- Started: December 16, 2021
- Finished: December 17, 2021
- Pages: 293
- Single POV, Timelined, Wisconsin
- Rating: 4.75/5
REVIEW + SUMMARY
I really enjoyed this book! But for some reason, I kept thinking “translator” instead of transcriber and was very confused that it was in Wisconsin and not the U.N. (like the movie The Interpreter starring Nicole Kidman). But once I got over that, I was able to really sink in to the desolate town of Black Harbor and Hazel’s struggles there. I like how the plot weaved her personal and professional life together and how her problems in one area bled into the other. Because of the small town setting, the insular nature of the events felt more believable.
Hazel and her husband, Tommy, move to the small town of Black Harbor for his job. The book opens with her own job interview and subsequent hiring as the newest police transcriber. In her role, she is privy to all the town’s case reports, including the overdose of a child who supposedly got his drugs from the local seller, The Candy Man. She finds herself drawn into the case – in great part due to her growing attraction to the lead detective, Nikolai Kole – and completely over her head. The bodies start to pile up as she gets closer to Kole and she starts to lose all sense of who, if anyone, she can trust in Black Harbor.
I would definitely recommend this book. It was a great thriller and kept me guessing throughout. There wasn’t a terribly large cast of characters so you might be able to piece it all together before the characters do (I did not!) but I don’t think that’s a bad thing. I look forward to reading more books by this author in the future.
Books and Lewks 