The Final Cut review

The Final Cut by Catherine Coulter and JT Ellison is the first book in the Brit in the FBI series. A globe hopping mystery, Coulter and Ellison give readers an interesting and entertaining story.

Murder, jewel theft, international diplomacy, and cops from multiple countries all come together in The Final Cut. A once in a lifetime exhibit at the Met in New York of the Crown Jewels from London leads to the murder of a Scotland Yard inspector. Was she a random victim? Was she killed because she knew something? Or was she a dirty cop? Nicholas Drummond, heir to a barony and a chief inspector in London, is determined to find out why his friend and colleague is dead and the FBI isn’t going to stop him.

Agent Michaela Caine, known as Mike, must solve the murder of a foreign cop and work with Nicholas despite her misgivings. When the murder case turns into a jewel theft investigation and more murders occur, the pieces start to fit together - only to fall apart again during the opening reception of the jewel exhibit.

The thief’s identity was pretty easy to figure out even before the reveal but the twisty turns of the various murders and the subsequent investigations, kept me guessing until the authors revealed the final piece. Starting in New York and then through the streets of Paris and the banks of Switzerland, The Final Cut is a wild ride that I couldn’t put down. 

Synopsis

Scotland Yard’s new chief inspector Nicholas Drummond is on the first flight to New York when he learns his colleague, Elaine York, the "minder" of the Crown Jewels for the "Jewel of the Lion" exhibit at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, was found murdered. Then the centerpiece of the exhibit, the infamous Koh-i-Noor Diamond, is stolen from the Queen Mother’s crown. Drummond, American-born but raised in the UK, is a dark, dangerous, fast-rising star in the Yard who never backs down. And this case is no exception.

Special Agents Lacey Sherlock and Dillon Savich from Coulter’s bestselling FBI series don’t hesitate to help Drummond find the cunning international thief known as the Fox. Nonstop action and high stakes intensify as the chase gets deadly. The Fox will stop at nothing to deliver the Koh-i-Noor to the man who believes in its deadly prophecy. Nicholas Drummond, along with his partner, FBI Special Agent Mike Caine, lay it on the line to retrieve the diamond for Queen and country.