BOOKS

AFTERSHOCK

by Judy Melinek and

TJ Mitchell

HarperCollins — $29.99

Wellington-based Melinek and Mitchell, the former a pathologist who was previously an assistant medical examiner in San Francisco, are perhaps this country’s only husband and wife crime-writing couple.

This novel is firmly set in Melinek’s former home, where it opens with the discovery of a body on a construction site, crushed beneath a load of building materials. The body is that of the building’s architect. There are suspects and questions. Our protagonist, medical examiner Jessie Teska, must decide if it is an accident or a homicide. At this point readers may care to consider how many thrillers are built around accidents.

There are some creaky bits on these pages. It is hard to imagine an experienced medical examiner really saying to an experienced police officer: “Time of death estimation is unreliable. It depends on too many variables …” That is