Aftershock by Judy Melinek & T.J. Mitchell -a Review

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Description:
There’s a body crushed under a load of pipes on a San Francisco construction site, and medical examiner Dr. Jessie Teska is on call. So it’s her job to figure out who it is—and her headache when the autopsy reveals that the death is a homicide staged as an accident.

Jessie is hot on the murderer’s trail, then an earthquake sends her and her whole city reeling. When the dust clears, her case has fallen apart and an innocent man is being framed. Jessie knows she’s the only one who can prove it, and she races to piece together the truth—before it gets buried and brings her down in the rubble.

With Melinek and Mitchell’s trademark blend of propulsive prose, deft plotting and mordant humor, this rollicking new installment in the Jessie Teska Mystery series will shake you up and leave you rattled.

Review:

Aftershock by Judy Melinek and T.J. Mitchell is the 2^nd book in their Jessie Teska series.  I did not read the first book in this series, but it did read well as a standalone.  Aftershock begins with Medical Examiner Jessie Teska, our heroine, called in the middle of the night to investigate a dead body at a construction site. The body lies under pipes that had dropped from a collapsed beam. Everyone assumes it was an accident, but Jessie notices signs of the body having been dragged, no blood on site, and other small things which dictated that this was staged. The police give her a hard time, as they prefer this being an accident, but Jessie is determined to prove this was murder.

There is also a romantic element to the story, as Jessie is in a relationship with someone, who resents all the time she spends trying to solve every case.  I really didn’t care too much for her boyfriend, especially since he refused her to meet his family.  This is part of the overall story, but in the background to the true storyline.

When an earthquake, hits Jessie suffers a head injury, but she pushes to get released, as she needs to examine the victim, as well as the other normal deaths that come in during the earthquake.  Jessie is a workaholic and when the detectives arrest one of men at the construction site, Jessie keeps investigating, as she feels this person is being framed.  Along the way, she does alienate some people, as per her discoveries that causes the police to be negative, as well as her boyfriend walking out.   But Jessie proves herself to be a great medical examiner, as well as her own detective work. 

What follows is an exciting story, though I will note that I thought Jessie’s continual determination to prove who was the real culprit put her life in danger a few times, especially with her injuries.  It did not feel realistic.  The ending was a wild climax, holding my breath if Jessie would survive. It was sort of a surprise as to who, how and why?

Aftershock was a good mystery, and Jessie Teska was very good as the heroine, though I thought some things she continued to do border lined on believability. The story had covered a lot of areas, earthquake, murder, dysfunctional family, police/DA issues and intense situations.  Overall, Aftershock was well written by Judy Melinek and T.J. Mitchell.

Reviewed by Barb

Copy provided by Publisher