Normally I’m not too big on series (too much of a commitment for my mood reading) but I went into this one knowing I could read it as a standalone and now I’m fully invested and *have* to read the first two to the series.

When I’m Dead is such a fast-paced thriller and written so well that I couldn’t turn the pages quick enough for my brain’s liking. I really liked Rowan and Axel, and liked that it took a while for me to fully figure out who did it. It’s dark, depressing and so atmospheric. Thanks to Minotaur Books for my eARC. When I’m Dead will be published on Halloween!

I love reading police procedurals and When I’m Dead did not disappoint.

This book had some of my favorite things: multiple POVs, plenty of red herrings, just enough clues and forensic detail that helps move the investigation along, and a great reveal and motive. The setting of the fictional town of Black Harbor is atmospheric and dark and does not sound like the happiest place to live. I also really liked the dysfunctional relationship between Axel and Rowen, a married detective and medical examiner couple, and between them and their missing daughter, which gave me all the feels and hopes that everything would work out for their little family.

I have read all the books by this author. I feel she just keeps getting better. Great mystery with a murderer you did not see coming. I am looking forward to the next one

When I'm Dead is the third in a series, but I was unaware of that when I requested this book. Medical Examiner Rowan Winthorp and her husband, Detective Axel Winthrop, are working a crime scene, a murdered high school girl. They receive disturbing news - their daughter is missing and her friends are turning up dead. There a lot of twists and turns but the murderer is caught in the end.
Thank you to NetGalley and St Martin's Press for the ARC.

Thank you Netgalley, Minotaur Books, and of course, Hannah Morrisey for my advanced digital copy to read and review.
If you're not familiar with Hanna’s writing, I urge you to give her a try. Her Black Harbor series is a blend of police procedural with dark, gritty elements.
When I'm Dead reads as a stand-alone, just like her previous two novels, Hello Transcriber and The Widowmaker. There are small mentions of occurrences from the first two novels, therefore you will not miss important details in order to follow the story. It has more to do with the main investigator's previous relationship rather than the case at hand.
But I find her writing is getting better and better with each book. I liked this one more than the first two books. I find the character development and the way she lays out the story is well done, and it keeps you guessing as to who is behind the crimes.
I definitely recommend it, especially for this time of year.

One girl is murdered and one girl is missing in this newest installment of the Black Harbor series. In this psychological thriller we are introduced to Rowan, the Black Harbor medical examiner, and her husband Axel, a Black Harbor police detective. When they are both called away to a murder, missing their daughters theatrical performance, they think nothing of it, until they get home that night and realize their daughter is missing. This case gets personal for these two professionals used to dealing with murder and mayhem. As they race against the clock, they peels back the layers surrounding this murder as they narrow in on a suspect. Will they be able to uncover the killer before time runs out?

I have not read any of the other thrillers in this series, but I found this to be a great stand alone. The characters in this series were well developed and helped add to the mystery surrounding this case. Overall I found this to be a well written thriller that was engaging the whole way through. My only problem with this book was some of the gore, but that’s on me since I know what to expect when going into these types of books. I’m much more comfortable and in my element with cozy mysteries, but I do love to visit full thriller mysteries from time to time. This was a very good thriller and I loved the world that was created here in Black Harbor, it was the perfect setting for this murder. If you are a thriller fan, I suggest giving this one a try!

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an ARC of this book!

This story follows a medical examiner and detective whose child goes missing. As the story unfolds you get to see the POV of multiple people in the town of Black Harbor. It shows just how cruel kids can be when things dont go their way. I absolutely loved this story! It was such an easy read with short chapters. It kept you guessing till the last 20 pages. Can't wait to read more by this author!

This was a different type of police procedural because the town's coroner and detective were the parents of the "missing girl." I enjoyed the flipping of a typical thriller plot by having the parents directly involved in the town's homicides and the missing person search.

However, in real life, this would not have actually happened due to conflict of interest.

But in this world, the parents both are fighting against their panicked emotions (who wouldn't?) and are trying to solve two other murders of teenage girls that their daughter associated with - only to discover their own daughter goes missing.

WHEN I'M DEAD is a glum read. The town is dark and mysterious and it holds down it's residents. It doesn't seem like many "get out," including the parents in the story.

I really enjoyed the plot overall and it's set during Halloween, so it's a perfect October/November read.

Thank you NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for an e-copy of WHEN I'M DEAD to review.

I give WHEN I'M DEAD four out of five stars.

2.5 stars
When I’m Dead is Book 3 in the Black Harbour Series, but this domestic thriller can definitely be read as a standalone.
I really wanted to like this book, but it fell flat for me. I didn’t feel anything for the parents Rowan & Axel (teenage daughter goes missing) after her friend is found murdered. I should have felt completely gutted for them. How can they be involved in their daughters case??? Very unlikely.
At times I just shook my head at the unlikelihood of such things happening, and there were a few!
The story had a good premise, and it did have a dark, suspenseful atmosphere at times, which I did enjoy. But overall I felt myself pushing to finish it.

I've read all three books in the Black Harbor series and they are all so different. I think they are really separate stories in the same story world.

Hello, Transcriber was probably my favorite as it felt the most like a traditional mystery.

The Widowmaker was the darkest of the three but had a weird main character I struggled to connect with.

When I'm Dead was very teen-focused, with three narrators and a lot of attention to the teenagers of Black Harbor and what they are up to (spoiler: taxidermy! Of course.)

Now that I'm beginning to get more of a feel for Black Harbor, I'm really curious about what the next installment will be!

First, I absolutely love this cover. It kind of gives me titanic vibes. ⁣
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This was such an intriguing psychological thriller, with so many different characters and a vast number of narrators who really brought but this story to life. ⁣
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The lies. The secrets. The different points of view and perspectives. So many girls dead. Too many ties between each girl and other people who could’ve been the killer. ⁣
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Just a perfect creepy atmosphere, perfect for spooky season.⁣
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One girl dead. One girl missing. A short staffed police force, in a dark twisted town; leaving the parents to try to find the missing girl but to stay within “protocol” and other bodies keep popping up. ⁣
This was such a unique premises. And an unexpected twist at the end.⁣
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

I love the Black Harbor series and all things @hannahmorrisseywriter so I was really excited to get an advance copy!
Hannah does such a good job with complex characters and weaving storylines together which I cannot imagine very easy. This installment of the Black Harbor series is no exception. We get to meet Alex and Rowan. Both are so realistic I felt like they were real life people. Their frantic desperation at finding their daughter while keeping their marriage afloat kept me going.
The pacing of this is brilliant. You get lots of small red herrings however, I was so immersed I had no idea where this was going to go. I just went along for the ride with the Winthrop’s and hoped there would be a conclusion. I don’t want to give any spoilers away so that is all I will say about that.
The atmosphere once again comes alive and although I have never been to Black Harbor, I feel like I have after reading Hannah’s novels. Loved that it was set literally around the dates I read it and I would be remiss if I didn’t mention Fry (so cute and I know Hannah’s love for a Frenchie) as well as Beetlejuice being the school play. I wish I could see it! Another great installment and I look forward to more from Hannah! Thank you @netgalley for my advance copy!

When I'm Dead by Hannah Morrissey is a highly recommended murder mystery.

It is October in Black Harbor, Wisconsin, Axel and Rowan Winthorp are watching the school play their daughter Chloe has a main role in when they are both called away and instruct Chloe to get a ride home with their neighbor. Axel is a homicide detective in Black Harbor’s police department while Rowan is medical examiner so this isn't the first time the two have had to suddenly leave and Chloe resents this. The scene they are called in to investigate is the death of teenager Madison Caldwell, a good friend of Chloe. The scene is gruesome. Hours later Rowan and Axel discover that Chloe is missing. Now they have a teen murdered, one missing and it looks like the two events are connected making the investigation more complicated and personal.

The narrative is told through the point-of-view of Rowan, Axel, and Libby, the teenage daughter of their neighbor. The characters are pensive, observant, and complicated in this murder mystery. The list of suspects grows exponentially with each chapter as the tension also rises with each new detail exposed. Allowing the plot to develop through the viewpoints of different characters works very well in When I'm Dead. Each of the three perspectives focus on different details and events which lead to new questions.

Although this is the third novel set in Black Harbor, it can be read as a standalone since the town is the connection between the novels. Expect a mean girls vibe, teen drama, bullying, rumors, suspect educators, and distressing self reflection, all set in the Gothic atmosphere of an apparently cursed city. For those sticklers of proper procedures, some disbelief must be utilized since parents would not normally be officially involved in an investigation, although it is explained away as the department being so short-handed.

Disclosure: My review copy was courtesy of St. Martin's Press via NetGalley.
The review will be published on Edelweiss, X, Barnes & Noble and Amazon.

When I'm Dead is the third installment of the Black Harbor series but this book 100% works as a stand alone. It tells the story of Axel and Rowan as they try to find their missing daughter in the wake of her friends getting murdered. Will they find Chloe and be able to stop the murderer?

I loved Rowan. I really loved all the characters but especially Rowan as the mom character. There are so many feelings as the mom that Rowan goes through in this story and I just empathized with her so much. This story took me on a wild ride and I had no idea who was doing it for a lot of the book. There was a moment where I had guessed the killer and then I narrowed it down to two. My initial gut instinct was right but it didn't take away from the story because there is a huge 180 in the motive that literally no one could have guessed. I love the medical accuracy and how much research this author does to make sure it is right. Highly recommend this series!!

“You’ll love me more when I’m dead…”

Chloe Winthrop’s words echo accusingly in her mother Rowan’s head as Rowan and Axel leave Chloe’s school play at intermission. Rowan is Black Harbor’s medical examiner and Axel is a detective; parents who get pulled away far too often whenever they get the call via “death phone” that another dead body has been found. This time the body, found in a gully near their neighborhood of Belgrave Circle, belongs to Chloe’s frenemy Madison Caldwell.

“One girl is dead. The other is missing.”

Rowan returns home later that night to an empty house. Chloe’s window is open but the teenager is nowhere to be seen. Did she leave on her own or did someone take her? Is there a serial criminal operating in dangerous Black Harbor, Wisconsin?

Set during Halloween, When I’m Dead is the perfect read for spooky season! Although it’s the third installment in Hannah Morrissey’s Black Harbor series, it can easily be read as a standalone, as the plotlines of each book are not interconnected. Part thriller, part police procedural, and all totally gripping, I read this book in two days! Multiple POVs get us in the heads of Rowan, Axel, and teenage neighbor Libby. The characters are complex and well developed, and the setting is fantastic, with palpable despair in the depiction of gritty Black Harbor.

I alternated between the ebook and the audiobook, and they are both fantastic ways to read this book! The audiobook is very well done with a full cast giving each POV its own narrator, making it easy to keep track of the different perspectives. Many thanks to NetGalley, Minotaur Books, and Macmillan Audio for providing me an advance copy of this book.

Since I have read other books by Ms. Morrissey, I was looking forward to reading When I'm Dead. Unfortunately, it did not live up to my expectations. There was a lot of repetition especially regarding how horrible the town of Black Harbor is. Bring it up when needed but not in almost every chapter. The characters were flat. The story line did not hold me with the drama of a thriller. There were many times I wanted to put it down and move on to something else.

2 1/2 stars upped to 3.

Initial Thoughts
I had a fantastic time reading this book! This is the third book written by Hannah Morrissey that I have read and I am most definitely a fan. This is listed as the third book in the Black Harbor series but it reads as stand alone. All of the books in the series occur in the same town but contain a separate mystery. In this story, Rowen, the town's medical examiner, and Axel, a detective, must leave their daughter's play to investigate the murder of another teen. Their daughter doesn't make it home after the play and things don't look good. The story had a lot of twists and turns that kept me guessing until the very end. I listened to the audiobook and thought that the cast of narrators did an amazing job of bringhing this story to life.

Review copy provided by the publisher. Full review to be posted soon.

The third in the Black Harbor series and I’m more addicted than before. By far, book three is my favorite. I love seeing Kole return to the story and the addition of more characters.
Suspense, spine chilling descriptions. I loved it!

Thank you NetGalley, Minotaur Books and Hannah Morrissey for the ARC.
Bring in book four!

This was a great addition to my October reading list, it kept me guessing until the end, and was a quick read that I just couldn’t put down.

I started off listening to the audio and within a few chapters had to switch to the ebook.
The audio is far too monotone for the depth of emotions the characters are moving through. Once I switched to the ebook version those started to bleed through more.
This is an emotionally charged combo of a psychological thriller and police procedural.
I really enjoyed the attention to detail Hannah Morrissey put into this and the fact that she was able to surprise me a few times even. Well done!
I do wish that there had been additional POV from Chloe & Madison. Felt like we missed out on some layers by not getting those POV. Might just be me though *shrugs*.
Much love to NetGalley, St. Martin's Press, Minotaur Books and Macmillan Audio for my ARC & ALC.