The Widowmaker: A Black Harbor Novel

by Hannah Morrissey

Overview

Notes From Your Bookseller

The Widowmaker by Hannah Morrissey is a follow up to Nov 2021’s solid debut Hello, Transcriber. There’s no sophomore slump with this book. Although a standalone novel, The Widowmaker is once again set in Black Harbor, Wisconsin. Morrissey creates unforgettable characters and atmosphere. Family members are to be run away from, and the fine line between “the good guys” and “the bad guys” puts everyone on the opposite side of the same coin. And for god’s sake – put a coat on when you venture outside! Hannah Morrissey is on the way to creating what will be a formidable list of her work.

A wealthy family shrouded in scandal; a detective tasked with solving an impossible cold case; and a woman with a dark past collide in Hannah Morrissey's stunning new Black Harbor mystery, The Widowmaker.

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?

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781250795977
Publisher:	St. Martin's Publishing Group
Publication date:	12/06/2022
Series:	Black Harbor Novels
Pages:	304
Sales rank:	32,673
Product dimensions:	9.20(w) x 6.30(h) x 1.20(d)

About the Author

HANNAH MORRISSEY earned her Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Wisconsin - Madison. She grew up on a farm in a small northern town and now lives near Milwaukee with her husband and two pugs. Hello, Transcriber is her debut novel, inspired by her work as a police transcriber.

Editorial Reviews

10/03/2022

At first glance, straight-arrow police officer Ryan Hudson, whose former patrol partner has just been fatally shot during a convenience store stickup, and goth photographer Morgan Mori, a traumatized eyewitness, have little in common besides the bad luck to be living in crime-infested Black Harbor, Wis., the gritty setting for this intriguing if flawed thriller from Morrissey (Hello, Transcriber). But as guilt-ridden Ryan pursues his own unofficial investigation, gradually breaking through the defenses Morgan has built up as a survivor of childhood abuse, the pair prove surprisingly sympatico. Maybe it has something to do with the scars both bear from their deeply dysfunctional families, or the secrets that could get one bounced from the force and put the other behind bars. As their bond blooms into friendship, Ryan comes to realize that Morgan may unwittingly hold the key to not only his partner’s murder but also the town’s most high-profile cold case: the disappearance 20 years earlier of wealthy mogul Clive Reynolds. Morrissey skillfully interweaves these twisty plot strands, even as some developments strain credulity. Nonetheless, readers will be eager to see what further mysteries Black Harbor may harbor. Agent: Sharon Pelletier, Dystel, Goderich & Bourret. (Dec.)

Publishers Weekly

“The Widowmaker confirms Hannah Morrisey’s status as one of the brightest new voices in crime fiction. An unflinching look at two damaged people trying to do right in a world full of wrong, told in scalpel-sharp prose with a poet’s eye for detail.” —Riley Sager, New York Times bestselling author of The House Across the Lake

“The Widowmaker is impossible to put down and even harder to stop thinking about, with characters so fully formed, they walk right off the page, crawl inside you, and stick to your bones.” –Elle Cosimano, USA Today bestselling author of Finlay Donovan Is Killing It

“The Widowmaker is absolutely enthralling. It’s moody and dark, with characters that are heartbreakingly real. Hannah Morrissey has become a must-read author for me.” – Samantha Downing, internationally bestselling author of My Lovely Wife

"Welcome back to Black Harbor, where the snow looks like ash and the people are darker than ever. Morrissey’s latest is an electrifying and unnerving exploration of privilege, justice, and the strength it takes to tackle a city’s grit and glitter in one fell swoop.” —Tessa Wegert, author of Dead Wind

"An instantly compelling main character and unforgettable cast. A propulsive look at family and secrets and desire . . . gorgeously written." - Hank Phillippi Ryan, USA Today bestselling author of Her Perfect Life

“Mesmerizing, moody, and filled with menace, you won’t want to put down The Widowmaker. The future of crime fiction is named Hannah Morrissey.” —Alex Finlay, author of The Night Shift

From the Publisher

07/01/2022

Back home in crime-ridden, grime-ridden Black Harbor, WI, struggling photographer Morgan Mori is snapping shots at the glittery-rich Reynolds family's holiday party when she witnesses a murder that could hold clues to the long-ago disappearance of family patriarch Clive Reynolds. And more clues could come from her own shadowy past. Following the LJ -starred Hello, Transcriber.

Library Journal

2022-09-28
A pair of murky mysteries haunt the residents of a deceptively sleepy Wisconsin town.

In wintry Black Harbor, Morgan Mori goes on an impromptu first date with Bennett Reynolds, CEO of a private equity firm, after a gig photographing a family Christmas celebration at the Reynolds estate, a “sea glass-colored mansion at the top of the bluff.” Their mutual chemistry becomes clear when Morgan shares how she’s landed back home in Black Harbor after an unhappy tenure in nearby Chicago. Later that same night, as she stops at a gas station, she witnesses the murder of police detective Brix Garrison. Alternate chapters are told from the perspectives of Morgan and Garrison’s partner, Ryan Hudson, who is introduced already surveying the Fast Mart crime scene before the chapter describing Morgan’s arrival. Hudson is haunted by the crime and driven to solve it. The intriguing result is that significant plot details are doled out piecemeal. For example, Hudson’s on-again, off-again affair with Garrison’s wife, Noelle, isn’t revealed for nearly 100 pages. Timelines are also often tantalizingly fuzzy. Fittingly, the story focuses on two unsolved crimes: the murder of Garrison and the disappearance of Clive Reynolds, wealthy patriarch of that influential Reynolds family, 20 years ago. Morrissey is unstinting in piling on the creepy atmosphere, from Morgan’s surname to Black Harbor to a part of town called “The Ruins” to her title, which refers to a classic car, a Porsche 930 Turbo, registered to Clive Reynolds.

An intriguing mix of police procedural, gothic potboiler, and psychological thriller that will keep readers on their toes.

Kirkus Reviews