The Unlucky Ones is a dark, gritty murder mystery set in the underbelly of a city that reeks of drugs and rot. But within the pages, a romance tries to bloom between two past lovers. Morrissey teases us with a bit of lightness to offset the ugly. 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. 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 not read all three previous books and I was still able to enjoy this.

“The Unlucky Ones” by Hannah Morrissey takes another deep dive into the brutal and haunting atmosphere of Black Harbour. Sergeant Nikolai Kole and Hazel are once again at the center of another chilling and disturbing crime scene that might tear them apart for good if they manage to survive the carnage left in its wake.

Black Harbour is worse than it’s ever been before. Crime rates are increasing and trying to reign in some semblance of control over the situation seems impossible. To add to the mayhem, a body’s been found at the back of a clubhouse. And it just had to be Tommy Greenlee, Hazel’s ex-husband. Whoever killed him left what appears to be a calling card.

Hazel, upon hearing about her ex-husband, returns to Black Harbour for the first time after eight years. Despite her history with her ex, she’s determined to find out who may have killed him and why. This means run-ins with Kole despite their rocky relationship. But when threats ensue and it becomes clear this murder is more than it looks like, they may only have each other to rely on if they want to catch Tommy’s killer.

What a fantastic return! The atmosphere of Black Harbour is much like the first: dark, dreary, haunting, and full of violence and crime. Not the kind of place anyone with a shred of sanity would want to live. Yet, something is compelling about the darkness hidden in Black Harbour, which makes it the perfect place for a murder mystery. It’s impossible to trust any of the characters because they all have something to gain or lose, so they’re all hiding something. And the setting makes murder so much more complicated because it’s impossible to know if the death is connected to something larger than a hate-fuelled killing.

Morrissey is skilled at making the reader feel like they’re onto something and then turning everything on its head, taking the reader completely off guard. Those are the best kinds of murder mysteries! Being unable to predict the ending and always having to question everything creates disorientation. There is no certainty to be found in anything. This makes the story easy to read and the pages fly by in the eagerness to discover answers.

Kole and Hazel have great chemistry, even when fighting. Having them work together (and against each other) adds to the enjoyment of reading such a dark and violent story. Both characters continue to develop and grow throughout the story, which is brilliant to see as they both have a lot to face and own up to. A lot of what felt unresolved in "Hello, Transcriber" felt like it came together in this story. The only thing that took me out of the story was Hazel’s naivety and her lack of trust with Kole. Having lived in Black Harbour, I felt she should’ve been wearier in trusting people and revealing information than she was. It felt like most of that was aimed at Kole, even though the things she accused him of doing felt contrary to Kole’s personality and morals. At points, it grated on my nerves, but at the same time, I could see where she was coming from. Still, it took away some of my enjoyment from the book.

“The Unlucky Ones” by Hannah Morrissey is an incredible return to Black Harbour and the main characters. Those who loved “Hello, Transcriber” will fall in love with this one, too. And any reader who loves a good crime will find this the perfect read to snuggle under the blankets with! The expected publication date is March 25th, 2025. Be sure to be on the lookout!

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press (Minotaur Books) for providing me with an e-arc of this novel and giving me the opportunity to share my honest opinion in this review.

This is a dark and twisted read. Hazel is lured back to town.it has an explosive scene towards the end of the book. I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced free copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own. I received a copy from the publisher through NetGalley.

I devoured this book in a matter of days! It really pulls you in from the first chapter and it’s easy to dive right back into the lives of those in Black Harbor. I had an inkling of the outcome, but I did not have everything right! That’s for sure!! The way the author, Hannah Morrissey weaves everything together is truly interesting. I enjoyed my time in this book and I would definitely go back to Black Harbor if given the chance! Please check your trigger warnings — I did personally have to slide by a couple animal related situations for myself!

Thank you to St. Martin’s Press, Macmillan Audio, Netgalley, and the author for the complimentary copy of THE UNLUCKY ONES by Hannah Morrissey.

THE UNLUCKY ONES is the fourth book in the author’s Black Harbor series. This series follows Hazel, a transcriber in Black Harbor, though she has moved away and become an author before the start of this book. Detective Cole, who once was romantically involved with Hazel, has discovered the body of Hazel’s ex-husband.

The fact that the dead man wasn’t quite an ex when Hazel and Cole were involved muddies the water a bit, as does Hazel’s return to town at this moment in time. With the drug trade in Black Harbor still on the rise with new dangerous products in the mix, there are many questions that need answers.

I have really enjoyed the previous Black Harbor books, HELLO, TRANSCRIBER, THE WIDOWMAKER, and WHEN I’M DEAD, so I was looking forward to being back in Black Harbor for the latest installment. The series is very atmospheric with a very bleak backdrop in this town that has so much drug abuse and crime that it keeps our main characters very busy. Even as the dead body they’ve found is central to the story, there are a lot of other moving parts.

This book deals with some heavy topics including suicide, drug abuse, violence, and spousal abuse. I think it handled these topics well, but do take care going in. I think this worked well at developing the characters, dealing with the aftermath of the previous books, and fleshing out the relationships between characters.

I do think this book would work well as a standalone if you aren’t caught up on the rest of the series. The author does a good job of catching you up on the important points. That said, it will give some spoilers for the mysteries in the previous books.

I really wanted to like this book. I was hoping that I would be able to get into it despite not having read the other books in the series. I liked the main characters and I enjoyed the setting. I found the story uninteresting so I couldn't get into it. It was well written.

irst and foremost, a large thank you to NetGalley, Hannah Morrissey, St. Martin’s Press, and Minotaur Books for providing me with a copy of this publication, which allows me to provide you with an unbiased review.

After discovering the Black Harbor series a few years ago, I cannot get enough of it. Quaint, yet mysterious, those who live and work here see other things lurking in the shadows. After the body of Tommy Greenlee is discovered, old faces return to make themselves known, while the crime has no solid leads. Working angles as best he can, Nikolai Kole must find a killer before everything implodes and goes up in smoke. It's sure to be a tough job, but someone has to keep things seeming bucolic to outsiders. Hannah Morrissey does well to slice another portion of Black Harbor up and present it to the curious reader.

Black Harbor was once a lovely place to live, but all that has changed. Violent crimes and racial clashes have left the community struggling to know itself, with a drug business that has turned things upside down. Police Sergeant Nikolai Kole makes his way to a crime scene and discovers it is anything but a straightforward murder. The victim has been killed and the body is put in a position to ensure it disintegrates swiftly.
The body is that of Tommy Greenlee, which adds new concerns for Sergeant Kole. This is the ex-husband of Kole’s former love interest, Hazel. The body had also been shot and evidence points to Hazel potentially having been involved. Sergeant Kole knows there is more than enough reason for Hazel to have wanted her ex dead, but could she have gone this far?

After a long hiatus, Hazel is back in Black Harbor. The memories are anything but pleasant. Still, Hazel wants to know what happened to Tommy. The interactions with Sergeant Kole are inevitable, but the love affair has long gone cold and there is little chance they can warm it up after so long and a great deal of history. A dead body and a history that does not provide Hazel an alibi, Sergeant Kole will have to work quickly to make sense of it all and the evidence that is before him. Hannah Morrissey delivers another strong book in the series with this piece!

A story of this nature requires patience and determination to write, as the pieces must slide in together perfectly. There's something to be said of the abilities Hannah Morrissey offers to her reading base, while crafting a well-paced narrative. The story flows with ease and keeps the reader enthralled from the outset, with multiple mysteries that keeps Black Harbor all the more intriguing. I could not get enough of the quick writing and swift chapters that meld into one another as things progress with ease from start to finish. Characters emerge to offer their own perspectives, as some take the helm of narrative various parts of the book. This leaves the reader to sense things in a number of ways and keeps the story from getting too predictable. This is also found in the numerous plot twists that Morrissey provides the curious reader, taking things up a notch or two. The reader can bask in the nuances and there is much to discover. I cannot wait to see if there is more to come and how Morrissey presents it. 

Kudos, Madam Morrissey, for a great addition to a series that has never let me down.

Please note that this ARC was provided by the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

Weirdly enough, I’ve read books 2 and 3 in this series, but not the first one. I’ve always thought that I need to go back and read the first one. As I read through this one, I had the same thought again! I like Hazel a lot, even though she’s clearly struggling with some mental stuff about Black Harbor (and who could blame her). I enjoy the dynamics between her and Nik a lot, and I’m glad that they seemed to find their way back to each other.

That said, what I didn’t like about the book was ALLLLLLL the moving pieces. In a town full of drug dealers and users, keeping the who’s who straight was pretty confusing.

3.5 stars rounded up.

Admittedly, this was my first jump into the Black Harbor series and I found that Hannah Morrissey has a way of thoroughly describing the setting in a way that had me unsettled and at the edge of my seat. Hazel, a former police transcriber and now a novelist is thrust into solving the mystery of her ex-husband’s murder along with her former lover Kole. Understandably, tensions are high and it is only after the two agree to work together to solve the murder that they are able to put their past behind them.

Morrissey is an excellent story teller, I love the detail and descriptions throughout. I do feel as though it would have been helpful for me to have read the previous Black Harbor books (which I am doing now that I’m finished with The Unlucky Ones!!)

A huge thank you to NetGalley and Minotaur Books for this advanced reader copy!

The Unlucky Ones by Hannah Morrissey takes us back to Black Harbor with Hazel, the transcriber.

"Hazel, the former police transcriber but now a novelist, returns to Black Harbor to find answers to why her ex-husband was murdered"

Morrissey writes such a bleak place in Black Harbor - the heat, the drugs, the trash in the street, rampant crime, the smell and characters like Dirty Harriet. It all makes for a desperate setting. This is more crime fiction than the first book. There's a murder and the detectives try to find answers. Nick and Hazel eventually look together while dancing around the feelings they still have for each other.

Wild ending to this one.

Another good story from Morrissey.

Another amazing read from the Black Harbor series. This time Hazel is back! I absolutely loved that we got another installment with Hazel who came back 8 years later to figure out who killed her ex husband….although I’m not sure why she cares….if mine ended up dead I’d be like…ok cool

Another book in the Black Harbor series but it can easily be read as a standalone. It was nice to see Hazel (from Hello, Transcriber) back. The storyline was good but it didn't grab my full attention until almost the very end.

I wanted so badly to love this one. It is book 4 in the Black Harbor series, and I really liked book 3, When I’m Dead, which was a BOTM pick. Unfortunately, nothing seemed to happen in this one. There was a clever calling card that was left when they were working to solve the murders, but it didn’t seem like it ever amounted to anything. Overall, there were parts that really lagged and I struggled to get through it.

Black Harbor is a tinderbox. Temperatures and violent crime have both risen to all-time highs, a new drug razes the city, and the scene to which Sergeant Nikolai Kole responds is anything but a rote homicide. In the back of a clubhouse lies a body wrapped in garbage bags and doused in bleach. It isn’t just any body. Tommy Greenlee, the ex-husband of Kole’s former lover, Hazel, has been shot several times and left for dead. What’s more…the killer left what appears to be a calling card.

Elsewhere, Hazel is haunted by her memories of Black Harbor. Lured there after eight years, she returns to find out who killed Tommy and why. Now back in Kole’s orbit, their love affair can hardly pick up where it left off.

Welcome to the dark side! Black Harbor is not the place you want to be! Excellent story, from the first page to the last. I love Hazel and how her character grows through the story. Great read. I highly recommend this if you like dark stories! 5⭐

I received an advanced complimentary digital copy of this book from Netgalley. Opinions expressed are my own.

While in the end I quite enjoyed this book, it was a little hard to slog through for the first half or so, at least; I think that was a result of my having read the first book in the series but not the two I somehow missed in between then and now. Once I realized what was going on, though, I got more into it.

The first book, "Hello, Transcriber," introduced us to professional police report transcriber Hazel Greenlee, who could type more than 100 words per minute virtually error-free. Back in the day, I - who in high school aspired to be an executive secretary - I could do the same (but on a manual typewriter). In that book, the relationship between Hazel and Black Harbor, Wisconsin, police detective Nikolai Kole was heating up despite her disintegrating marriage to Tommy Greenlee. In the intervening books, Hazel apparently bolted from Black Harbor for Brooklyn, N.Y., establishing herself as a writer of novels.

Now, though, she's back - lured by the discovery of her former husband Tommy's dead body that's been riddled with bullets, covered with bleach and wrapped in a garbage bag. While Hazel has little affection left for Tommy, she can't help but wonder who murdered him and why.

That's a question shared by Kole and his team of officers. But although Hazel and Nik had a "thing" going back then and both still wonder what might have been, each is wary of seeing the other again. But of course, it's inevitable; the only question is how each will handle the reconnection - and what they'll find out about Tommy's murder.

The rest of the story follows their interaction and the investigation into a complicated web of lies, deceit and crimes that have had serious impact on both of their lives. Well done, and I thank the publisher, via NetGalley, for the opportunity to read and review a pre-release copy.

This is book #4 in the Black Harbor series, and while they can be read somewhat standalone there is overlap so best to keep it in order and fully immerse yourself into the world of Black Harbor! You of course get murder and mystery rolled into a ball of suspense and whodunnit, but this book has also brought back the past in a serious way. Hazel left Black Harbor only to find herself returning in the wake of her dead ex-husband Tommy's murder! Who killed Tommy, but the better question is can we get Hazel and Kole's love affair back to hot, steamy, and dreamy for such a dark place to have love creep in?!?! Somewhat toxic to each other while also being intoxicating, because Kole is well..... a little on the volatile side especially when he is hunting killers.
Without giving spoilers Kole and Hazel needed this reunion, Tommy needed to go so not sad for that write off at all, and bringing even more past to the present to hit you in the face with what is going on adds punches to the storyline to keep you pulled in! The ending was done so well leaving it to either just end and this be it, or to maybe one day revive the horrors of Black Harbor. I was so happy to get a gifted copy of this what seems to be last installment to the Black Harbor series, and I have loved these books from start to finish!! I am assuming this is the end by the way the book came full circle, but if there were ever to be a creative itch to bring Hazel and Kole back I would be on board!! Thank you to NetGalley, Minotaur Books, and of course Morrissey on her great writing that has brought this series to the lives of us obsessed with reading the dark, danger in the shadows, suspenseful underground world vibes in our books!!

Rating: 4/5 Stars
Pub Date: 3/25
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The Unlucky Ones is book number 4 in the Black Harbor series. This one follows Hazel and Kole and many characters from book number 1. You most definitely have to read at least book 1 before picking this one up, but the series as a whole is fantastic so I recommend them all. She will reference the other books in this one, but everything is explained enough for you to not be scratching your head totally lost.
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I loved getting another glimpse into the Kole/Hazel world. I was so excited to see what happened to Hazel and what kind of trouble she would get herself into in this book. This had the perfect amount of twists and suspense. It is a steady to fast paced book so buckle up!
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I listened to this via audiobook while reading an eARC. Angela Dawe and Robb Moreira were fantastic. They were so complimentary of one another. I felt like I was actually watching this one. The audiobook is a 10/10 from me.
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Overall, this is a series you do not want to miss out on. Every single book was great! Be sure to check this one out! Huge thank you to NetGalley, Hannah Morrissey, MacMillan Audio and St. Martin’s Press for the ALC and eARC in exchange for my honest review.

Welcome to Black Harbor where you definitely won’t want to stay unless you are a criminal or perhaps a cop.
This was my first book in the series. I definitely think you could read this as a standalone as I did. Kole and Hazel had a lot of history to overcome. So if you like to know backstories I’ve seen people say read Hello Transcriber.
I listened to the audio book which I enjoyed. I really liked the 2 narrators.
This is first and foremost a police procedural with a sprinkle of romance. So if you like this genre you will enjoy the read.
3.5 out of 5 stars for me.
I received an ALC of this title, all opinions are my own.

Thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press | Minotaur Books for providing me with an early copy to read and review.

I have not read the previous novel with Hazel and Kole, but I didn’t feel like it was an issue for enjoying this story.

A gritty, mystery/thriller that was slow-moving at times, but overall a captivating read. There are some very dark and disturbing descriptions, which add to the atmosphere of the novel, but if one is sensitive to that, it would be a good thing to note before starting this series.

Black Harbor's favorite police transcriber, Hazel, who finally
escaped the town's clutches years ago, has now returned after
the brutal murder of her ex-husband. But is she back to help
solve the crime, or did she have something to do with
committing it? As Hazel teams up with detective Kole, old
emotions flare, and they dig deep into Black Harbor's drug trade
in an effort to clear Hazel from wrong-doing. I enjoyed both the
written and audio (dual narration!) of this fourth book in this series. You don't need to read them in
order, but I'd recommend doing so. She writes the best morally
gray characters and brings back a few of my favorites in The
Unlucky Ones.