not without hope, as Rowan and Axel’s ordeal serves to focus their priorities on the one person who should have had their attention all along. Enjoying the twists and turns along the way is only icing on the reader’s metaphorical cake.

This was such a wild ride! It made me wish I could just read “in one sitting”, but that’s not happening anytime soon, as there is way too much adulting that keeps getting in the way. But this book definitely made me think how I’d prefer to just keep reading it.
There is so much suspense, there are twists, and it is just surprisingly good.

I wanted to love this book so much, I loved the premise, the cover is gorgeous, and the other books I've read by Hannah Morrissey were books I really enjoyed.

This book though, there's so much about it that I just can't in good conscience not talk about them.

Firstly let's talk about Rowan and Axel, their relationship is just unbelievable, their grief of having a missing daughter is non-existent, and the constant complaints about being in that town got to be exhausting after a while.

Let's move on to things that are hard to swallow, firstly a police officer and medical examiner being involved in a case that potentially has connections to their missing daughter, in what world is that not a conflict of interest?

Next, we have this expensive private school that has a teacher who has a very interesting back story where his ex-wife is concerned, where there are rumors of a teacher and student having an affair and no parents are called, and then there's the whole idea of taxidermy as an elective.

Now let's get into the fat shaming that runs rampant in this book, if there was one character I felt for it was Libby, I mean seriously, her parents have put her through mental trauma that will take years to undo if it's even possible.

Now for what I did like, and this might be a tad controversial but I figured out who the killer was early into the book and it made reading the book and seeing the little clues unfold a lot of fun and I found myself looking forward to them.

The author's voice, the storytelling, the actual structure of the story, and the number of characters, I will say that lately, I've read a lot of books that had either too many or not enough characters and this had a nice blend.

I have to say I went back and forth on how to rate this one, and overall I have to go with three stars, for as many things as there were that just didn't work for me there were things I enjoyed and had fun with, which seems really strange to say when considering the subject of this book. I also appreciate when a part of a series can be read as a stand alone and this one definitely can.

Thank you to St.Martin's Press and NetGalley for providing an advance copy of this E-Book, I have voluntarily read and reviewed it and all thoughts and opinions are my own.

Okay but how is this the first book I’ve read from this author?! This book was certifiably insane. I don’t think I’ve ever read a book quite so twisty and demented. I really have now words to describe this book which I spent two night reading past a normal sleeping time.

This is one book that you will for sure not be able to stop reading because you just need to know what the heck is going on. I swear, at one point you think you’re going insane wondering who the killer actually is & trust me when I say.. you so will not expect the ending to this book!

If you are looking for a book to binge - this is it! I am a huge fan of the previous book The Widowmaker. When I'm Dead did not disappoint!
I love the characters - Rowan, an ME, investigates the death of a close friend's daughter. When Rowan's daughter goes missing, Rowan and her husband question everything.
Plot driven to the end - great read!

This is one of the best books I’ve read and an amazing pick for book of the month I was so happy I got an advance copy so thank you so much

A riveting non stop suspenseful ride. Chloe’s parents must leave her play during intermission because a body has been discovered and it’s Chloe’s best friend. When she arrives home Rowen discovers her daughter Chloe hasn’t. Has she been murdered by the same killer, or is she the killer?

Thank you Netgalley, Minotaur Books and author Hannah Morrissey for a copy of both eARC and physical ARC for an opportunity to write a review.

✍🏼 My Thoughts
My second book from the Black Harbor universe and this first 60% of it I read it on my kindle, and the rest of it was a read-along. I enjoyed the multiple POVs and the story was easy to follow. What I love the most about this author is her exquisite writing — very atmospheric and really taps into the nature of each character that I get to understand the importance of their part in the story. I enjoyed the build-up of the story until the end. I want more of her books! And for those who are wondering by the way, you don’t need to read the other two books. This can be a stand alone novel and it only mentions some characters in passing that it’s not truly relevant to the actual book. It was only mentioned for the reason that they’re in the same community, Black Harbor. When I’m Dead is out now!