Book of the Month is a monthly book subscription box. Each month, five curators pick out their favorite new hardcover books, and you can choose which one you want to receive on the first of the month for $17.99/month. You can also add up to two additional books for only $9.99 each. (This box was named one of the best subscriptions for avid readers in the 2023 Subscription Box Awards.)
This box was sent to us at no cost for review. (Check out the editorial guidelines to learn more about how we review boxes.)
My BOTM Pick for October: When I'm Dead by Hannah Morrissey, Hardcover Retail Value $30.00
Back of Book Summary:
On a bone-chilling October night, Medical Examiner Rowan Winthorp investigates the death of her daughter’s best friend. Hours later, the tragedy hits even closer to home when she makes a devastating discovery—her daughter, Chloe, is gone. But, not without a trace.
A morbid mosaic of clues forces Rowan and her husband to question how deeply they really knew their daughter. As they work closely to peel back the layers of this case, they begin to unearth disturbing details about Chloe and her secret transgressions . . . details that threaten to tear them apart.
Amidst the noise of navigating her newfound grief and reconciling the sins of her past, an undeniable fact rings true for Rowan: karma has finally come to collect.
My Summary
If you're a fan of psychological thrillers like me, you're accustomed to reading most of them through the eyes of a figure in law enforcement. Cops and medical examiners are pretty common protagonists in murder whodunits.
But Morrissey's twist on the same old, same old is what drew me to choose When I'm Dead for my October BOTM pick. It's got both a cop and a medical examiner as major characters, but their investigations into the death of a local teenager has a unique twist — their own daughter, Chloe, has gone missing. And it's looking more and more like she might be behind the murder of her best friend with each passing hour.
This slight shift in perspective is what made this book hard for me to put down. Axel Winthorp is a police detective in his hometown of Black Harbor, Wisconsin, and he's convinced his boss to allow him to stay directly involved in the murder investigation. This means he's sitting in the interrogation room as teen after teen reveals damning information about Chloe, providing both motive and opportunity for her to have killed her best friend. Axel wants to believe his daughter is innocent, but the case has sent him spiraling into a review of his own parenting failures. Axel begins to worry if he's to blame for working too hard, putting the murders of other Black Harbor residents ahead of parenting his own child.
Meanwhile Rowan Winthorp, the town medical examiner, is examining her own shortcomings — as both a mom and a human being — and her daughter's last words before disappearing play like a broken record in her head. Leaving Chloe's high school play early to respond to the scene of a crime, Rowan recalls her daughter's tears and claim she'd only care about her own daughter "when I'm dead."
It provides us with not just the book's title, but more questions. Is Chloe another young victim of a psychopath on the loose in Black Harbor? Or is this cop and medical examiner's daughter a murder who's hellbent on getting her parents' attention by turning to the one thing that keeps taking them away from her?
The Verdict
This is my first Book of the Month Club book — or rather my first BOTM book in a few decades! Did you know this subscription box is almost 100 years old?!
I was a subscriber to their children's version waaaaaay back in my childhood, and a lot has changed since then. I wasn't picking my books online back then, and of course I wasn't reading psychological thrillers like this early release from Wisconsin author Hannah Morrissey.
In this case, change is a good thing!
With spooky season on the horizon, I was hoping to find something in the thriller vein on the list of BOTM picks for October 2023, and the curators who choose each month's books didn't disappoint.
I confess I was so drawn by the description presented by BOTM, that I missed the fact that this is actually the third in a series of Black Harbor thrillers from Morrissey. But I can tell you, without a doubt, that you won't feel like you've missed out on anything. While I'll be looking up her first two novels, When I'm Dead stands steadily on its own two feet.
The mystery itself is compelling, and it kept me turning the pages to find out what was happening to the teens of Black Harbor and whether or not Chloe would be found alive. But where Morrissey takes this from simply being a good mystery to being a book I'd recommend to a friend, is in the ways she allows her characters to work through their personal struggles as parents while working through their case as members of law enforcement. You don't have to be worried your child is a murderer (and hopefully that's never the case!) to relate to that fear that you've somehow let your child down.
Value — Was This Box Worth It?
Without a doubt, my first book back with Book of the Month Club was a hit. Not only did I enjoy the season-appropriate read, but as a BOTM member, I managed to snag Morrissey's novel weeks before it hit bookstore shelves, thanks to their special early release deal.
As an added value, BOTM's Virtual Book Tour podcast hosted Morrissey for a fun interview this month that offered some behind the scene details on her writing process (y'all, she has a murder board in her house!). As a kid I was always fascinated by the "who" behind a book, and listening to the podcast gave me a chance to learn so much more about the woman who brought the story to life.
BOTM Club starts at $17.99, depending on your chosen subscription.
The Cost: $9.99 + free shipping (This price is only for your first month).
Value Breakdown: This box costs $9.99, but the book I chose retails hardcover for $30.00, which was a discount of about $20 for me. (Remember...this is first month only).
Keep Track of Your Subscriptions: Add this box to your subscription list or wishlist!
To Wrap Up:
Can you still get this book if you sign up today? Yes! But you will need to order it as an add-on.
What do you think of the Book of the Month subscription? Let us know below with your own review!
Please do not enter your email address in the Name field or in the comment content. Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *. Remember to post with kindness and respect. Comments with offensive language, cruelness to others, etc will not be approved. See our full comment policy here.