Sarah Burke Books in Order: How to read Elizabeth Gunn’s series?

By the author of the Jake Hines series.

What is the Sarah Burke series about?

From mystery writer Elizabeth Gunn, the Sarah Burke series takes us to Tucson for some murder mysteries.

The story revolves around divorced homicide detective Sarah Burke who, with the help of her crew of police detectives, investigates murders under the Arizona Sun while dealing with the challenges of her complicated personal life.

How to read the Sarah Burke Books in Order?

Every book in the Sarah Burke series works as a standalone story, but the lives of the different characters evolve from one novel to the other.

1. Cool in Tucson – Ambitious Tucson police detective Sarah Burke, still smarting from a painful divorce, tries to concentrate on a body found in a parking lot. The case takes a bizarre turn when Sarah’s young niece, neglected by her substance-abusing mother, disappears. The search is complicated by interference from the drug ring the suspected murderers have been working for, and Sarah’s romantic interest in a troubled colleague rebuilding his life after injury . . .
2. New River Blues – Sarah Burke is called in to investigate a horrific double murder in a high-dollar neighborhood, and the tragic destiny of a rich and troubled family unfolds … Meanwhile, Sarah’s household bulges at the seams, as her niece, her mother, and her boyfriend all search for accommodation in her small spaces and crowded schedule, and her sister, as usual, does nothing to make things easier …
3. Kissing Arizona – As Sarah Burke and her crew of police detectives investigate an apparent murder-suicide in a well-known family of local merchants, their façade of diligent respectability explodes in a burst of violence that rips the cover off long-concealed family secrets. In a second case, Southern Arizona’s diverse population streams collide as border crossers and drug smugglers, federal agents, and local cops fight for turf and answers in a beautiful valley that’s been loved and battled over for centuries.

4. The Magic Line – Detective Sarah Burke is called to a mass shooting in a quiet residential street; it looks like a ‘home invasion’ gone very wrong. There are several dead bodies but the crime scene just doesn’t make sense – until one of the ‘dead’ victims suddenly escapes and another man is seen running from the house…
5. Red Man Down – Sarah Burke’s Saturday off is interrupted when she is called to a shooting – a rookie cop has been involved in a shootout with a criminal stealing copper wire from a warehouse. When the criminal in question turns out to be ex-cop and Red Man Ed Lacey, Sarah is shocked. The evidence suggests he wanted the cop to shoot him. But why?
6. Denny’s Law – The murder of a man seen fighting in a house during a Fourth of July street parade plunges Sarah Burke’s whole household – her fragile mother Aggie, shrewd and ever-helpful live-in boyfriend Will, and even her hard-charging niece, Denny – into her latest case.

7. Sarah’s List – Detective Sarah Burke and new cop Zivko ‘Bogey’ Boganicevic are sent to an incident at Fairweather Farms senior living center in Tucson. The center’s van has suddenly been chased at reckless speed by a carload of bandits firing high-powered rifles, and crashed into its own garage. Arriving at the scene, Sarah makes a grisly discovery: the driver, Enrique Lopez, was shot in the head during the chase. Why was a kindly man, dedicated to looking after the elderly, targeted and killed so dramatically by a team of hoodlums?

If you like Sarah Burke, you may also want to see our guide to J.A. Jance’s books. Don’t hesitate to follow us on Twitter or Facebook to discover more book series.