Disclaimer: I received an ARC from Macmillan in exchange for
a fair and honest review.
Hello, Transcriber is the first book in a planned series set in Black Harbor. The novel centers on Hazel who gets a job
working as police transcriber. Hazel has
her own set of issues and trauma. She
finds herself sucked into a mystery that really does not seem to bug her that
much if we are being honest as she seems more concerned about making out and other
things with a detective she meets.
In some
ways, the book is an America version of a Dublin Murder Squad novel. The question of who to trust, of varying relationship,
even in the material that comes with the book suggests with the description about
a series with different protagonists in each book. Yet, the book is not as good as French’s
work.
Part of
it is that it feels like the mystery takes a back seat to romance between Hazel
and her detective, though I did like how this relationship develops towards the
end of the book. A few pages after
wondering what is wrong with her because she finds sex painful, Hazel seems
surprisingly willing and unconcerned about this issue once she meets the
detective. It felt too sudden and
without a good explanation of why she would not even pause to consider the sex
act itself. (Yes, I know about that biological
aspect of a woman and pleasure, but Hazel does not describe it painful because
of not being aroused, but simply as painful, with a side comment that she feared
she was asexual).
So, there
is that.
The
mystery itself seems at once convoluted
and boring. Hazel’s involvement with it
also makes little sense in terms of her position and relationship with the
police department. While this might
point to what Black Harbor is in terms of the city’s morality, it does stretch
the belief of the reader for a bit. In fact, the mystery just gets there the
detective and Hazel to spend time together.
The thing
that the book has going for it is Hazel, who despite the issues laid above,
Morrissey has done a good job with in depicting how paralyzing depression and
mental illness can be if untreated or undiagnosed. Those aspects of the novel, in particular regarding
her marriage were nicely drawn. Yet, the
believability of Hazel’s character as well as that of her sister does not carry
a book where the mystery takes a backseat to a relationship that really is not
that interesting.
Comments
Post a Comment