Magic Line

Detective Sarah Burke #4

by Elizabeth Gunn

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 . . . Once again, as well as juggling her complicated home life, Sarah Burke is faced with a ballistics mystery to find out exactly what went down - and why.

Genres: Mystery, Procedural, Crime

320 pages, Hardcover

First published March 1, 2012

About the author

A one-time innkeeper with a taste for adventure, Elizabeth has been a private pilot, sky diver, SCUBA diver, and liveaboard sailor. Extensive travel in the US, Canada, Mexico and Europe led to a second career as a free-lance travel writer, during which she began writing a series of police procedural mysteries set in southeast Minnesota, where she grew up. Her books contrast the sometimes gritty routine of police work with the idyllic rural scenes around a mid-size city in the upper Midwest.

Reviews

[Elisabeth · Rating 4 out of 5]

I like this Sarah Burke series - they seem to keep getting better. The base story (that continues from book to book) is engaging, and the core story of this novel was also very well done. She takes us inside the minds of the crooks too.

[Melinda · Rating 5 out of 5]

Love this series.

The many characters this author has created are outstanding. Every character good and bad is fleshed out to where you feel they are real people. Excellent writing and a great storyline make this a fantastic realistic police procedural. Recommend starting with the first book because each story adds to the overall picture of these detectives lives.

[Pam Jackson-gorsline · Rating 4 out of 5]

Detective work

This is a good story with many twists and turns that keeps you reading. The characters are interesting and easy to get to know. Some characters have a sense of humor that keeps me laughing.

[Clarence W. Weir Jr · Rating 5 out of 5]

A good detective needs to follow their gut pop

Great read. They just never give up. Follow the trail and explore your instincts. Sarah sells to have it down pat. Future looking great for Will, Sarah and family.

[Suzanne · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved it!

Sarah Burke to the rescue! She always gets the bad guy no matter how long it takes to solve a murder.

[Mary E Kilpatrick · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wonderful!

Sarah Burke is a great detective and details are awesome as well. Great story involving police work, family time, love and friendship!

[Julie A Stoltz · Rating 5 out of 5]

Close to Death

Totally enjoyable and hard to put down. Each new character has so many facets to him/her that it keeps the reader alert.

[Norma Luman · Rating 5 out of 5]

enjoying

From beginning to end this book will definitely keep your attention.
I would definitely recommend to anyone reading this book.

[Stephen · Rating 5 out of 5]

A whole mix of scenes and life stories to read in one book.

The fourth in what looks like being a five book series. The series is of a genre that I tend to follow but where many authors seem to be making the killing more horrific Margaret Gunn majors on the personalities that she develops through the series. That for me makes the author a winner. While I tend to steer clear of American writers (I'm a Limey.) she makes me review my inhibitions. How? Just the quality of her writing I think.

If you are starting with this book in the series I strongly recommend putting it aside and going back to book one. Each volume is standalone and not too much time is spent backtracking on previous books but the character theme is steadily developed.

Hope you enjoy as much as I have.

[Elise Stone · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book had the same weakness as the last Sarah Burke mystery I read. It needs more pink! Margie Lawson, in her EDITS system, uses pink to highlight writing that shows emotion. Margie has strict rules for what qualifies as pink: it must be a visceral reaction and it must be for the point of view character.

Never does the reader get a strong sense of emotion from Sarah. She's a competent homicide detective and she has a boyfriend and a mother and a niece she lives with, but I couldn't identify with any of what Sarah was feeling because she never seemed to feel anything. Since good characters are what makes a story interesting to me, the book was a disappointment.

I was also disappointed that there was no mystery in this novel. The reader knows from the beginning who committed the crime. Several chapters are written from the point of view of the criminals. Since half the fun of reading a mystery for me is trying to figure out whodunnit, I wasn't happy with knowing the answer to that question from the beginning of the book. And it's not a thriller where you're on the edge of your seat, wondering if the heroine (or hero) is going to be trapped and killed by the bad guy. It's more like a cat and mouse game. A very tame cat and mouse game.

On the other hand, the police procedural material was excellent. Elizabeth Gunn does numerous ride-alongs with the Tucson Police Department and she obviously knows her stuff. All of the actions and language ring true. It's not like some other mysteries where you wonder if the author has ever talked to an actual police detective before writing the book.

Elizabeth Gunn also writes good prose. There's rich use of language, fresh metaphors, and a high quality of writing. Unfortunately, this doesn't make up for what was missing for me from this book.

[Kay · Rating 4 out of 5]

Started out as a pleasant, routine police procedural UNTIL one of the criminals (an amateur who was in over his head with some ruthless pros) tries to panhandle an elderly disabled woman at a bus stop. She tells him that if he wants money he should earn it by carrying her groceries home, and then she fixes him a sandwich. From then on, I was hooked. There is one coincidence that strains credulity as the plot reaches its climax. However, I enjoyed the senior citizen way too much to give this just three stars.
I've liked some of Gunn's books in a different series, set in Minnesota, so I may seek out more Sarah Burke episodes. Definitely not "thrillers" in the sense of terrifying the reader--which is just fine with me.

A quote describing the coroner: "He was always so respectful of the bodies, Sarah thought. Death absolved them, somehow, in his eyes, of the inane futility he saw in his fellow humans while they lived."

[Gail Gibbs · Rating 4 out of 5]

I haven't read the other four Sarah Burke mysteries (yet!) but am happy to report that this novel stands alone nicely. Sarah's family is re-introduced with a minimum of backstory fuss, and her work colleagues are added in as the story progressed.

Meanwhile, the book has two of the most engaging bad guys I've met in a long time, whose stories run parallel to the detectives trying to catch them. Well-rounded villains are always more fun. Gunn manages to make us understand not only their actions, but provides thoughtful insights into the circumstances and attitudes that could lead someone into a life of crime.

[Dale · Rating 3 out of 5]

Gunn, Elizabeth: THE MAGIC LINE, a Sarah Burke Mystery: I thought it was the first in the state of AZ series ab. a female investigative cop, but GoodReads says it's #4; not really a ‘who–dun-it’ so much as an evolving story about all the characters, to be further developed in later books. Not a bad read, but not a compelling one either. 2012 purchased (by spouse) hardback, 185 pgs., 3 out of 5 stars

[Anne - Books of My Heart · Rating 3 out of 5]

I started reading this author because she wrote mysteries and they were set in the state where I live. This is her other series set in Tucson AZ which I have visited and loved. She writes well; there are characters that make one care. This book was rather short. I liked one of the characters Zeb and wish we knew better what happened to him; maybe he will be mentioned in a later book.

[Andy Plonka · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Tucson locale is the highlight of this book for me since I became a part time resident of the city. It was fun to identify places referred to in the novel, as well as have a familiarity with the local problems. The plot is not unusual or complex but appropriate to the location and fully believable

[Susan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Sarah Burke and her homicide team are called to a house where there are four dead bodies. Then one of the bodies escapes. He's only one of the survivors of the home invasion; the other, a young man who's made a lot of bad decisions, realizes he's in over his head and tries to remake his life. There's less about Sarah's personal life in this, which some readers will regret.

[Cornmaven · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really liked Gunn's writing style of laying out the thought processes of all of the characters. Simple mainstream mystery. Sarah Burke is a good recurring character, although I didn't yet see her 'major' character flaw that has to emerge to make her endure.

[Lindy · Rating 2 out of 5]

I picked this one up hoping for a good mystery, but there really wasn't much of a mystery at all. If your desperate to read something, go for it.

[Mary · Rating 3 out of 5]

good mystery set in Tucson with some humor amid the violence. I'll read more of Gunn's books.

[Barbara · Rating 3 out of 5]

I like the style of writing and characters -

[Jackie Simons]

Read 4/12

[Cheryl · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was really BORING~

[Jane · Rating 4 out of 5]

this series is grittier than the jake hines series and more amusing. enjoy both.

[Kathryn · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good airplane book, about a 3-hour read.

[Gayle L. Gifford · Rating 3 out of 5]

Pleasant enough

Engaging enough story for a quick read. A few too many coincides that neatly tie everything up. Didn't learn very much about Tucson either.

[Beverly Higgins · Rating 3 out of 5]

Too many coincidences.