There were elements of this book I really enjoyed, but also a number of elements that left a lot to be desired. The mystery was well-formulated, with enough red herrings to keep things interesting, but not so much that the solution was too far-fetched. I had some elements of it figured out early on, but was genuinely surprised by some of the solution at the end. That's rare for me to find these days in a suspense/mystery!

I wasn't expecting the romance to play such a key role in the story, but it felt like the mystery took a backseat to the romance for most of the novel. Based upon the description, I had expected the mystery to be the focus with romance in the backdrop, so I was surprised by just how much of the story was dedicated to the romantic goings-on.

Hazel was a very unlikeable character, which I typically do not enjoy reading; there were more times than I can count that I asked myself WHY I cared what happened to her. She -- and Nick, for that matter, -- had few, if any, redeeming qualities. If I hadn't been so concerned with finding out the solution to the whodunit, I probably would have stopped reading earlier just given my lack of sympathy for ANY character.

The pacing of the novel seemed off; some scenes seemed drawn out and over-explained, while other parts seemed rushed and left me with more questions than answers.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with an ALC in exchange for an honest review.

"Hello, Transcriber" by Hannah Morrissey is a propulsive debut novel that will leave you breathless, with whiplash, and questioning everything you think is true. This twisty thriller has it all! Cops, romantic forbidden relationships, a weak but simultaneously strong female protagonist, and countless twists and turns that you will never truly make sense out of! I never could have guessed how much I would love this book! So great, what a wonderful, heart-pounding, breath-taking read!

The narrator was also wonderful and did this story such justice! This is one that I will definitely be buying for my personal collection!

This novel has a little of everything. It starts as a mystery then veers into romance, sliding a bit into erotica then back to police procedural with a bit of psychological thriller. All over the place.

⭐️⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️
Thank you to NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for the Early listen! What a thrilling listen! Appreciated all the characters in the story. Narrator for the most part did a fabulous job narrating. The only character was Hazel's husband. Sounded like she was talking into a can to muffle his voice. Overall a solid 4 stars hope the author writes more of Hazel and Nick.

#HelloTranscriber:⁣
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Two words: Angela Dawe. She’s the voice behind Finlay Donovan, Dark Roads, The Lost Village. She’s a phenomenal reader and another auto buy narrator. Oh I could feel her brokenness, her sorrow, her sadness as Hazel in Hello Transcriber. Another top notch performance. ⁣
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Hello Transcriber is unlike anything I’ve read really. I read police procedural, I read romance, I read romantic suspense, and yet, none of these really match this book. If you go in thinking this is a straight police procedural or thriller, you may leave disappointed. Just read the book and enjoy the ride. ⁣
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This book is very atmospheric thats full of grit and sorrow. There’s a grit to some of the language. It reminds me of how my husband talks after he gets back from the field or drill. Mona says “holy fucking shit” the same time I did, so she’s my girl. It absolutely added to the atmosphere and really helped me understand exactly who we were dealing with in terms of character development. Also, “Well fuck me twleve ways to Christmas” is now my new saying (I’m telling you, Mona, my girl for life). ⁣
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This book was definitely different and went into a different angle. Again, I thought it would be more let’s find the killer and supplier, but it became a lot of knowing and understanding why Hazel and her compulsions. Once I realized the relationships were going to take precedent in the story, I was able to change my mindset and enjoyed the brokenness of Hazel. I really enjoyed the dynamic of this book and can’t wait to see what Hannah Morrissey writes next. Thank you so much @minotaur_books for the copy and @macmillan.audio for the audio copy. This is out now.

Hello, Transcriber is not at all what I thought it would be. Described as a suspenseful story, Hazel Greenlee is a new police transcriber, solving a murder mystery as research for a book she is trying to write. Instead, it is more of a character driven story relying on the inner thoughts of Hazel. While it was suspenseful at times, the story seemed mostly focused on her relationship and lust for police officer Nikolai Kole. While steamy and still entertaining, it definitely had some slow parts making it a nontraditional thriller or suspense read for me. Overall, this book is not super memorable for me.

Thank you to Macmillan Audio, the author and NetGalley for a copy of this audiobook in exchange for an honest review.

Rating: 3/5

This crime fiction read was a great debut from Morrissey! I found that it had a slow start but then I flew through it! I had read that she was a transcriber herself at one point so I really enjoyed knowing that while reading it!

Being someone who reads romcoms, I enjoyed the underlying romance angle with this one! Crime AND sexual tension? It was everything I didn’t know I needed!! I really liked the string character development and loved that Hazel was a quirky heroine!

Ultimately, this was a fun, atmospheric and gritty read that I recommend checking out!

Ohhhh boy, was I ever the wrong audience for this story.

Hello, Transcriber appealed to me when I saw that it’s about a police transcriber - someone who types up the notes of police reports and conversations. Such an interesting profession! And based on the author’s real-life experience in that role, too. I thought it would be interesting to get this fresh perspective on crime fiction.

Alas, what is marketed as a “captivating mystery suspense debut” is in reality a tawdry romantic suspense novel. And an adulterous one at that. Our 26-year-old married transcriber heroine falls into insta love with one of the police detectives, and bulging, biting, and boinking ensues. BLECH!!!

While I will say that the author does a nice job capturing a dreary, melancholic atmosphere, I couldn’t even really find a “mystery” to latch onto. There are plot holes, weird final act twists, and questionable character motives.

I could go on, but I’ll wrap things up by saying I was happy when the book ended. I hate writing unfavorable reviews. :(

Though this book wasn’t for me, I’m grateful to Minotaur Books and Macmillan Audio for my gifted copies to review. Hello, Transcriber is now available.

When Hazel Greenlee gets hired as a police transcriber, she immediately gets sucked into the cases she’s transcribing. Stuck in a unhealthy marriage, she finds herself attracted first to a voice and then to the detective behind the voice. Hazel tries to gather intel for the book she plans to write by Inserting herself into a drug case. A case that is way too close to home. While I liked the premise of this book, it was much more of a drama than a thriller and written in a straight forward way. The relationship between Hazel and Nik happened way too fast and there were many holes in the overall plot. I would have preferred more intrigue and less romance, but an OK debut with a good narrator.

I really liked the narrator of this and felt that she did an excellent job of conveying the overall feel of suspense and romance. The plot was just so-so for me.

Hazel Greenlee works as a transcriber at the Black Harbor police department. Every night she hears gruesome secrets from detectives as she transcribes their notes. Black Harbor is Wisconsin's prolific crime city and it ensures that Hazel will always have work. Hazel is an aspiring writer and believes its her only ticket out of the city. Her plan becomes derailed when her neighbor confesses to hiding the body of an
overdose victim in a dumpster.

The police believe the death is related to a notorious drug dealer called Candy Man. Hazel finds herself entranced by the case, especially, the lead detective, Nikolai Kole. She decides to help Kole as she finds herself captivated by him and she can gain information for her book. Will Kole and Hazel be able to find Candy Man before it's too late?

The novel started off good and started rapidly becoming a dull yet triggering read. The novel billed itself as a mystery but, I felt like it took a
backseat to Kole and Hazel's relationship and Hazel’s failing marriage. The mystery behind Candy Man seemed to solve itself while Kole and Hazel spent more time with each other. I can't say that I actually like any of the characters especially, Hazel. She comes across information that made Kole seem like a killer and she didn't even care. She still continued to pursue a
romantic relationship with him. I also felt that the author was very heavy on the description and there wasn't really much of a story. The author spends paragraphs to describe things but,
only a few sentences is dedicated to moving the story along.

I’m not sure if this book had a sensitivity reader, but the graphic descriptions of marital rape and deadnaming trans characters is, at minimum, unpleasant and the reader should be forewarned.

I requested this one to review because, hey, I've been a transcriber for (I'm not going to tell you how many years) but first let me say I have transcribed for the best and the worst and no police officer is going to punctuate. Okay, jumping off my soapbox! Hazel is the newest employee for the night shift at the police department working as a transcriber and while training she is surprised to look out the window and see her neighbor walk up and with a dismembered finger scratch a message in the ice on the window "I hid a body." This opens the case of the Candy Man and brings her close to the officer in charge Nikolai Kole. She and Kole form a bond which crosses the lines. Is it any wonder when her marriage is a disaster, she is depressed, and she is doing her own bit of sleuthing on the side. There was so much of this story that didn't make sense but with all the twists and turns I found it to be enjoyable and settled on a 3.5 stars.

I loved this audiobook! Hazel is a quirky character in an abusive marriage that becomes a police transcriber. As she gets an inside look into a death that is linked Candy Man (a drug dealer), she becomes infatuated with the lead detective Kole. The plot had me sucked in from the very beginning, and I could not stop listening until I was done! This book ends with a twist that was completely unexpected! The narration was also very well done. I highly recommend this book or audiobook to my twisty thriller loving friends!

This debut was utter PERFECTION!! Dark, atmospheric and downright unputdownable!! I loved everything about this book!! HIGHLY recommend, this is definitely one of my favourite mystery/suspense books of the year and Hazel is going to be one of those characters that sticks with you long after the last page is read. I didn’t want this book to end. Absolutely amazing on audio too! Much thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for my ALC!!

3.5

The greatest part of this book was the atmosphere. Morrissey does an excellent job conveying the dark melancholy of a dying small town, from the old bridge that become a hot spot for suicides after the plant closed down to the never ending gossip mill. The city felt real and lived in and the people felt authentic. I was not surprised to learn that Hannah Morrissey herself worked as a police transcriber in small town Wisconsin because it all felt so vivid. I think the narrator played a part in that feeling as well, using a typical Wisconsin accent and thickening it throughout when Hazel spoke as she was from "up north".

The mystery itself was pretty straightforward, but as I said, I loved the atmosphere and I think making Hazel a police transcriber added an interesting twist to the standard police procedural. That being said, there were definitely parts of the story that were a little too wordy. After the fifth "I love that word" comment from Hazel's internal monologue I started rolling my eyes a little. Like I get that she is an aspiring writer, but it started bogging down the narrative in my opinion.

I also had really mixed feelings about her relationship with Nikolai Kole. While on the one had I liked her questioning of being the killer and (view spoiler), the whole cheating thing rubbed me the wrong way. I also am completely over the "my husband of x years doesn't understand how to provide me pleasure during sex so I must be a 'broken' asexual" thing, so that might have played into my dislike. Ace people are not "broken". And while I'm discussing LGBTQ things, there is also a trans side character and while I love the inclusion and think overall Morrissey handled that character well, she also deadnames her at least twice which was completely unnecessary. The reader was easily able to understand the character was trans without including her dead name.

As a whole, I think this was a solid debut and would read more from Morrissey as most of my issues stemmed from tropes specific to this novel or general debut author things, but I was very impressed by her ability to make the town and group of people feel so lived in.

I requested this one because it might be an upcoming title I would like to review on my Youtube Channel. However, after reading the first several chapters I have determined that this book does not suit my tastes. So I decided to DNF this one.