Hello, Transcriber: A Novel

Hannah Morrissey

Nov 2021 · Black Harbor Novels Book 1 · Sold by Minotaur Books

About this ebook

Hannah Morrissey's Hello, Transcriber is a captivating mystery suspense debut featuring a female police transcriber who goes beyond the limits to solve a harrowing case.

Every night, while the street lamps shed the only light on Wisconsin's most crime-ridden city, police transcriber Hazel Greenlee listens as detectives divulge Black Harbor's gruesome secrets. As an aspiring writer, Hazel believes that writing a novel could be her only ticket out of this frozen hellscape. And then her neighbor confesses to hiding the body of an overdose victim in a dumpster.

The suspicious death is linked to Candy Man, a notorious drug dealer. Now Hazel has a first row seat to the investigation and becomes captivated by the lead detective, Nikolai Kole. Intrigued by the prospects of gathering eyewitness intel for her book, Hazel joins Kole in exploring Black Harbor's darkest side. 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.

Ratings and reviews

I was instantly consumed by Ms. Morrissey’s evocative prose as the first paragraph sucked me into a dark, itchy, and enthralling vortex of a troubled and crumbling community. Her characters were complicated, compelling, and multi-faceted. Each new person introduced brought a unique type of nightmare as they all seemed to be teetering between a train wreck and a dumpster fire. And I couldn’t get enough. Luckily for me, the second and third books are already locked and loaded on my Kindle.

triggers, law-enforcement, murder, murder-investigation, abusive-spouse, family-dynamics, friendship, drugs-issues, small-town, crime, criminal-acts, thriller, midwest, addiction, romance, suspense**** I can only give it a 4* because of all the difficult triggers (spousal abuse, child murder), so I couldn't finish. The writing is good and the characters are only too believable. The publisher's blurb is pretty good except for the bit about the marriage. I requested and received a free ebook copy from St. Martin's Press/Minotaur Books via NetGalley.

I enjoyed reading this debut book and will be looking for more stories by this author. This was a mystery, a romance and the story was dark at times, but was a great read. I can’t wait to see what comes next from this author.

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.