When I’m Dead is the newest installment in the Black Harbour series. As each book focuses on a different couple, these books don’t need to be read in order and can be read as standalones. However, as with many series like this, you get the most out of them when you read them in order.
The third installment of the Black Harbour series introduces us to medical examiner Rowan Winthrop and her Black Harbour detective husband Alex Winthrop. The murder of a young girl throws both Rowan and Alex’s lives and marriage into turmoil when they discovery the girl to be their daughter’s best friend. As the investigate deepens, the pair’s daughter goes missing and another young girl is found dead. If they are determined to find their daughter in time, they’ll need to dive into secrets long buried and may even realize they never knew who their daughter was.
I thoroughly enjoyed the first installment of the Black Harbour series a few years ago. I loved the dark and gritty atmosphere and getting to know our primary characters. I’ve liked the two newest installments less and I think it’s 100% because I wasn’t able to connect with our leads as much. With both Rowan and Alex being a part of the Black Harbour Police Department, I found that both their perspectives were filled primarily with police procedure instead of more intimate look into their lives. That’s not to say we don’t get to know them; I just didn’t feel connected as much. In addition, Rowan is constantly referring back to a particular event in her pass, and I thought too much emphasis was placed on that event rather than just stating what happened and moving on. Her guilt from the event felt a bit overdone. It did add some drama to the storyline but it felt forced.
While the story itself was interesting, the ending was slightly predictable for me but even with that it was a solid mystery. The first half of the story was on the slower side, but once the pacing picked up then things really heated up. I’ll continue to read this series as her books are well crafted dark thrillers and I tend to enjoy a grittier mystery.
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When I’m Dead is out now. Thank you to Minotaur Books and MacMillan Audio for my advanced copies in exchange for my review. If you liked this review, please let me know either by commenting below or by visiting my Instagram @speakingof.books.
Sounds interesting