This was the first book I read in the Black Harbor series, although it is the second in that series. Not having read the first, I don't know what I am missing, but I feel that this book does stand alone well.

Medical examiner Rowan Winthrop and her homicide investigator husband, Axel, are called to investigate the grisly murder of their daughter's best friend. While at the scene, their daughter disappears. As they try to solve this murder and find their daughter they begin to distrust each other. The characters in this story have a depth that makes them relatable and interesting. The mystery was also captivating. Even though I didn't know any of the characters before hand, I didn't feel like I was missing anything that made the story difficult to follow.

Black Harbor is described in very grim terms by all that live there. It is not the place that anyone seems to want to live, and none of the residents seem surprised by more murders taking place. As I said, not having any other books in the series, I am not sure why Black Harbor is considered such a bad place to live by all, but it did drag the pace a bit to continually hear that.

If you like a good mystery, that will keep you guessing for a while, I would recommend this book.

Thank you to NetGalley, the publishers, and the author for the advance copy in exchange for my honest review

(4.5 Stars) What an awesome thriller! This was my first time reading any of this author's work, and in my opinion, this book is extremely well done. I was seriously 85% of the way in when I finally started putting the pieces together. I was left guessing and questioning what I thought to be true many, many times. I love when chapters end on cliffhangers, and this book delivered on that for sure. This book also delivers spooky Halloween vibes, which is a huge plus if you love that time of year. Reading this in the fall would be even better!

This thriller takes place in the eerie town of Black Harbor, where things are bleak and crime rates are high. When young girls from the local school mysteriously turn up dead, and another one is missing, everyone in town is working together trying to crack the case. Our main characters, Rowan and Axel Winthrop are the parents of Chloe, the missing girl, and also happen to be a medical examiner and a detective, respectively. As everyone begins to learn more about the murders, each character unearths new truths, lies, and secrets within their own lives. I definitely recommend all my thriller loves check out this book when it's published on Halloween this year!

Thank you so much to NetGalley and the author for providing this ARC for me to read/review. All thoughts and opinions expressed above are honest, and my own!

This is the third book in the Black Harbor series, though I think it could be read as a standalone because each book is about different people that live in Black Harbor and not, as in most cases, a detective or policeman. Rowan and Axel are a married couple, and like most married couples they have their moments when things are great and not so much. They are attending the school play where their daughter, Chloe, who plays the lead role. At the intermission they are called away to a murder scene, Axel is a detective and Rowan is a medical examiner. The victim is a friend of Chloe's, and when Rowan rushes home to check on her, she finds the house empty. Each chapter is told from the viewpoint of Rowan, Axel or Libby, who is another friend of Chloe's someone who is a lot closer to her than her parents had known. As the investigation goes on, another murder occurs, which is very similar to the first one and with Chloe still missing the race to find her becomes more frantic. I was really in the dark for the first part of this book I had no clue who the bad person does, the author does a very good job of creating and sustaining the suspense. A very good book and I would recommend. Thanks to #Netgalley and #Minotaur for the ARC.

Thank you to #NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for the chance to read this ARC. This was a great mystery book with a very interesting plot. Two of the main characters are a married couple that are both in similar lines of work....well they end up at the same crime scenes a lot anyway. Not only because their town of Black Harbor is rampant with crime (and more than a few murders), but the husband/wife duo are a police detective in a Violent Crimes unit (Axel) and a Medical Examiner (Rowan) respectively. The book starts off with the first death almost immediately and the tension and mystery just grows from there. Not only is a teen girl found murdered, but she's their daughter Chloe's best friend. Then, before the night is over, they discover that their daughter is missing (and presumed possibly dead). The book goes on to depict the conflict and trauma of the parents having to deal with their missing daughter and her possibly tragic fate as well as trying to do their jobs and catch whoever is responsible. There are also some questions about not only their daughter's fate, but also her possible connection/involvement. They have a lot to unpack here! I didn't guess the real killer until very near when it was revealed, so the author did a great job of dropping a tiny hint or two, but not giving anything away. There is a "red herring" or two as well. The end of the book was ultimately satisfying. I didn't realize there are other books that take place in Black Harbor. I will be going to check those out for sure, now that I've gotten to know these characters! This one gets a 4.5.

This is the second book in a series and I absolutely love Medical Examiner Rowan. This one is about her daughters best friends death and I could not put this book down. I can't wait for the next book in the series to see what Rowan examines and investigates next.
I just reviewed When I'm Dead by Hannah Morrissey. #NetGalley
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I’d like to thank netgalley and the publisher for an advance copy in exchange for an honest review. The premise of this book sounded interesting but unfortunately I couldn’t get into it.

Once again, Hannah knocks it out of the park with that deep, aching sense of dread! I keep coming back to Black Harbor even though it is arguably the grimmest place imaginable and everyone there needs extensive therapy. 10/10 will return again probably. Even though I would like Rowan and Axel and Nik and everyone else to skedaddle - honestly they have probably seen more horrors than anyone else on earth and so literally anywhere would be thrilled to take them for their experience alone. Please somebody take them.

Rowan and Axel Winthrop are all too familiar with the unending hunger of Black Harbor. But when they’re called away from their daughter Chloe’s starring role in the school play to investigate the murder of her best friend, it’s a little too close to home.

But it’s closer still, when they return home that evening to find Chloe never made it back. And when another of her classmates shows up dead with still no sign of their daughter, Rowan and Axel are forced to face the idea that their daughter may have been acting far before she hit the stage.

As the clock ticks and tension builds between the pair who are both desperate to uncover the truth about their daughter - no matter what it may be - the past comes back to haunt everyone in more ways than one.

Black Harbor has always had a taste for its own inhabitants. And very rarely does anyone seem to make it out alive.

When I'm Dead is Book #3 in Hannah Morrissey's Black Harbor Mysteries

In the town of Black Harbor one girl is dead and another is missing. Rowan, the town's medical examiner is called to a crime scene only to discover that her daughter's best friend has been murdered. With Rowan's husband investigating the crime, Rowan returns home to check on Chloe but finds her window open and Chloe no where to be found. As the clues begin to pile up Rowan and Axle's relationship becomes strained, and they start to question if they know their daughter at all. Has she been kidnapped? Is she dead? Or has she been taking out her classmates one at a time?

This thriller will keep you on the edge of your seat and keep you guessing until the very end. A suspenseful murder mystery that will have you questioning almost every character. You won't want to put it down.

Thank you Netgalley and St. Marten's Press for this ARC for an honest review.

"You'll love me more when I'm dead."
When I'm Dead by Hannah Morrissey starts with the murder of a teenage girl and the disappearance of another. The missing girl just happens to be Medical Examiner Rowan Winthorp's daughter, Chloe. Chloe's last words to her mother before vanishing are the searing accusation: You’ll love me more when I’m dead.

Seemingly morbid, disturbing, and ambiguous clues lead Rowan and her detective husband, Axel, to consider if they even know who their daughter is anymore. Amid a tangled web of secrets and lies, Rowan wonders if this is her karma for the sins of her past.

The story is told from three points of view: Rowan, Axel, and Libby. Libby Lucas, the bullied, outcast next-door neighbor. This method helps keep the reader a little off-balance, especially because we don't really know who Libby is before we get her first chapter.

Overall, I enjoyed the book. I loved the mystery surrounding Chloe. We don’t know where she is or why she’s missing for a significant part of the book. We discover things about her as the story goes on that change our perspective, details being revealed carefully and thoughtfully. There are great misdirects and numerous suspects. I found Libby’s development and amateur detective skills interesting. She was also just as much a mystery to me as Chloe was, so I didn’t know what to think of her as the story was developing. I appreciated the way information about Libby and Chloe was revealed to us, like a wine, picking up changes as I read.

There were little things that I would adjust for clarity and pacing. I thought the number of times characters mentioned that Chloe was playing Lydia Deetz in Beetlejuice: The Musical was excessive. It became repetitive and I’d find myself rolling my eyes when I saw it. Additionally, the number of times I read about a certain character being jealous of Chloe for landing that role was a little frustrating. These minor irritations are regarding narration or rumination by one of our three main characters – not about dialogue during the police investigation.
One thing that would’ve kept me present in the story more, instead of stopping and scratching my head in confusion, is if at the beginning a more concrete timeline was established. If a musical starts at 7 pm and Rowan is declaring a time of death at 8:39 pm, what time did she get back to her house? How long were the police searching the home? What time was it when the cops got back to the school? Maybe I’m focusing way too much on little things that won’t bother anyone else but this definitely got under my skin. How can a child disappear from a school musical if it isn’t necessarily over before Rowan gets home?

I think this story has good bones. I would give the book 3.5 stars. I think the mystery of Rowan’s haunted past needs to be further developed and teased out more. Once I got the full picture there was no more mystery about her past and it almost became irrelevant, which is disappointing as that is part of the selling point of the book. I don’t want to spoil anything for future readers so I’ll leave my critique of Rowan’s past there.

I would recommend this book to people who like mystery, tiny towns, and YA.
Content warning for body mutilation, death, and missing children.

Rowen and Axel work for the local police department. Rowan is a medical examiner and has her own secret from 18 years ago that still haunts her. Axel is from this small community where seems to know that the police department is understaffed. They have a daughter, Chole. She was the lead in the school play of Beetlejuice. Rowen and Axel are called away at intermission and she feels like they find their work more important than she is. They find one of Chole's classmates murdered, and then another one of Chole's friends. But when Chole becomes missing, secrets come out. Things that are right out in the open to see but aren't. A well written story that has a psychological story inside a murder. I voluntarily reviewed a copy of this book.

Heart pounding thriller that left me on the edge of my seat. I thoroughly enjoyed reading this one. Definitely one of the best books this year.

3.5 ⭐️

Great Mystery!

Girls in Black Harbor are starting to go missing and being found dead. When Rowan and Axels daughter goes missing. They are caught between her being murdered or being the murderer.

This is was fun, fast paced Mystery novel that takes placed during the Halloween season. The murder acts are detailed and gruesome but bring so much to the storyline.

The plot was good. I wasn’t bored during most of it. There were some parts like I felt like dragged on.

What makes a great Mystery / Thriller is not being able to find out who the killer is until the end. This book did it perfectly. I was shocked to find out who the killer was and the motive behind the killings.

I also did not know this was a series and now I want to go back and read the first books in the series.

Throughout the setup, I wasn’t sure about this book but as it progresses it gripped my attention and didn’t let go. I was kept guessing the whole time, highly suspicious of each character, just as each character was convinced a different person was the killer. I thought that the author did a great job of writing an unsettling character, Libby, while also making her endeared to the reader. She put the perfect amount of interpersonal relationships in the book so that it was not all doom and gloom and revealed the killer at the exact right moment. While the concept isn’t fresh, I loved that I couldn’t predict the ending which is so prevalent in the genre. The only element that pulled me out of the story was the description of their city as this crime filled, drug riddled, rough and tough area but the story took place in a suburban neighborhood with a bougie private school that the parents let their kids walk through the woods to every day. It didn’t quite mesh with the description but I have not read the other Black Harbor novel from the author which may give more background context. Overall I enjoyed this read and would recommend it to any suspense readers or fans or lovers of Karin Slaughter/Tanya French vibes.

OH. MY. GOD!! I recently finished my ARC of When I’m Dead by Hannah Morrissey - my favorite author for the last couple of years. I started it when I went to bed one night and got about halfway through before Mr. Sandman knocked me out. I finished it the next morning and literally could not put my iPad down.

When I’m Dead totally blew me away!! Great plot, twisted characters, love that the setting is local even though it’s fictional, and I did not have this one figured out til Hannah revealed the killer!

The characters have so much depth. I loved Libby. She’s so relatable. Whether they will admit it or not, everyone was that awkward teen at some point. Rowan and Axel, busy parents trying to juggle demanding careers and family is something that is appropriate now more than ever. Nikolai Kole, a cop with a troubled past, determined to do the right thing. The various teachers and their quirks as well as the dynamics between Chloe, Sari and Libby…. So spot on. Teens these days have so many issues, magnified by the ever present cliques that seem to survive through the ages.

The book gripped me from the first page and did not disappoint. The different twists and turns as the case is unwrapped and the killer is revealed had me on the edge of my seat. I have followed Morrissey since her debut novel and love to see how she has grown as an author. Hello, Transcriber and The Widowmaker were excellent but each book is even better than the last. Highly recommended!

I loved this thriller! It was so good with lots of different twist and turns. I couldn't put it down at all!

Thank you to the publisher and netgalley for providing this arc in exchange for an honest review!

Rowan and Axels teenage daughter Chloe goes missing and her friend is murdered in this creepy Black Harbor town. Many twists and turns in this gothic like thriller.
Thanks NetGalley and St. Martins Press for this ARC that will be released October 31, 2023!

I didn’t realize this was third in a series when I requested it. I don’t think I’m missing anything by starting with this one. This was such a suspenseful thrill ride! The author’s descriptions of the gothic town was just superb. It was hard to put this book down and never ceased to grab my attention. I was on the edge of my seat the whole time and thought the writing was so creative and original.

This was a really interesting read; I've read a lot of mysteries/thrillers, but something about the writing style of this felt unique to me. It was written in third person, which is not always my favorite, but I appreciated the multiple POV's that we got. Definitely check triggers, as there is some pretty graphic violence directed at teenagers.

The whole book had a dark, melancholy feeling to it, so I had to be in the right mood to read this, but I enjoyed it. I would be interested in reading more from this author.

While this is the third book (I believe) in the Black Harbor series, I hadn't read the others. I'm going to be ordering the others now. I tend NOT to be a fan of series, because at times authors get lazy with the plots. In this case, Chloe goes missing, and as most parents do, they think they know her. It turns out that they really don't. Chloe's best friend goes missing, and Chloe, their own daughter goes missing shortly thereafter. They are in a race to find the girls, but also to make sure they're looking past the life they thought their daughter was living, and look at the truth. I enjoyed this book a great deal. Highly recommended.
Thank you to St. Martin's Press and NetGalley for an e-ARC in exchange for my honest review. All opinions are my own.

This is book two in the Black Harbor series. It was a great read. I was hoping that Chloe would be found and there would be a happy ending to this drama. I would recommend the read.

Medical Examiner Rowan Winthorp & her husband, Detective Axel Winthrop are called away from their daughter Chloe’s school play to investigate a murder. They recognize the victim as one of Chloe’s best friends. Who killed this teenage girl?

Chloe was supposed to get a ride home with a family friend but she’s nowhere to be found. Now the police are desperately searching for her and trying to find a killer. The clues they are finding lead the couple to wonder if they even know Chloe. Can they find her alive?

Thanks to the author, publisher and NetGalley for the advance copy in exchange for an honest review.