I have not read the first two books in this series. I don't think that mattered, though. We get a pretty good sense of who everyone is and what role they play in this community. I was hooked from the first page, but then I hit the 60-70% mark, and it felt like the story was dragging.

Rowan & Axel have busy lives in this crime filled town as a medical examiner and a detective, causing them to miss out on moments with their daughter, Chloe. Chloe has been distant and changed in recent weeks, saying she was "method acting" by getting into her character. The night Chloe disappears is the same night one of her best friends is murdered. It's a race against time to find Chloe, but as time goes on, rumors are come to light, and another best friend murdered everyone begins to question whether Chloe is the killer or will she be the next victim.

Thank you, Netgalley and Minotaur Books, for the e-ARC. I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Thank you to @netgalley & @macmillan.audio & @stmartinspress @minotaur_books for the ebook and audio arcs!

This was my first ever @hannahmorrisseywriter book and I was not disappointed! It is #3 in the Black Harbor universe, but can definitely be read as a stand alone.

I loved the dark vibes and it being set around Halloween! I started the physical of this, but ended on audio, which had a full cast. 🤌🤌 My favorite. And all narrators were excellent!

I will absolutely be going back and reading the previous two books!

Oh man, I needed a crime thriller to deliver and this delivered. A Halloween pub date is perfection for this one! There definitely are some unrealistic parts to this (high school taxidermy?) but I was so engrossed that it didn't matter. The killer wasn’t shocking but the elements surrounding them were so it was an enjoyable ending. Listed as a third, this isn’t a series. These books are in the same universe (re: town) but you don’t need to read any in order for it to make sense. I still haven’t read HELLO, TRANSCRIBER so that’s on my immediate TBR.

A wonderful thriller where you are guessing until the end. Missing high school girls and a police officer personally involved. Wonderfully plotted and the characters come to life off the page. A thrill of a read!

Goodness! This book needs to be read with the lights on and maybe someone in the room to keep you company as your read. The mystery of murdered girls and one who has disappeared is a deep and complex one, with lots of red herrings and false trails. Medical examiner Rowan Winthorp is beside herself when her daughter Chloe disappears and then two other girls are found murdered. Her husband Axel doesn’t help her fears when he expresses his opinion that Chloe could be responsible for the murders. Oh, my! The plot continues to thicken and become a maze of guesses about who could have killed the girls and if Chloe is dead or alive. The characterization is perfection, with an overworked detective (Axel), an overwrought mom and so many possible suspects that I had to keep reading to find out who, what and why. Although this is the third book in the Black Harbor series, it is the first one that I have read and I assure you that it can be enjoyed as a standalone (although now I want to go back and read the others). This is an atmospheric novel, creepy and eerie as well as dark and edgy. It is a compulsive and edgy page-turner that had me intrigued with the multiple layers to the story and the intense drama that continued to unfold. The story is terrifyingly brilliant and the characters are realistically flawed if not altogether likable since their personalities are as complicated as the plot. Well written and fascinating whodunit!
Disclaimer
Disclosure of Material Connection: I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher via Netgalley. I also purchased my own copy to add to my library. I was not required to write a positive review, and all opinions expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255, “Guidelines Concerning the Use of Testimonials and Endorsements in Advertising.”

There is nothing better than a good thriller. I am new to this series and to Hannah Morrissey so I was not sure what to expect. I was not disappointed. When I’m Dead is a thriller that kept me wanting to read and figure out who dun it. The clues piled on and I was led in so many different directions that I just kept guessing.

The characters were realistic, with the high school students being students, the teachers being teachers, and the parents being parents. I liked the fact that they interacted in ways that were true to who they were, making the story even more real. Chloe’s parents were both very involved in finding Chloe (it is their jobs) and I liked that they stayed within protocol for the most part but showed the stress of not knowing what was happening with their daughter.

I am excited to see what happens next in Black Harbor and would recommend this series.

Thank you Minotaur Books for a copy of the book via NetGalley in exchange for my honest review.

This had the potential to be really great, but it fell short in some ways. Too many red herrings can create a really convoluted plot that doesn’t feel very cohesive, and I feel like that’s the case here. I liked the alternating POVs and the ending. Overall an interesting thriller that had potential but fell short for me.

Thank you NetGalley and Minotaur the for eARC in exchange for an honest review.

All I want is for Hannah Morrissey to keep writing Black Harbor set books forever. The moody, dark atmosphere of the town and its reputation as a hub of crime means that it's rich with stories, and this tense, heartbreaking mystery showcases more of the dark sides of this community. You absolutely can read this as a standalone if you want to, but there are references to the previous books. I found that this balanced the tense search for a killer and a missing girl very well with creating vivid characters in Axel and Rowan, caught in the unfortunate connections between their work and their missing daughter. The last chapters of this story had me breathlessly reading.

Hannah Morrissey returns following The Widowmaker with the third in the Black Harbor series— WHEN I'M DEAD. A dark, gritty, atmospheric, and gripping domestic crime thriller around a family in crisis and gets darker from there.

The book opens with, "You'll love me more when I'm dead."

Rowan Winthrop is the town's medical examiner, and her husband, Axel, is a homicide detective.

Both, of course, have demanding jobs, and their teen daughter, Chloe, does not like it. She is resentful, moody, and dresses gothic to get into character.

The last straw was when her parents were called away during a performance at school. She was instructed to get a ride home with a neighbor, but she decided to walk home in the dark.

What she does not realize is that her parents are investigating the brutal murder of Madison, one of Chloe's friends.

Now Chloe is missing. The parents are distraught as the last words while crying when they leave, "You'll love me more when I'm dead."

Now, one girl is dead, and another is missing?

Madison Caldwell is dead, and Chloe Winthrop is missing. In a little neighborhood of 67 residents, it is unnerving. Also, there is something more complex and sinister at play.

Told from alternating POVs: Rowan, Axel, Libby (the next-door neighbor's socially awkward daughter), who is bullied at school, and a few with Eddie (teacher).

Rowan knows her livelihood resolves about the deaths of others. And in Black Harbor, it seems to be the only thing of which there is no shortage.

Atmospheric and haunting, it is approaching Halloween, which adds to the menace, eeriness, suspense, drama, and a town everyone wants to escape.

Does Rowan and Axel know their daughter? Is she a killer?

How many nights had they left her alone in the house so they could work a crime scene? For years, they've buried their heads in depthless piles of other people's problems, and they failed to notice the trouble that brewed at home.

Will Rowan and Axel be able to save their daughter before it is too late?

Heart-pounding, with a list of suspects, the author keeps you guessing until the explosive conclusion. Black Harbor is a claustrophobic, dying industrial town, and the author does a great job creating a creepy, bone-chilling atmosphere.

Ideal for those who enjoy dark crime suspense, cop procedurals, and haunting Halloween novels.

Thanks to Minotaur Books and NetGalley for a digital advanced reading copy.

Blog review posted @
JudithDCollins.com
@JudithDCollins | #JDCMustReadBooks
My Rating: 4 Stars
Pub Date: Oct 31, 2023
Oct 2023 Must Read Books

Dead teen found, another teen goes missing, and more murders happening in an on going murder and missing teen investigation. What’s the common denominator? The teens are all acquainted as friends, past friends, or frenemies. Is this a case of jealousy, bullying, and plain old mean girl mentality gone wrong? Or, does Rowan’s past have something to do with it? Axel and Rowan must find out especially since the missing teen is their daughter Chloe.

This is my first book by the author and I had fun with how she played out the murder mystery and suspense! ME/investigator Rowan and Investigator Axel have a personal motivation to find out what’s going on in Black Harbor. All while reading I kept in the back of my mind, “will they find Chloe” in time, before she’s murdered too? But, I did have several side questions like is Chloe the killer and in hiding because of being bullied? Is Libby the killer? There are several possible suspects to keep you guessing here and that I loved! I also love when authors don’t shy away from the gory descriptions of the scenes. It was helpful in this on to show the similarities of the murders. I now have to go back to her previous Black Harbor books because this one was good!

I found this to be a fast-paced crime fiction book. The story kicks in immediately. There were no shortage of possible suspects and paths to follow. I found the characters to be relatable. The setting also feels like a character in the story. It gives a very dark feeling to the whole story. There was the right amount of creepy without getting too intense. The book is part of a series, but I haven't read the others and had no problem reading this as a standalone. I am curious about a few of the other characters, so would be interested in reading some others in the series. I received an advance copy from NetGalley and am voluntarily leaving a review.

4.5 stars

I feel like Hannah Morrissey's Black Harbor series just keeps getting better and better!

I really enjoyed the storyline and mystery of this book. Instead of romantic relationships, this third book focuses more on family dynamics, which intrigued me from the very beginning. Rowan, the medical examiner has been a prominent character throughout the first two books so having her be front and center of this one made it so intriguing.

Her daughter is the main mystery and her disappearance, and the case surrounding it, was chilling. I did guess the culprit pretty quickly, but I loved how Hannah Morrissey twisted the story with her usual dark charm that had me not want to stop reading.

Even though Black Harbor is a horrible place, I hope she never stops writing about it! I was also such a fan of having characters from the first two books pop up in this one! (Fingers crossed for Ryan Hudson to make a cameo sometime in the future.)

Pub Date: 10/31

This eARC was provided by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for my honest review.

"When I'm Dead" is the 3rd book in the Black Harbor series but I haven't read the first two and I don't think it affected my ability to follow the plot or get a feel for the characters. I also had no problem getting right into the book, which starts off with Chloe Winthrop's parents, Rowan (the Black Harbor medical examiner) and Axel (a Black Harbor police detective), being called away from her leading role performance in the school musical to attend a murder scene, which turns out to be one of Chloe's classmates and best friends. Tired of her parents leaving her for these situations, Chloe tells her mother "You will love me more when I'm dead", and these are words that come back to haunt Rowan when she returns home to find Chloe missing. Has Chloe been taken? Did she run off because because her parents left her performance? Or did Chloe have something to do with her friend's murder? Can Rowan and Axel's relationship bear the stress of losing their daughter and disagreeing on whether she is alive and hiding, or dead like her friend? Told from multiple perspectives, this book is dark and moody. Some of the twists I anticipated, but others definitely caught me by surprise.

Rating ⭐️ ⭐️

I'm so torn with this book. I feel like I really struggled with some major plot decisions which quickly took me out of the story while at the same time was intrigued by the overall plot. I found it hard to buy into the fact that parents were allowed to investigate their daughter's missing person's case as well as the murders of her friends. I liked that their were different POVs but was getting frustrated by the continual dancing around any potential information. I really struggled with Libby's character and kept almost wanting to skip her chapters.

I really wanted to enjoy this book but just couldn't unfortunately.

Thank you to St Martin's Press, Minotaur and NetGalley for the ARC copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

One teenage girl is found murdered. Another teenage girl, the daughter of a police officer and a medical examiner, disappears. Is she kidnapped, dead, or the murderer of the first girl?

This is a dark book. The town, Black Harbor, is described as a place you’d never want to live in, almost a cesspool of violence and unhappiness. The characters are deeply troubled and struggling through their days.

The mystery is a twisty one, with a lot of surprises along the way, and an ending I definitely didn’t see coming. I don’t know if I would choose to revisit Black Harbor, but this was a good book.

What an enjoyable, fast paced read for me. This book is the third of the Black Harbor Mysteries set in Black Harbor, WI. October, the month of scary books and movies, this book is perfect for the season.

Chloe is getting ready to perform in her school play, Beetlejuice. Upset her parents yet again have to leave as ME Rowan and her husband, detective Axel, has a death case to get to, which ended up being Chloe's best friend.

Rowan was riddled with guilt leaving her daughters play and to be at a scene where her daughter's best friend was murdered, she felt the instinct to get home, only to find out her daughter is missing. Now Rowan and her husband are trying to not only locate a murdered but in fear that their child may be next. During the investigation Rowan finds out she didn't really know her daughter well.

I couldn't read this book fast enough; it is 3rd in a series but a standalone read.

If you like a good murder mystery thriller this is a book I recommend.

Thank you NetGalley for the advanced digital book in exchange for my honest review.

“When I’m Dead” is the third book in the loosely linked Black Harbor series by Hannah Morrissey. This one involves a couple of mysterious attacks on teen girls and the disappearance of another, all of whom seem to have been “frenemies” of a sort. Mean Girls vibe! What’s behind it all?

To make matters worse, the father of the missing girl is a detective with the Black Harbor Police and the mother is the city’s medical examiner, which adds a layer of tension and complexity to the investigation. Apparently the Black Harbor Police Department is so short-staffed that they actually allow the father to participate in the investigation! I was very surprised at that and I’m not sure how realistic that would be, but at least they tried to make sure that he always had another police office with him.

This would be a great seasonal read, as there is a lot of Halloween-related atmosphere.

FYI for those who worry about books in a series: this one is fully able to be read as a standalone. There’s not much that links the three books other than that they all take place in Black Harbor, Wisconsin.

I loved the previous book in the series, The Widowmaker, but for some reason, I just didn’t get into this one as much. Since I was sent a physical ARC, my husband also read it and he liked it more than I did, so maybe mine is a minority opinion.

Thank you to NetGalley and Minotaur Books for the opportunity to read an advance readers copy of this book. All opinions are my own.

Wowza, this has to be one of my favorite police procedural mystery’s ever! While I loved Hello, Transcriber, this one takes the whole cake! Morrissey has a way with words that they just make you want to read more. I loved this murder mystery with relationship drama!

While this is technically a part of a series, this can be read as a standalone, you just won’t connect some of the Easter eggs from the first 2 books.

You definitely need to add this to the TBR, because this one is amazing!

****Many thanks to Minotaur Books, Macmillan Audio, Hannah Morrissey, and NetGalley for my gifted copies in turn for an honest review.

This is my first read by Hannah Morrissey. When I requested this book, I did not realize it was part of a series, but I asked around and the general consensus was that the stories can be read as standalones.

The town of Black Harbor is a creepy setting, a town that has a high crime count. Rowan is the medical examiner and her husband Axel is a police investigator. They have worked together for many years, but this time their daughter's best friend is dead and their daughter is missing. The investigation reveals things about Chloe that he parents did not previously know. It

I really enjoyed this book. I liked the pace of the book, the setting, and the storyline. I do not think I missed out on anything by not reading the first 2 books in the series. I will say, I liked it enough that I bought the second book in the series - The Widowmaker, before I even finished this one.

I was absolutely hooked! The mystery is complex and full of intrigue and suspects. The multiple POV's draw you in. I really enjoyed Axel's chapters. I was invested in Rowen. There were plenty of twists to keep me guessing. I was surprised by the reveal. And I really liked the way it ended. A solid mystery read.