Review: First Cut by Judy Melinek and TJ Mitchell

First Cut

by Judy Melinek and TJ Mitchell

Publisher: Hanover Square Press

Pages: 368

Format: eARC

Buy the Book: Amazon

Goodreads:  A hard-nosed medical examiner. A suspicious case. An underworld plot only she saw coming.

San Francisco’s newest medical examiner, Dr. Jessie Teska, has made a chilling discovery. A suspected overdose case contains hints of something more sinister: a drug lord’s attempt at a murderous cover-up. But as Jessie digs deeper, she faces unexpected pushback from her superiors—and pressure to stay in her lane, close the case and move on.

For Jessie, San Francisco was supposed to be a fresh start, a chance to escape her troublesome past in Los Angeles. Instead she finds herself overworked and underpaid, working in a dingy morgue and living under the fog in a cramped converted cable car. Now, despite warnings from her colleagues and threats from her boss, she is determined to find the truth.

As more bodies land on her autopsy table, Jessie uncovers a constellation of deaths that point to a plot involving opioid traffickers and San Francisco’s shifting terrain of tech start-ups. Autopsy means “see for yourself,” and Jessie Teska won’t stop until she has seen it all—even if it means the next corpse on the slab could be her own.


Kritters Thoughts:  A mystery thriller that is told through a unique set of eyes - a medical examiner.  Dr. Jessie Teska abruptly leaves her job as a medical examiner in Los Angeles and moves to San Francisco to start anew.  She quickly gets involved in some interesting cases that put her in harms way and she must figure out the hows and whys of some of the deaths in San Francisco to find out who is wishing her harm.  

I absolutely loved this book.  I felt it was so different from the typical murder mysteries as seeing it through the eyes of the medical examiner and figuring out how someone really died compared to how it was presented was just so fascinating and I was completely wrapped up in the story from the beginning.  I felt as though the author gave us the right clues at just the right time.  

I also just loved Dr. Jessie Teska as a character herself.  She was smart and there were maybe a few moments where I didn't get all the medical lingo, but it didn't go completely over my head.  

I am so excited to watch this series develop and grow and will be anxiously waiting for book two!


Rating: absolutely loved it and want a sequel

Ebook 2019 Challenge: 62 out of 100

Disclosure of Material Connection:  I received one copy of this book free of charge from HarperCollins.  I was not required to write a positive review in exchange for receipt of the book; rather, the opinions expressed in this review are my own.