I always love my visits to Black Harbor! Hazel and Nik have some interesting chemistry, and it was great to seem them back at it again (even if it is complicated). I will continue to rave about this authors writing! Her writing is so immersive and I love how all the pieces come together in the end.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the invitation to read and review this book.

Other reviewers have offered synopses and details, and I will not repeat their efforts. One reviewer did strongly recommend reading the Black Harbor series in order, and I agree, having done it backwards. I just finished reading The Unlucky Ones (book 4) and have started Hello Transcriber (book 1). (Books 2 and 3 of the series feature the same setting but different characters than books 1 and 4.) Reading book 4 before book 1 constitutes a giant spoiler, so be aware of that as you decide which book to read first. .

This book was rather more gritty and gruesome than most of the mysteries and police procedurals that I read, and quite frankly I prefer a lot less grit and gruesomeness. Having said that, though, of course I know that police work can be very gritty and gruesome. I just don't want to see it. My biggest problem was not remembering from scene to scene exactly who some of the secondary characters were and how they fit into the plot. Perhaps I would have done better if I had read the earlier book before the later one. But that's entirely on me, and an author is not obliged to retell characters and plot points from the earlier book(s) in a series.

Overall, the book is well-written, if not entirely to my personal taste. I would not recommend this book to readers who are put off by violence and blood and detailed descriptions thereof. So I am giving the book 4 stars, for good writing and hoping that reading the earlier book will clear up some of the backstory details I couldn't keep track of in book 4; but not 5 stars for the sake of my own personal taste.

Hazel is back and Black Harbor has more secrets. Now that Hazel has given up her transcribing career to become a writer, one would think trouble would stay far away. Unfortunately, the murder of her ex-husband Tommy Greenlee has brought her back to solve the crime. Many thinks she may have done it, but Kole knows the truth and they will work together to find the real killer.

This was only a 3 for me. I had such high hopes for Hello Transcriber, and that also ended up being a solid 3 for me. It was too hyped. On this book, I absolutely love the cover. It’s a really neat lead into the book. I’m guessing maybe the reading style is just not for me, most likely will be the last I try.

𝗥𝗔𝗧𝗜𝗡𝗚: ★ ★ ★ ★ ★
𝗥𝗘𝗟𝗘𝗔𝗦𝗘 𝗗𝗔𝗧𝗘: March 25, 2025
𝗔𝗥𝗖 𝗥𝗘𝗩𝗜𝗘𝗪:

The way I got so excited when I saw book #4 in the Black Harbor Series…!!!! I love Hannah’s writing and I OBSESS over this series. Ate It UP! Here we go again…buckle up folks because we are back to solve a murder and one that hits a bit to close to home for Hazel…her ex husband she escaped years back and now she’s got to find out what happened before something happens to anybody else. This read was full of secrets, twists, turns, anxiety (haha) and Morrissey’s clever writing. I love Hazel & Kole were excited to have them back in this book. I recommend reading the first three books and then this one because why would you not want to immerse yourself in this series?!?! Absolutely recommend this to EVERYBODY.

Large thank you to our Author, NetGalley as well as St. Martin’s Press, Minotaur Books

After eight years, Hazel Greenlee is back in Black Harbor, but it's hardly a happy homecoming - her ex husband Tommy has been murdered.
There are secrets everywhere, and aside from the bad memories and ugly, gritty reality of Black Harbor, Hazel must face her former lover, detective Nikolai Kole.
On top of Tommy's murder, a new drug is infesting the streets, adding to the dangers.
I love police procedurals and was happy to see Hazel and Nikolai again. The writing is compelling and atmospheric and kept me turning page after page to see what would happen.

I recently finished The Unlucky Ones by Hannah Morrisey. I would definitely recommend this book. I thought it was great.

Hazel returns to Black Harbor to solve the murder of her ex-husband Tommy. Once there she is reunited with Kole and rekindles their relationship. This city is filled with drugs and crime and this is one gritty police procedural that makes you feel part of the action. I liked how it was dark story but the romance lightened it up some.

I thoroughly enjoyed Morrissey's first book Hello, Transcriber featuring Sergeant Nikolai Kole and was hoping she'd write another book to start a series...and voila...she did and it's better than the first one. Thank you for the advanced copy!

Thank you to the publisher for a free netgalley of this one.

Ok. I really liked When I am Dead , which is part of the Black Harbor series by this author. So when this one was on Bookstagram, I got excited and was just as excited to be granted a copy.

But I felt there was almost way too much going on here. Maybe it is because book 3 in the series was my initiation for lack of a better way to say it. I did not realize it was a series with overlapping characters. But again, I just felt meh about this one.

Kole and Hazel are in what I would call the Carrie/Mr. Big relationship. So many people are cheering for it, but man was it a toxic relationship. Their characters, in my opinion, had ZERO chemistry. None. Hazel, who has clearly been through enough, is not ready for a relationship in any way. SO the way her and Kole go back and forth through this book was actually annoying. I felt it slowed the plot down and brought nothing to the table.

With all of that being said, I love the setting and the core team of these books. The backdrop is well written, and I love the author's writing style. This plot line for this specific book just felt way to overloaded with the relationship of the two main characters.

Thank you for the ARC COPY. This was a great and quick fast paced mystery thriller! Black Harbor was an interesting place to visit and I really enjoyed reading about Hazel and Kole in this one. It was action packed and was hooked from page one. Trying to figure out who murdered Tommy ( her ex-husband) and it was interesting and to see who the killer was. Great police procedural story and very well written.
Thank you Hannah for another great story! Def be sure to pick this one up in March 2025!

Black Harbor is a dark place; crime ridden, derelict, drug filled. Hazel, a former police transcriber escaped the town and her abusive ex husband, Tommy, eight years ago and wrote a successful book based on Black Harbor. When that husband is killed, she returns there, but why? Is it just to find out what happened to Tommy or to re kindle something with her former lover, police sergeant Nikolai Kole? As Kole and Hazel investigate, the true underbelly of Black Harbor is exposed.

Morrissey paints a grittily atmospheric picture of Black Harbor, a town that most people long to leave. Well written and plotted, with strong character development, this was an engrossing read. There are rays of light in this dark tale.I did find Hannah’s motivations sometimes difficult to understand.

This is the fourth in the Black Harbor series. I read the third one that featured other characters, so this was my first introduction to Hazel and Kole who were protagonists in the first installment. This can be easily read as a standalone as the author recounts their history in the narrative.

Hazel Greenlee has returned to Black Harbor and as expected trouble soon follows. Her ex-husband is brutally murder while wearing his old wedding ring, was this due to Hazel or because of his usual exploits?

No one has changed and things are far worse tha n what they seem. Morrissey’s talents take center stage here: moody, razor-sharp prose; scrupulously plotted chain of escalating events, and dark and raw characters. Black Harbor is a cruel and miserable place, but I’ll follow Hannah Morrissey there anytime - book form of course.

I can't say that I was any more impressed with The Unlucky Ones than I was with the previous book in the Black Harbor series. Both books presumed a working knowledge of the characters and the community, and I thought I would at least have that going into this book. But it turns out that the protagonists of the previous story aren't more than occasionally mentioned secondary characters in this book, and someone who was a secondary character in that book becomes one of the protagonists in this one. Although the books aren't really explicit in nature they are very grim, taking place in a community full of corruption, murder, addiction and just about anything else you can think of. In this story, the woman Nikolai Kole had an affair with comes back to town when her ex-husband turns up murdered. His death turns out to be only one in a drug war that's quickly getting out of control and that seems to involve half the town. Plus there seems to be no good reason for Hazel to come back to town beyond the fact that she can't quit Kole. She doesn't even know why, and yet she finds plenty of time to do things that are stupid and put her in danger. I'm not sure if Morrissey is trying to pitch the idea that there are people in Black Harbor that are worth fighting for; even the good guys seem pretty morally dark gray. Other people might like these, but the Black Harbor books, after having read two and giving them a shot, just don't do a whole lot for me. A complimentary copy of this book was provided by the publisher. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Talk about unlucky?? This book begins with a woman on a bridge who remembers her abusive ex and is planning to jump. Then we move to The Mineshaft--a biker bar where one client is dead. Synthetic fentanyl, weapons, lottery tickets...what do they all have in common? This book is like a movie on cocaine! It's a race to the finish with the reader speeding through town knowing that nothing good awaits them at the end! My head was spinning a mile-a-minute and I couldn't get through this book fast enough!
Thanks to NetGalley for this ARC!

I would strongly suggest you read the first book in this series, Hello,Transcriber before you even read the description for The Unlucky Ones. The fourth book in the series focused on characters that were prominent in the first book.
Black Harbor is still a dark dark place……. That is, it. It is impossible for me to say more without leaking spoilers like blood from a gunshot wound. I will say that I loved this plot and was dying to see how this would end. If I had not read the second and third books, I might think the author was done with Black Harbor. Fingers crossed that she is not, but if that is her plan, it has been one amazing dark and disturbing ride.

I really go back and forth on this series. I really think the first one was by far the strongest. This one isn't bad but I have never been convinced this needed to be a series. This book comes back to a lot of what happened in the first book which I liked since I liked that book as much. But then that makes the other books feel like filler even more. How can so much happen in this town and why does anyone live there?

Thank you to Netgalley, Minotaur Books, but especially to Hannah Morissey for my advanced readers' copy. This is one of my most anticipated books of the year, but it is only publishing in March 2025.
This is the fourth Black Harbor installment, and I find the author gets better and better with each book. And, you can imagine my delight when I found out that Hazel, the police transcriber from the original book, made a comeback. When she heard her ex-husband Tommy was found dead, she came back to Black Harbor. She and Kole team up and try to solve his murder, but not after a few challenges.
If you're not familiar with the series, I urge you to pick it up! Hannah writes atmospheric, Midwest Noir thrillers that remind me of the Scandinavian narrating style I love. One of my favorite books of the month,which will most likely make my top ten books of the year list.

As someone who has been mildly obsessed with the Black Harbor series, I was thrilled to see the latest installment available on NetGalley. Having read the third book first (When I'm Dead), I was immediately drawn to Sergeant Nikolai Kole and his emotional ties to a mysterious woman whose presence haunted him, notably in the form of a friendship bracelet with her name hanging from his police vehicle's rearview mirror. My love for this dark, captivating world only grew with each book, and I couldn't wait to dive deeper into the mysteries of Black Harbor—and, of course, the complicated relationship between Nik and Hazel.

And let me tell you, this book did not disappoint. For a lover of slow-burn romance intertwined with gripping mystery and suspense, this book hit all the right notes. I got exactly what I was hoping for: a story that balanced thrilling crime-solving with those emotional moments I've come to crave.

There’s so much that happens in this book, and it’s difficult to talk about without giving away spoilers. However, what I can say is that Hannah Morrissey continues to build a world that feels like both a terrifying and oddly comforting place to return to. The atmosphere is gritty and dark, but there’s something about it—whether it’s the characters or the world they inhabit—that draws me back every time. Nik and his loyal team feel like old friends, and seeing familiar faces like Medical Examiner Rowan Winthorp made me feel like I was stepping back into the world I love.

One of the major highlights of the book is the return of Hazel, the woman who has held such a tight grip on Nik’s heart for years. Their reunion, though bittersweet, was everything I hoped it would be—despite the dangerous and complicated circumstances they find themselves in. Hazel’s reappearance isn’t just a plot device for a romantic reunion; it’s integral to the mystery at hand. Her quest to find out who killed her ex-husband, combined with Nik’s own doubts, adds layers of tension and emotional depth. The trauma Hazel endured as Tommy’s wife is skillfully explored by Morrissey, and even though some of Hazel’s decisions may frustrate you, you can’t help but understand the reasons behind them.

As expected from Morrissey, the twists in this book will leave you gasping, especially one particular revelation toward the end that had me exclaiming, "WTF?!" out loud. This author has a knack for keeping readers on their toes, effortlessly weaving suspense and mystery throughout the story. I never try to predict the outcome of a thriller—honestly, I leave that to the author—and Morrissey delivers brilliantly, taking readers on a wild ride through crime scenes, desperate situations, and moments of fleeting hope.

But beyond the mystery and romance, what really makes The Unlucky Ones stand out is the way Morrissey balances the darkness with moments of unexpected tenderness. The brotherly bond between Nik and his team is so well-developed, and even small touches—like Hudson giving Hazel material for a new book (hello, Widowmaker)—add layers of depth and emotion to the narrative. The strength of Riley as a character also shines through, as she continues to kick butt and defy anyone who tries to take advantage of her. And of course, I couldn’t forget the bit of closure for Axel, especially regarding the "bunnies" situation. These small but significant moments of character growth and closure were the icing on the cake.

Ultimately, this book gave me everything I wanted: mystery, romance, complex characters, and a world I never want to leave. If you’re a fan of the Black Harbor series or you love a good thriller with emotional stakes, you’ll be just as hooked as I was. I’m already eagerly awaiting what comes next.

So well written! The city of Black Harbor and the Forge River bridge are as much characters in this series as Hazel, Nik and his police associates are. They are complicated characters figuring out their relationships to each other and to the city.

The mystery in this series served well to further the relationship between hazel and nic as well as to give solid standings for continuing plots to be set in Black Harbor. I look forward to reading further entries in this darkly
Atmospheric series.

Thank you to Net Galley for the opportunity to read this preview of the next entry in the Black Harbor series.

Many thanks to Netgalley and Minotaur Books for this arc. I received this book in exchange for my honest review. My thoughts are entirely my own.

This book takes place in the span of five days when Hazel comes back to Black Harbor to find out who killed her ex husband Tommy and why. Hazel is now an author who wrote a book about the candy man and comes back to Black Harbor in order to find some new material to write about. Nik, her lover, finds out that’s she is back in town and finds her in her old home with a gun she had hidden that Tommy bought her since Tommy was shot to death but she didn’t kill him. Hazel helps Nik find out what happened and solve Tommy’s death and help get Xombie of the street and kill Buddha who took over from Hades after he was arrested. Nik finally learns the truth about his brother Evan’s death and that he was murdered in order to keep the mafia happy. Hazel decides to stay in Black Harbor for a while after Buddha is killled and to work on her new book. This book was so good but I had to take small breaks throughout to read it in chunks because of everything going on. I didn’t want the book to end. This is my second book of the series that I’ve read and cannot wait for book 5. Keep these books coming