Book Review: Hello, Transcriber by Hannah Morrissey

 

⋆⋆⋆½

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for allowing me to read this ARC!

Content Warning: death (including that of a child), violence, suicide, murder, sexual assault, domestic abuse, parental neglect/abandonment, drugs, overdose, rape, animal death, brief mentions of homophobia and transphobia.

Living in the crime-ridden Black Harbor, Hazel Greenlee makes her living by transcribing police reports. Though her dream is to be a novelist, she hasn't had much lived experience, and she secretly hopes that perhaps this job will provide some much-needed inspiration. What she doesn't expect, however, is to be smack in the middle of a murder investigation -- living beside one of the men involved in hiding a corpse. As she becomes more deeply involved in the case, as well as with the lead investigator, Nikolai Kole, she begins to wonder if the future she imagines living outside of Black Harbor will be cut short by violence. 

My main motivator for reading this book was Hazel's job: a police transcriber. Not only did that seem like it would have plenty of potential for an intriguing storyline, but as someone who also enjoys writing (and has since childhood), I felt that I could relate to Hazel's desire to try and find a job that not only somewhat incorporates that passion, but also which might provide her with some material for her own work (though I'm not sure that's strictly a good idea, considering her job is supposed to be confidential!). 

The first few pages didn't quite captivate me. I found Morrissey's writing to be slightly overwrought; there were very detailed descriptions of the daily-goings on in Hazel's life, almost to the point of taking away from the narrative. It's one of my biggest pet peeves, so while some may not find it a problem, it took me a while to find myself fully immersed in the story. Once I hit around the 25% mark, however, I found myself becoming more invested in the story playing out. Eventually, the writing didn't bother me quite so much, and I did find myself admiring Morrissey's ability to weave rather evocative scenes.

I went into this expecting the mystery to be the main plotline, but I think that it actually ended up being more focused on Hazel's inner turmoil -- her marital problems, her aspirations, her self-loathing and occasional penchant for cruelty -- as well as her relationship with the charismatic Nikolai Kole. I didn't mind this, as their relationship fascinated me with its layers of deceit and its intertwining with the mystery, but I think that some might be disappointed by the mystery taking the backburner.

By the halfway point I was eager to see how Hazel's life would continue on its (rather disastrous) journey, but I'm sad to say that the ending left me cold. There wasn't much buildup, and it felt almost an afterthought, and slightly inconsequential. Mentally, I said to myself simply, "Oh." So...that was it. I enjoyed the story as I read it, but for me, it was an interesting concept where the execution unfortunately fell flat. 

That being said -- I will be looking into Morrissey's future novels, as I think there's great potential here, and I could see myself reading something else by her!