First Cut

By: Judy Melinek, T.J. Mitchell

Narrated by: Amanda Dolan

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.

Can’t even get through Chapter 1

The narrators voice is so grating and annoying that I simply can’t continue it. Bummer. I had heard the story was good, but I can’t find a way to sink into the story. Sorry.

Karensaintsing,DVM

I am on the road a LOT, I go through a LOT of audible books. Dr. Melink hit a home run with her first book in this series. She was able to bring her professional knowledge keeping things true to reality while weaving a griping story that kept me excited to get back in my truck and on the road so I could listen to more. I was definitely left ready for more in this unique and exciting new series!

A great twist on noir detective novel

It’s essentially a noir detective novel, but with interesting twists since the protagonist is a medical examiner. Well worth the listen!

Story didn’t grab me

I didn’t find this book that interesting. In the future, I may give the author another try.

not what expected

This novel started out really great however somewhere just past the halfway mark it began to diminish, disappoint and become monotonous. It is more of a boring crime novel than a novel focused on a medical examiner and pertinent issues. The "fights" were long and redundant.