Description:

Tucson police detective Sarah Burke, smart and ambitious, worries that Sergeant Delaney, her superior on the homicide squad, seems to have a grudge against her. Still smarting from a painful divorce, she puts personal concerns aside to concentrate on a body found in a parking lot. The case takes a bizarre turn when Sarah's young niece, Denny, neglected by her substance-abusing mother and struggling to stay in school, disappears. The search is complicated by interference from the drug ring that the suspected murderer's been working for, and Sarah's growing romantic interest in a troubled colleague rebuilding his life after injury... ### From Publishers Weekly This promising first of a new series from Gunn (*McCafferty's Nine* and eight other Jake Hines police procedurals) introduces Sarah Burke, a newly minted Tucson, Ariz., homicide detective. When a jogger discovers a stabbing victim, Sarah's investigative team works diligently to uncover the man's identity. Meanwhile, Sarah, who's still recovering from a painful divorce, tries to cope with her sister's reckless behavior, which results in the kidnapping of her sister's young daughter, Denny. Gunn cleverly connects Denny's abduction to the stabbing and other mysterious murders, ratcheting up the suspense as sinister characters close in on Sarah's loved ones. Just when the outcome of the novel appears predictable, Gunn puts an inventive spin on the murders that leads to a surprising conclusion. Though descriptions of the Tucson area may be too detailed for some, the novel's fast pace and smooth plotting more than compensate. *(Feb.)* Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. ### From Booklist Building on the success of her popular Jake Hines mysteries, Gunn offers a new series, this one featuring Tucson police detective Sarah Burke. Smart, ambitious Sarah has progressed up the ranks to detective grade, with her eye firmly on her boss’ job. But right now, she has to crack one very nasty murder case—the stabbing death of a dealer associated with one of Tucson’s deadliest drug lords. As she digs deeper, Sarah realizes there’s something decidedly odd about the dead man—unlike most dealers, he was a clean-living guy who didn’t drink or use drugs. As Sarah tries to find the killer, she deals with troubling personal issues (always a good way to provide backstory): an alcoholic sister, a neglected niece, and her own bitter divorce. But these pale when the niece is kidnapped, and Sarah determines that it’s related to the murder case. Sarah isn’t a particularly groundbreaking heroine, but she fits firmly into the vulnerable-but-tough-minded female-sleuth mold created by Muller, Grafton, and Paretsky; as such, she will appeal to fans of those gold-standard authors. --Emily Melton