Author: ramblingmads

Every night police transcriber Hazel Greenlee listens as detectives divulge Black Harbor’s gruesome crimes. Hazel, an aspiring novelist, believes that writing a book could be her only ticket out of this frozen hellscape. Her life isn’t exactly brimming with inspiration, until her neighbor confesses to hiding the corpse of an overdose victim.

With an insider’s look at the investigation, Hazel becomes spellbound by the lead detective, Nikolai Kole, and the chilling narrative he shares with her. Through his transcription, she learns that the suspicious death is linked to Candy Man, a drug dealer notorious for selling illegal substances to children.

When Kole invites her on a covert operation to help take the dealer down, the promise of a story calls to her. As the investigation unfolds, Hazel will learn just how far she’ll go for a good story — even if it means destroying her marriage and luring the killer to her as she plunges deeper into the city she’s desperate to claw her way out of.

Hannah Morrissey is the author of the Black Harbor suspense series which includes Hello, Transcriber, The Widowmaker, and When I’m Dead. A three-decade survivor of Wisconsin winters, Hannah enjoys putting her characters (and readers) in bone-chilling atmospheres that permeate beyond the page. Naturally, her books have carved out their own sub-genre of ‘Midwestern Noir.’

Between roles of bookseller and copywriter, Hannah was inspired to write her debut novel while transcribing reports for her local police department. Far from home in a grim, crime-ridden city, it was her job to sit alone in the dead of night, listen, and type as detectives divulged the city’s darkest secrets. There, she realized that every case was a story, and every story started with the same two words: ‘Hello, Transcriber.’

My thoughts: Hazel has taken a job transcribing police reports, listening to the detectives describing murder and suicide victims, in a “small city with big city crimes”. When a child’s body is thrown into a dumpster, following an overdose, detective Nikolai ‘Nik’ Kole is determined to find whoever gave the oxycodone to a child and put them away. There’s rumours of someone known as ‘The Candy Man’ selling the drug, if Kole can find them, he might have his man.

Being privy to all the details of the case through her work, Hazel is intrigued by Kole and wants to help, she keeps seeing the dead little boy in her mind. So she and Kole go on a very unofficial search of the suspect’s apartment. They also begin an affair. Hazel’s marriage is unhappy, her husband away hunting or fishing with his friends.

As things unravel and Hazel loses herself in both the affair and the case, it gets darker and more complicated. Can she find herself again and work out what she really wants?

An intriguing and compelling read, with complex characters, with messy emotions and realistic issues.

*I was kindly gifted a copy of this book in exchange for taking part in this blog tour, but all opinions remain my own.