When I'm Dead by Hannah Morrissey is a great read. Overall it was 4.5 stars. I liked seeing the characters grow and overcome a tragedy.

Rowan is the towns medical examiner and her husband Axel are called to the scene of a murder of a teenage girl in the middle of her daughter, Chloe's headlining performance in her school play. Later that night Chloe does not make it home. Rowen and Axel do all they can to find their daughter while also coming to terms with their own demons and short comings.

Thank you NetGalley for my copy of the book. All opinions are my own. #HannahMorrissey #WhenImDead #NetGalley #StMartinsPress

When I’m Dead is the third book in the Black Harbor series and can be read as a standalone. This was my first book by Hannah Morrissey and it’s made me want to go back and read this series from the beginning. This story is gritty and raw as it follows parents of a missing teen who happens to be a police detective and medical examiner and are investigating the murder of their daughter’s friend.

Rowen and Axel are called out of their daughter’s play to investigate the death of a young girl they are in for a shock when they realize who the victim is. When they return home to check on their daughter, they discover that she is missing and the more they uncover the more they start to realize they might not know their daughter as well as they thought or her friends. This story is fast paced and alternates between three different POVs- Rowen, Axel and Libby their neighbor’s teenager daughter.

In my opinion I think Axel’s POV was the most impactful for the story and from the first appearance of the killer it was pretty obvious to me but it didn’t deter me from the story because I wanted to see how the rest of the investigation unraveled.

Thank you publishers and netgalley for this eARC in exchange for my honest feedback.

This plot and everything going on was ridiculously unrealistic. This is just something that would never happen in real life... the lady doing the autopsy on her daughter's bestfriend and the husband being an investigator. Just too far fetched for me

Having enjoyed the first two books in author Hannah Morrissey’s Black Harbor series, I was eager to read her latest offering. When I’m Dead by Hannah Morrissey is a suspenseful read with plenty of surprises to keep you engaged. Though the ending wasn’t completely unpredictable after a point, there is a lot to like about how the plot is structured. I will admit to having not enjoyed this installment as much as the previous books. With both Rowan and Axel involved in the investigation, the professional/procedural aspect takes precedence over their personal lives, which makes it difficult to connect with them as individuals whose daughter is missing. I also felt that Rowan’s guilt over an incident from her past was an unnecessary plot point, though it does add to the drama. The atmospheric vibe felt a tad forced ( set close to Halloween to emphasize the eerie vibe, unlike her other novels where the crime-infested town and its darkness was better woven into the plot) in this story and I’m not a fan of the “mean girls” trope which took up way too much space in the narrative and did detract from my overall reading experience. However, there is no doubt that Morrissey knows how to craft a dark, twisty, suspenseful thriller and I look forward to reading more from her in the future.

Thank you to NetGalley and Minotaur Books for my gifted advance reader copy.

Hannah Morrissey’s latest installment of her Black Harbor series focuses on husband and wife detective and medical examiner, Axel and Rowan. They’re forced to leave their daughter’s high school play when one of her close friends is found murdered on a walking path in town. As if this isn’t alarming enough, when they return home, they find that their daughter Chloe has disappeared.

Unfortunately, this one wasn’t for me. I read Morrissey’s HELLO TRANSCRIBER last year and liked it slightly more than this latest installment. Firstly, I wasn’t a huge fan of Morrissey’s descriptions. It was tiring to read about the fall foliage (the word ‘scarlet’ is used about twenty times too many), and I know she is trying to convey that Black Harbor is a dangerous, bleak place to live, but her attempts to do so merely make the town seem like a cartoonish Gotham City instead of the moody atmosphere I think she was striving for.

Without giving anything away, I found myself frustrated at the actions of several of the MCs. They just didn’t make much sense from a human standpoint or from an investigative one.

I’m giving this one two stars because I was curious as to how it ended, but it hobbled along for far too many pages to the point that I’d lost most of my interest by the time the ending came.

Gah this was a creepy read! But absolutely loved the writing and the storyline. I loved the drama and characters that were involved in this storyline. Great writing by Hannah Morrissey.

Welcome back to the atmospheric city of Black Harbor where crime is the number 1 business.
This was the perfect thriller just in time for Halloween. It starts a couple of weeks before Halloween and ends on Halloween day.
This book was full of spooky settings from a gully under a stone bridge, to a haunted house and the abandoned tannery building. The murder mystery was wild! I think I pretty much questioned every character in the story at some point. I was on the edge of my seat at the end to see where things would go!

This is the 3rd book in the Black Harbor series but they all can be read as stand alone books.

This was my favorite Black Harbor book so far. Loved it! 🖤

I gave this book 4 stars! I have never read books by this author but it makes me want to read more books in the Black Harbor series.

I am so glad I discovered this author and this series. These stories are the perfect amount of creepy for me. While I guessed a small bit of the plot, I truly could never have gotten to how creepy this one really ended up being. I am a huge fan of this author and her Black Harbor series and I cannot wait for the next crime to be solved here!

Thank you for the opportunity to read and review this book. This review can be found on my instagram @manymerrybooks

This is such a good mystery. Lots of twists. One girl is dead and another disappears.
Thanks to Minotaur Books and NetGalley for the ARC.

Hannah Morrissey has quickly and easily become one of my favorite authors. I absolutely LOVED Hello, Transcriber and The Widowmaker so I had very high hopes and expectations for When I'm Dead. And it did NOT disappoint!

We're back in Black Harbor, the fictional town that joins all 3 of Hannah's novels, and I think When I'm Dead may be the darkest installment yet. I like my thrillers dark, twisty, atmospheric, and character driven and When I'm Dead ticked ALL of those boxes. It's creepy and weird and grim and I mean all of those things as tremendous compliments!

If you're in the mood for a chilly thriller (set around Halloween - bonus!), When I'm Dead is definitely the one!

Many thanks to my friends at @minotaur and @macmillan.audio for the #gifted copies of this book.

Dark. Intense. Fast paced.

“You’ll love me more when I’m dead.”

As Rowan arrives on the scene of a new murder investigation, she’s haunted by the last words her daughter said. Rowan and her detective husband, Tom, often struggle to balance family life with the demands of career. When Chloe goes missing, everything, even the job, turns personal.

Not for the faint of heart, this is a disturbing narrative focused on the brutal murders of teenage girls. Set during Halloween, the plot is fittingly dark and gruesome.

The standout element in this book (and the series as a whole) is the rendering of the town itself. A crime ridden, dying place everyone longs to escape, yet within the read, it’s a living component that haunts every part of the plot.

With the storyline revolving around a family—daughter missing, mom and dad working a connected investigation— it’s a tangled web of duty and devotion. The personal connections upped the stakes and amplified the anxiety-ridden search. While this did require some suspension of belief, the emotional complexity heightened the intensity, making it a worthwhile tradeoff.

I read this one around Halloween, and it set the perfect tone. I’m already looking forward to my next trip to Black Harbor.

🎧 Narrated by a full cast, the audiobook was hard to put down. It created a distinction between characters and oozed with suspense and emotion. XE Sands’ performances consistently deliver. Yet within this cast, her sections were imbalanced, both faster and quieter. This was a small frustration, but it interfered with overall continuity.

I have been provided with a review copy of When I'm Dead from NetGalley for an impartial review. This book was just so easy to get lost in. I completely got lost in the story and I just loved getting to see these new characters come together. I just absolutely love this story and I just didn’t want to put it down. I can’t wait to see what’s next from this author.

I enjoy Hannah Morrissey's writing very much. Her writing is clean and easy to consume. Her characters have personality and are very easy to connect with. I enjoy this series and the setting and the characters. Its hard to give too much of a review on book 3 of the series but without spoiling anything, I'd say that Hannah has created a great dark work in which these characters reside that shows you the gritty side of life. They are real people in real situations and you do not have to suspend disbelief to enjoy the story.

This was my first novel by Hannah Morrisey and overall I really enjoyed it! This book kept me guessing the whole time! I will definitely want to read the other books in this series.

Of course I didn’t notice this was a book in a series before getting it. A girl’s parents both work at solving crimes/in the morgue so she feels like she would get more attention if she was dead. Kinda annoying at times but enjoyed the twists and the story moved along.
Thank you Netgalley for a copy in exchange for an honest review.

This was book 3 in the Black Harbor series, but having not read any of the others, I felt like the story held up well as a standalone. Two dead teens, a mean girl clique, rumors galore, suspense, and intrigue, this kept my attention throughout. Loved the tie-in with Beetlejuice, as it’s such a classic movie! Thanks so much to Hannah Morrissey, the publisher, and NetGalley for the opportunity to review this e-arc!

Thank you to St Martins Press and NetGalley for an electronic version of this book.

Rowan and Axel are no strangers to crime, as a medical examiner and detective they’re seen their fare share. But when their daughter goes missing the same night as one of her classmates is brutally murdered, their ability to solve a crime could mean the difference between finding their daughter dead or alive.

I thought Morrissey’s writing was solid enough and would read another by her, but there was a lot I struggled with in this book. Axel and Rowan seemingly go about their lives while their daughter is missing, continuing on with carving pumpkins and going to ju jitsu. The people of the town let their teenagers go to an haunted house despite a murderer on the loose. Some of these plot points were really hard for me to understand. But those who could see past these things and appreciate a dark, atmospheric crime novel may enjoy this one more.

I overall thought this book had a great concept. However, I couldn’t get into it. I had trouble focusing on the story line and it didn’t really hook me in. I do believe that others may think differently about this book it just wasn’t my interest after reading a few chapters.

Intoxicating, gritty and elegant, this haunting murder mystery had me gripped from the start and featured everything I love in a thriller: gothic vibes, teenage angst, twists galore, and the agony and emotion of a compelling mother-daughter relationship.

The story starts with a bang with one teenage girl murdered. Then Rowan Winthrope, the town’s medical examiner, and her husband, Axel, a homicide detective, realize their daughter Chloe is missing. And is a prime suspect in the girl’s murder.

Wildly original, this dark and twisted tale is not to be missed.