Tag: crime fiction

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.

It’s the one piece of evidence that will crack the case . . . but is it too shocking to reveal?

A murdered student. A secret buried in the past. A killer who’s still watching.

Detective Steph Warwick is halfway through her Christmas shopping when
she gets the call. The body of a young man has been pulled from the icy River Witham.
The victim is Max Barsby, a quiet, hardworking archaeology student with
no enemies – or so it seems. But Max didn’t drown. He was murdered.
Bludgeoned over the head and left for dead.
With the university all but deserted for the holidays, Steph finds herself with few leads and even fewer witnesses.

Meanwhile, Special Constable Jane Bell is investigating a routine break-in when she stumbles across an unexpected link to Max. As Jane and Steph’s paths cross once more, Steph reluctantly brings the warm-hearted mother-of-two into the fold – knowing Jane can reach people – and places – that she can’t.

Their enquiries unearth a mysterious girlfriend, a controversial dig site, and a discovery someone will kill to protect.
But when Jane finds a piece of evidence too explosive to share, her silence may prove deadly – for both of them.

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Janice was born and grew up in West Lothian, Scotland. After completing an English degree at St Andrew’s University, she moved to London where she lived for ten years doing an assortment of jobs. Her passions are reading, writing and walking in Scotland and the Lake District. She lives in Lincolnshire with her husband and two sons.

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My thoughts: A young man has been bludgeoned to death, he’s a student at the university, and doesn’t seem to have many dark secrets. But someone still saw fit to kill him. Is his death connected to the archaeology dig he was volunteering on? Or was it something else?

It’s almost Christmas, there’s no one on campus, the few people the police do manage to speak to only have nice things to say, or didn’t really know Max that well. The police are a bit stumped.

Special Constable Jane Bell and her son Patrick, who is friends with the victim’s cousin, are doing a bit of digging outside of the official investigation and they do find a few things out, including Max’s only real secret. Was it serious enough though to lead to his death?

DI Steph Warwick comes across as pretty prickly, easily annoyed by Jane and Patrick’s unofficial investigation, despite giving them the ok to ask a few questions. If the case were a bit clearer, she’d probably be a bit less cross.

The police follow a few dead ends, but everything has to be checked and ruled out to find the truth and get justice for Max.

Despite how much everyone focuses on the archaeological dig and the warring personalities of two historians Max knew, which is diverting, and adds to the successful solve rate of the police, it distracts from Max’s murder and almost allows a killer to get away with it. But between the two strands of investigation, some CCTV footage and asking the right questions, they do get the truth in the end. Very satisfactory.

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