First Cut: A Novel

by Judy Melinek, T.J. Mitchell

Overview

A Bustle Most Anticipated Book of January 2020

“Scalpel sharp.”—Kathy Reichs

A young rookie medical examiner. A suspicious case. An underworld plot only she saw coming.

From the New York Times bestselling authors of Working Stiff

For San Francisco’s newest medical examiner, Dr. Jessie Teska, it was supposed to be a fresh start. A new job in a new city. A way to escape her own dark past.

Instead she faces a chilling discovery when an opioid-overdose case contains hints of something more sinister. Jessie’s superiors urge her to close the case, but as more bodies land on her autopsy table, she uncovers a constellation of deaths that point to an elaborate plot involving drug dealers and Bitcoin brokers.

Drawing on her real-life experiences as a forensics expert, Judy Melinek teams up with husband T.J. Mitchell to deliver the most exhilarating mystery of the year. Autopsy means “see for yourself,” and Jessie Teska won’t stop until she has seen it all—even if it means that the next corpse on the table could be her own.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781488054389
Publisher:	Hanover Square Press
Publication date:	01/07/2020
Series:	A Dr. Jessie Teska Mystery , #1
Sold by:	HARLEQUIN
Format:	eBook
Sales rank:	267,366
File size:	568 KB

Editorial Reviews

08/01/2019

A former assistant medical examiner in San Francisco, now a forensic pathologist in Oakland, Melinek here joins with husband Mitchell, her coauthor on Working Stiff, for a debut novel featuring medical examiner Dr. Jessie Teska. Jessie suspects that an overdose case is actually a drug lord's cover-up for murder and ignores warnings not to investigate as more bodies pile up. With a 100,000-copy first printing.

Library Journal

11/11/2019

Forensic pathologist Melinek and husband Mitchell (Working Stiff: Two Years, 262 Bodies, and the Making of a Medical Examiner) make their fiction debut with a strong series launch. The case load of San Francisco medical examiner Jessie Teska, who recently relocated from L.A. after a complicated breakup with her police detective boyfriend, includes a woman who died of an apparent heroin overdose. Under pressure from her superiors to quickly close the case, Jessie sees signs that the death may be a homicide. The issue becomes even more problematic after Jessie discovers that not only was the dead woman pregnant, she was also the deputy chief medical examiner’s former nanny. While Jessie’s gutsy personality will endear her to readers, it’s the meticulous detail that distinguishes this novel; the authors nail the (oftentimes ghastly) mundanities of life as a medical examiner (“I had spent nearly an hour sloshing through a fetid soup of decomposition fluid and liquefied organs on the autopsy table”). Fans of Patricia Cornwell’s Kay Scarpetta will be pleased. Agent: Jessica Papin, Dystel, Goderich & Bourret. (Jan.)

Publishers Weekly

Scalpel sharp. First Cut allows a peek into the autopsy room through the eyes of a pro.”—Kathy Reichs


“Who better to deliver a genuinely compelling mystery than real-life medical examiners? Fans of CSI and Forensic Files will devour this well plotted story.”—Karin Slaughter


"All the charm, gruesome detail and surprising empathy that made Working Stiff such a delight brought back in a novel. An impressive opener to a series that deserves to run and run."—Alex Marwood, author of The Wicked Girls and The Killer Next Door


“A strong series launch…While Jessie’s gutsy personality will endear her to readers, it’s the meticulous detail that distinguishes this novel…Fans of Patricia Cornwell’s Kay Scarpetta will be pleased.”—Publishers Weekly


“The married authors…expertly employ their know-how, maintaining blood-and-guts vérité while empathetically exploring what it’s like to do a job with actual life-and-death stakes. First Cut is a fascinating, entertaining series kickoff, with a particularly kickass heroine.”—BookPage

From the Publisher