This is the seventh installment in the Sarah Burke police procedural series set in Tucson, Arizona. Though I did not read any of the previous titles, the author included enough of the back story that “Sarah’s List” read well as a stand-alone.

The protagonist, Sarah Burke, was a great character. She was skilled in her job as a homicide detective, yet she wasn’t perfect and made some errors that would come back to haunt her. I enjoyed reading of her home life with her partner, mother, and niece.

The case she was working on was complicated and involved illegal drugs. I was interested in finding out how Sarah would solve the mystery.

The setting, a overly hot Tucson summer, was well rendered.

Anyone who enjoys a police procedural novel that is mostly about the ‘procedure’ will find this an entertaining read.

3.5 stars rounded up for NetGalley and Amazon. Rounded down for Goodreads (where the meaning of the stars differ).

This is book 7 in the Sarah Burke series and I think I might have enjoyed it more if I had read one of the previous books. Set in Tucson, Arizona this book features Sarah, a police detective who has a new partner. They get a call to Fairweather Farms, a senior living center to find the center's van crashed into the garage and the driver dead of a gunshot wound. As they investigate Sarah starts to have some serious doubts about the case. The action is fast moving and the case in an interesting idea. I received a copy of this ARC in exchange for a fair and honest review.

Sarah Burke is a detective with Tucson police in Arizona. I did not like her character and I failed to connect with her. The plot had promise but just failed to deliver for me. All said, just a very ordinary police procedural which would be a quick summer read.Thanks to Net Galley for my ARC.

Detective Sarah Burke is one of the first females on the Arizona police force and it shows. She has a real problem accepting help from her colleagues ..especially the men.

Taking along new cop Bogey Boganicevic, Sarah rushes to a crime scene at a senior living facility in Tucson. The facility's van has been chased by a car load of bandits shooting high powered rifles causing the death of the driver and a lot of damage to the van and the garage where it ended up.

Sarah discovers that the driver was not the regular driver. Ironically, the regular driver is in the hospital, being a victim in an auto accident. The replacement driver was known to be well liked, dedicated to helping out the senior citizens.

Sarah first puts a list together ... questions she needs to ask and get answers for. What she finds is a pathway to drugs, drug dealers, lies and secrets. As she gets closer to solving the case, she finds a target placed on her back.

Well written, with twists and turns, and as always, people who would rather lie than tell the truth. Sarah is tough, feisty, but maybe tries a little too hard to prove herself. Bogey is at best a mediocre cop which sets Sarah's teeth on edge, but she does try her best to be a good mentor. I enjoy the Arizona setting, as I've lived (not in Tuscon) in Arizona for many years. There's lots of action leading to an unexpected conclusion.

Many thanks to the author / Severn House Publishing / Netgalley for the digital copy of this crime fiction. Read and reviewed voluntarily, opinions expressed here are unbiased and entirely my own.
3.5 STARS

Detective Sarah Burke is a homicide detective in Tucson, Arizona. She lives with her mother, her niece and her partner, Will, an investigator with the county attorney’s office. She has worked hard to be accepted and has a strong reputation for not giving up. A man, who everyone loves, is shot to death while driving a senior citizens van. The information does not add up, but may have something to do with the increase in drug cases. Sarah makes notes of everything and relies on her “lists” but this time the “lists” are not helping. As events unfold and Sarah is forced to make a deadly decision, it seems as the case may never be solved. But Sarah doesn’t give up and she doesn’t this time either. I have read this entire series and enjoy the blended main characters and always an intriguing mystery. This time, the ending took me by surprise. Loved it! I received an advance review copy at no cost and without obligation for an honest review. (by paytonpuppy)

Why would anyone chase and shoot down Enrique, especially as he was driving a van for the Fairweather Farms senior center? That's the question Detective Sarah Burke and her new partner Bogey have to answer. Turns out more was going on there than met the eye. It's a quick paced procedural with good characters in Sarah and Bogey. There are a couple of twists, nice atmospherics, and a bit that will make you think twice. I'd not read the earlier books in this series so this was a standalone for me- and it was fine as such. Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC. No spoilers from me but this is a good read.

A solid mystery, full of twists and turns, that kept me guessing.
It's an engrossing and entertaining story, the characters are fleshed out and the plot keeps you hooked.
I recommend it.
Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this ARC, all opinions are mine.

Sarah’s List by Elizabeth Gunn a five-star read that will appear on many must read lists. This wasn’t always a five-star read, it wavered, but I gave it five overall as it did keep me hooked. This was number five in the series I didn’t realise that when I picked it up, and It didn’t bother me, as it seems like each one deals with another case for Sarah Burke to deal with. This one in particular appealed to me as I manage a type of senior living centre and know some of the things that go bump in the night there. I enjoy a good police procedural and this one did have some dips and failures at points but overall it was okay, I struggled with Sarah at points, I suspect it was as In some ways she came across somewhat like my mother and that’s not always a positive thing. Overall though I enjoyed this if I gave myself to the story and suspended my brain, I really got into it, but only then. Do give it a try if you want something to keep you guessing.

Good, solid book. Easy to follow. Would recommend to anyone who likes a thriller or mystery book. Liked the characters and it was difficult to put down!

Detective Sarah Burke and her new partner Bogey are sent to the scene of an accident. A van belonging to an exclusive senior living center has crashed after the driver is killed in a drive by shooting. Why was the driver targeted? Lots of unanswered questions lead Sarah on a twisted path with a surprise ending. This book moved at a good pace and had a good story line. I liked the characters and didn’t see the ending coming. Thank you to net galley for an advanced readers copy.

This was a well-written drama with a solid mystery that kept me immersed in all aspect. The author knows how to spin a story with plenty of red herring and other outside activities to keep me diving into what was going on. I thought I had a handle on where the story was going, but then the author changed directions, all to the betterment of the story. I like the pacing which was on par with how well this story was being told, ratcheting up a notch as the book headed towards its finale. This was a good read and so glad to see Sarah and her family back in print.

This is the fifth book in the series, and I am sorry to say I just could not get immersed in it. Sarah Burke is a detective in the Tucson PD, breaking in a new partner,Zivko 'Bogey' Boganicevic. They are sent to a retirement home where they find the company van nose-deep in the garage, sprayed with bullets, a dead driver and a very unhappy resident of the retirement home. Why is this kind man dead and who would have done this. Sarah begins with a list of questions, beginning with where is the regular driver of the van? Apparently, he is in the hospital after barely surviving a wreck. As Sarah's list of questions gets longer, she ends up on paid leave after shooting a kidnapper in the hospital. Sarah now has a lot of time to pursue her questions. Nice characterizations, but the plot just did not pique my interest.

Normally, if I have a negative experience with a particular novel, I don't give second chances to the author. (There have been a few exceptions, such as when the first novel is good but not overwhelmingly impressive.) I've read one of Gunn's novels before, only I didn't realize that when I requested this particular one. When I started reading, I looked at the list of previous titles and recognized one as a DNF from a few years ago.

Maybe it's unfair to read/review a book under these circumstances, given that I really had not enjoyed the previous book. But I felt obligated. I'd been given a free copy, after all! So I gave Sarah's List a chance and read the entire book.

Maybe I'm not the target audience? Or maybe I'd read too many police procedurals in the past week? Whatever the reason, Sarah's List failed to win me over.

It wasn't bad. But it wasn't terrific, either. If you're a fan of Gunn's other work, though, don't let this review deter you from reading Sarah's List! It could be a mismatch of reader and book series.

CHARACTERS

Sarah is the main issue. I never warmed to her. In fact, I never got a true sense of her personality, as if I missed some key aspect of her Sarah-ness.

The little I did grasp isn't . . . I'm struggling to find the right word. Sympathetic? Interesting? Distinctive? None of these quite fit. But whatever makes me, as a reader, emotionally connect with a character, isn't there. That's a major flaw for me.

She's one of the first females on the Tuscan Arizona police force, and it shows. She doesn't like accepting help from her male colleagues, even when they offer in goodwill; and while this makes sense, it sometimes borders on arrogance. She is tough, a real badass, but so are dozens of other female cops in current fiction series. What makes her different from the others?

The other big characterization weakness is her family. Sarah lives with her boyfriend (whom she refers to by his first and last name), her depressed mother, and her 12 year old niece Denny. They've shown up in previous books, including the earlier one I read.

I never found Denny believable as a preteen. Granted, she's more mature because of her absent mother's drug addiction. Even so, her character never acts preteen-ish enough to be convincing and there are a number of odd details that didn't add up.

And this is nitpicky, but . . . when Sarah thinks about how Denny is growing up, she thinks that she needs to "get her out of braids" and take her to a hair stylist for a hairdo. That may look caring, but it also looks controlling and arrogant, as if it doesn't matter whether or not Denny herself wants a change of hair styles. (Ask me how I know this, and you'll hear about a disastrous perm I received for my 12th birthday "present".)

PLOT

It is an interesting enough premise. But somehow it never delivered for me. There are the usual roadblocks from uncooperative characters, all of which are obvious. The climax seems to pass almost without me noticing it. I could tell that the book was building the action up, ramping up the stakes, and then it was over, almost before I noticed it. It was really disappointing.

NARRATIVE

Now, for the good points.

Elizabeth Gunn is a seasoned writer, that's obvious. She knows how to plant clues in plain sight, lead the reader on various rabbit trails, and create interesting side characters. I particularly liked Gloria, a crime scene photographer; Delaney, Sarah's boss; and Jason, another homicide detective. There's also a bothersome, overly-chatty neighbor that sends Sarah's mom into a tizzy.

Despite my disappointment with the lackluster climax, I did find certain aspects of it unusual. There were several other moments when a plot turn caught me by surprise.

The writing quality was terrific, of course, as I would expect from a novelist with multiple published books to her credit. Polished and precise.

3 STARS

While Sarah's List disappointed me, not everyone shares my taste in book. Again, maybe I wasn't the target audience. Maybe I simply read too many engrossing page-turners in the previous few weeks to enjoy the book or find the twists surprising. Maybe I was tired of reading. Who knows?

Whatever the reason, I found Sarah's List to be an average police procedural. While I never emotionally connected with Sarah, other readers may. If you're already a huge Elizabeth Gunn fan or adore the other Sarah Burke mysteries, you may really like this one.

Thanks to Netgalley and Severn House for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Note: this review will appear on my personal blog on July 20, 2020.

This is an intiguing story line well designed to keep the reader hooked. Set in Tucson,that setting adds richness to the story. Detective Sarah is well conceived and her family detail adds to the book's appeal. Having a detective with a functional home life is unusual in books like this! Sarah is in charge,until her temporary suspension after a gun fight,of unravelling an incident where the unlicensed driver of a care home's transport is killed in a shoot out. Who could have had anything against this charming elderly chap? Sarah's method of planning investigations is to have a list. That helps the reader to sort things too because going over her list reminds you of the progress of the case. Her designated helper is known as Bogey. His real name is as complicated as his personality. The story progresses carefully to an unexpected climax. This is well written story. Sarah needs to return!