Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for an ARC of this book in exchange for my honest feedback. Coming soon: December 6, 2022 - The Widowmaker by Hannah Morrissey!

This book has such a dark and spooky vibe that is perfect for release this winter. Even though I read it in the middle of an Alabama summer, I still felt like I was a part of this freezing Connecticut town watching the story play out firsthand.

The Widowmaker tells the story of Morgan Mori, a struggling photographer that has just moved back home after her business venture quite literally went up in flames. While battling her own personal demons and resurfaced trauma from her childhood, she ends up getting involved with the Reynolds family, who has been in the local news for decades after the family patriarch went missing without a trace.

On the other side of town, we have Investigator Ryan Hudson, who has been assigned to look into the cold case from 20 years ago and see if he can finally get some answers for the Reynolds family. Before he can start investigating, his best friend and partner gets shot and killed at a local gas station and the only witness at the scene is none other than Morgan Mori.

As Hudson begins his hunt for the person that killed his friend, he keeps crossing paths with Morgan, and he realizes that she just might be the missing puzzle piece to solving both of these crimes.

This one was going to be a 4-star for me, but I ended up guessing the plot twists, which made it a predictable read. Also, I was NOT crazy about the wildly inappropriate sexual relationship between the Investigator and the star witness of his case. I feel like cops already have a bad rap these days and I don't think that the hero should have slept with a woman who is scared, vulnerable, and recently traumatized after witnessing a murder. ICK to the extreme!

All in all, this book was well-written and well-paced and I was very excited to get to the end to see how Hannah Morrissey would wrap it all up. While the content is very heavy in nature, (trigger warnings: child trafficking / abuse / neglect, sexual assault, gun violence) I would recommend this to a friend.

Thank you again to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press!

A dark, disturbing, intricately-woven tale of two crimes - the 20 year-old disappearance of mogul Clive Reynolds and the present-day murder of a former police officer-turned private investigator. The story is told from the points of view of Morgan, a photographer who was at the Reynolds home documenting their holiday get-together and then witnesses the cop murder, and Ryan Hudson, a police officer who has been investigating the cold case and was the former partner of the murdered cop. Shocking reveals and twists in this tale had me on the edge of my seat. Very well-written and great character development.

Wow!! I don’t have much to say except I LOVED this book. I found it hard to put down. It was enjoyable on every level. The writing was superb, as was the plot and the characters. This book was extremely well written. It was dark, mysterious, and kept me guessing right til the end. The twists and turns had me on the edge of my seat.

I haven’t read anything by this author before, but I will definitely look for more of her work. This is a good I would highly recommend to other readers.

Many thanks to NetGalley and to the publisher for the ARC.

Hannah is quickly becoming one of my favorite authors!! She writes some pretty dark and twisted stories and I honestly love it ! The character development is amazing and though the stories are at times gruesome they are also sadly something that could really happen and she is really just playing in the ugly reality of human potential!
If you like psychological thrillers, mystery’s, murder , true crime or anything in that realm you def should give her books a try!
Trigger warning - pedophila / sexual assault / torture

Never have I ever read a book by this author. This book kept my interest from start to finish. If your looking for dark and disturbing, look no further! Things you couldn't even imagine happen. I was left guessing throughout the whole book the characters of this book have all personality types from dark and mysterious to shy and introverted. Very well thought out and written. Thank you to the author for the ARC to this book.

The synopsis sounded amazing for this book and boy it did not disappoint. This story is something unexpected. I dove in thinking one thing and what I got was something so much better. It is dark and full of suspense. You may think one thing but then comes a twist that has you turning the page wanting more. You should click this book if you are looking for something exciting and unexpected.

Thank you to St. Martin's Press, Minotaur Books & NetGalley for allowing me to read and review this digital arc

A damaged protagonist discovers the secrets in her past by outwitting a brilliant psychopath who has built an elaborate scheme—waiting decades to exact revenge. The Widowmaker uses the predictable tropes of the genre, but to good effect. There are enough moving parts and clever plot twits to keep you turning the pages.


Thank you St Martin’s Press and NetGalley for an ARC copy of this book.

The writing is enchanting. So descriptive and intricately done, I could feel myself there.
Ending chapters with bombs dropped and making me turn the pages! Just one more chapter, was a lie I would often tell myself!

So happy to be back in Black Harbor! Same setting as debut novel, Hello, Transcriber, but different storyline and characters. So while this is a standalone, I would still suggest reading Hello, Transcriber while you wait for The Widowmaker’s release. Not to better help you understand this book, but because I think it’s one not to be missed!
The Widowmaker has all the things I love in a thriller: intriguing cold case, creepy setting, complex family drama, twisty plot, police procedural, protagonist with a horrific past.. it is dark and disturbing and so well done! I loved the alternating POV from Morgan and Hudson, adding so much depth!

The Widowmaker is a dark, twisty, psychological thriller that was enjoyable from start to finish. Characters Morgan; a photographer with a traumatic and disturbing past and Hunter, a police detective investigate a cold case involving the very wealthy Reynolds family. Deadly family secrets, the murder of a police officer and a host of possible suspects make this a very compelling read. Characters are authentic and relatable. One of the better suspense reads this year. Thank you Netgalley for the ARC copy of this book.

This was such a dark, mysterious, and thrilling read! This being my first by the author, I was impressed with the story and plot she laid out and the subtle twists and reveals she used to connect the two stories together.

There was some really dark and disturbing topics brought up in this story and I’m impressed Morgan was not twisted enough. For someone who experienced so much trauma in her life, I was expecting someone to be more disturbed and still struggling but she had her life more together than one usually would.

Houston was an interesting character and I enjoyed reading how he worked to solve his case but also help Morgan as well. I wish we got more details about Nan because that seemed just tossed in with very little explanation/hint at who she really was.

I think if this was currently out, I’d mark it as one of the best thrillers I’ve read this year so far. It’s a shame this doesn’t publish until December because I’d be buying this for people right now.

Thank you to NetGalley and publisher for an ARC in exchange for my review!

(I will be posting my review closer to publication on my Instagram)

Special thanks to St. Martin's Press and Netgalley for the ARC of this book in exchange for my own opinion.

I put in for this book just bythe cover and then it saw the author was from "Hello Transcriber" which ireally liked and she does not disappoint on this story either.

Family drama, a good police detective, a cold case. It was just a great thriller. I highly recommend. Definitely 4 stars!

Loved this book from start to finish. It has characters that you can like and some that you won't, twists that keep you turning the pages to see where they take you and a good ending. Thank you Netgalley and the publisher for this ARC and letting me leave my opinion.

Review of Uncorrected Digital Galley

The disappearance of Clive Reynolds some twenty years ago remains a cold case in Wisconsin’s Black Harbor Police Department files. Despite the court of public opinion that says Eleanor Reynolds killed her husband, the department has no proof of this and resurrects the case from time to time and investigates it again.

Morgan Mori, hired to photograph the Reynolds family’s Christmas get-together, spends an evening with the family. But when she stops for gas, she witnesses the murder of Brix Garrison, an event that triggers the unearthing of a long-forgotten clue.

As the investigation into Garrison’s murder unfolds, Morgan struggles to keep the secrets of her past buried. But the present investigation may be tied to the horrors that Morgan once endured.

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Dark and mysterious, this compelling mystery offers readers an intriguing cold case, a horrific homicide, complex family drama, horrific trauma, and much more, all woven together in a can’t-put-it-down narrative. Interesting characters, a twisty plot, and a plethora of secrets keep readers guessing as the telling of the tale weaves past and present together with a few unforeseen twists.

Told alternately from both Morgan’s and Hudson’s points of view, the narrative slowly reveals its secrets while keeping readers guessing. But the ending may leave some readers wishing for more.

Highly recommended.

I received a free copy of this eBook from St. Martin’s Press and NetGalley
#TheWidowmaker #NetGalley

This story is something unexpected. I dove in thinking one thing and what I got was something so much better. It is dark and full of suspense. You may think one thing but then comes a twist that has you turning the page wanting more. You should click this book if you are looking for something exciting and unexpected.

This book was good, but just could not catch my attention enough to really pull me in. It was very typical of a thriller and I felt the characters were just not charming enough to make me like them. I did enjoy the way the author wrote however and would be interested in reading a different piece of work.

I want to than Net galley for providing me this book. I do this up front because I always seem to forget to do so.
The Windowmaker in its present form (will explain later) will drive the reader to exhaustion. An intense, riveting mystery that will overwhelm the emotions of its readers that when I finally finished the book I was drained, but exhilarated.
The characters were deep, complex, and so true to life. Cori Morgan always seemed to be standing in front of me as I had read her sections. I saw her there with her with her studded lips, imagined dark black hair plotting her return to a family that denied her. The multiple abuses she suffered strains one’s imagination but leave no doubt they could happen. Investigator Hudson, despite the imperfect human being he was, was smarter than all realized.
Not wanting to spoil the book you will have to read it to figure out its title
Finally, I could only rate the book four stars but hope when it is ready for publication it will be the five stars it deserves. The dialogue must be made clearer allowing one to know who is talking. Many times, I felt it was very hard to follow what was exactly being said and happening. But I will admit I am so glad I read this book.

In "The Widowmaker," Hannah Morrissey takes us back to Black Harbor, Wisconsin. This is a standalone story from her debut "Hello, Transcriber" — you don't need to have read one to appreciate the other, though I recommend them both.

This turned out to be the multilayered crime novel I didn't even know I needed. Here's the official synopsis from the publisher:

“Ever since business mogul Clive Reynolds disappeared twenty years ago, the name "Reynolds" has become synonymous with "murder" and "mystery." And now, lured by a cryptic note, down-on-her-luck photographer Morgan Mori returns home to Black Harbor and into the web of their family secrets and double lives. The same night she photographs the Reynolds holiday get-together, Morgan becomes witness to a homicide of a cop that triggers the discovery of a long-buried clue. ⁣
⁣
“This could finally be the thing to crack open the chilling cold case, and Investigator Ryan Hudson has a chance to prove himself as lead detective. If only he could stop letting his need to solve his partner's recent murder distract him. But as Morgan exposes her own dark demons, could her sordid history be the key to unlocking more than one mystery?”

This one has it ALL, and it’s all so perfectly tied together. Family drama. A cold case. A creative with a traumatic past. A good-guy detective. The right amount of police procedures. Cop homicide. The hot detective from “Hello, Transcriber.” The gritty reality of a small American town in economic decline. I’m obsessed with how all of the storylines came together and recommend preordering!

Wow what a ride! Great thriller! The main character was written very well. I really enjoyed this book.

3.5 stars rounded up.
In the author's notes she states that the first iteration of this book received feedback from the publisher that it was "too dark and too weird". Don't worry, fans of dark and weird, because it still is.
However, possibly in the reworking of the novel, it may have become a bit scattered. There are a lot of suspicious characters who could be guilty to keep the reader guessing. Morgan had a key role, but her connection to the others was not revealed until ~50% through the book. This was a little too long for me. I understand building suspense and making the reader want to keep turning pages, but this took long enough to be frustrating. It felt disconnected from the rest of the story.
The author successfully created a dark, gloomy, creepy atmosphere. The crimes are perverse and scary; all of which seems absolutely intentional. The ending was somewhat unsatisfying. Not sure what happened to Morgan. Maybe that is left somewhat to the reader's imagination.
Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for an ARC of this novel in exchange for an unbiased review.

This book had me completely hooked with every twist and turn. It also had one of the most satisfying endings that I've read in a while- chef's kiss!h Thank you Netgalley & the publisher for the arc, in exchange for an honest review.