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Detective Sarah Burke #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?
Sarah and her team delve into Ed’s life, and soon decide to re-open an investigation into three deaths. The more they investigate, the more obstacles they encounter – particularly from the family, who quickly close ranks. What are they hiding?
Sarah and her team delve into Ed’s life, and soon decide to re-open an investigation into three deaths. The more they investigate, the more obstacles they encounter – particularly from the family, who quickly close ranks. What are they hiding?
- GenresCrimeMysteryProcedural
192 pages, Hardcover
First published May 1, 2014
113 people are currently reading
72 people want to read
About the author
Elizabeth Gunn
32 books54 followersA 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.
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Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews
February 12, 2016
Sarah Burke is a homicide detective in Tucson, Arizona, with an unconventional family life. She lives with her boyfriend, who is also a cop, along with her mother and her niece. It's not a common arrangement, but it seems to work for all of them, and it gives Sarah the support she needs to do a very difficult and demanding job.
On a Saturday morning, Sarah's plans to go shopping with her niece are interrupted when she's called to an officer-involved shooting. A patrolman, relatively new to the force, has interrupted a burglary in process, and the perpetrator drew down on him. The patrolman reacted instinctively, drew his own weapon and fired three shots, killing the thief.
It seems to be a perfectly straightforward case of a justifiable shooting. Video from the officer's dashboard camera clearly shows that the incident played out exactly has the patrolman has described it. But the detectives are shocked when they get a closer look at the victim and realize that it's an ex-cop named Ed Lacey. Lacey used to be a training officer and was known as the Red Man because of the red protective headgear that he wore while training recruits in hand-to-hand combat.
As Sarah and the rest of the unit delve into the case, it seems clear that Ed Lacey's life had gone completely off the rails in the last couple of years and that he ultimately committed suicide by cop. The spark that touched off this disaster came when the uncle who had raised Lacey, and to whom he was devoted, committed suicide two years earlier after being accused of embezzling nearly $90,000 from the credit union where he worked. The uncle insisted that he was innocent and Lacey supported him vehemently. They money was never recovered.
What initially seemed like a relatively simple situation thus quickly evolves into something much more sinister and complex. Sarah and the other detectives probe deeply into the lives of Ed Lacey and the members of his extended family and the deeper they dig the murkier and more dangerous the case becomes.
This is a very well-plotted book and it moves swiftly along. It's billed as "a Sarah Burke Police procedural," and Gunn clearly knows her stuff. The police procedure is by the book and very believable. Gunn uses the Tucson setting to excellent advantage and, all in all, this is a very entertaining story.
On a Saturday morning, Sarah's plans to go shopping with her niece are interrupted when she's called to an officer-involved shooting. A patrolman, relatively new to the force, has interrupted a burglary in process, and the perpetrator drew down on him. The patrolman reacted instinctively, drew his own weapon and fired three shots, killing the thief.
It seems to be a perfectly straightforward case of a justifiable shooting. Video from the officer's dashboard camera clearly shows that the incident played out exactly has the patrolman has described it. But the detectives are shocked when they get a closer look at the victim and realize that it's an ex-cop named Ed Lacey. Lacey used to be a training officer and was known as the Red Man because of the red protective headgear that he wore while training recruits in hand-to-hand combat.
As Sarah and the rest of the unit delve into the case, it seems clear that Ed Lacey's life had gone completely off the rails in the last couple of years and that he ultimately committed suicide by cop. The spark that touched off this disaster came when the uncle who had raised Lacey, and to whom he was devoted, committed suicide two years earlier after being accused of embezzling nearly $90,000 from the credit union where he worked. The uncle insisted that he was innocent and Lacey supported him vehemently. They money was never recovered.
What initially seemed like a relatively simple situation thus quickly evolves into something much more sinister and complex. Sarah and the other detectives probe deeply into the lives of Ed Lacey and the members of his extended family and the deeper they dig the murkier and more dangerous the case becomes.
This is a very well-plotted book and it moves swiftly along. It's billed as "a Sarah Burke Police procedural," and Gunn clearly knows her stuff. The police procedure is by the book and very believable. Gunn uses the Tucson setting to excellent advantage and, all in all, this is a very entertaining story.
May 26, 2014
Less than 200 pages, this book is a short read, but very well plotted. I enjoyed it very much.
July 26, 2014
This is a well plotted police procedural, an easy read, suspenseful and well written. Good beach read.
March 10, 2023
Family Secrets
A homeless man was stealing copper wiring in broad daylight. Police responded to the call. The man pulled a gun on the policeman and was killed. It turned out the dead man was a former policeman and Sarah and the other detectives began to unravel a mystery.
A homeless man was stealing copper wiring in broad daylight. Police responded to the call. The man pulled a gun on the policeman and was killed. It turned out the dead man was a former policeman and Sarah and the other detectives began to unravel a mystery.
June 22, 2022
Keeps getting better
Sarah Burke is quite the detective and will go to great lengths to solve a case. She has a good intuition and looks at a case from all angles. Excellent read!
Sarah Burke is quite the detective and will go to great lengths to solve a case. She has a good intuition and looks at a case from all angles. Excellent read!
July 5, 2022
Great!
Thanks for another outstanding Sarah Burke novel.nnSarah and eccentric team are fun to follow and are always enjoyable to follow along their route!
Thanks for another outstanding Sarah Burke novel.nnSarah and eccentric team are fun to follow and are always enjoyable to follow along their route!
August 20, 2021
I really wanted to like this book more than I did. It's rare to find a story based in Tucson, AZ, a city near and dear to me. This police procedural had all the makings of something fine: a female homicide detective called Sarah Burke, an officer-involved fatal shooting of an ex-cop, and some very complicated family dynamics.
Although the shooting was justified, the circumstances immediately set Sarah and her squad mates to wondering... how did a former cop, one well respected, wind up in that situation? Was it a case of "suicide by cop?" As the investigation proceeds, we delve into the cop's background, leading to a family with a sketchy history and a number of folks murdered along the way.
Gunn throws enough red herrings into the pond to keep things interesting and, of course, I enjoyed the references to places in the city with which I am familiar. The book is fairly brief and the story moves along well enough, so why only three stars and my opening remark? Well, for one, the writing seemed a bit forced, or perhaps formulaic. It failed to "flow" naturally and some of the dialogue in the squad and field just felt more like a script than the natural banter between colleagues. Of course, that is an elusive element in these books, and if you want to see it done right, read any of Ed McBain's 87th Precinct novels. And finally, while I'm kvetching, why set a story in Tucson in the winter? Sure, the desert southwest gets cold, even sees snow (albeit the kind that melts in a day) once in a blue moon, but what we all know it's famous for is the oven-temp summers. Gunn could have set this in July or August, and capitalized on the heat, the ferocity of the monsoon thunderstorms, and how the weather can actually be used as another character. Oh well, just this reader's opinion.
In sum, this was a fine diversion, but fell shy of what I'd hoped.
Although the shooting was justified, the circumstances immediately set Sarah and her squad mates to wondering... how did a former cop, one well respected, wind up in that situation? Was it a case of "suicide by cop?" As the investigation proceeds, we delve into the cop's background, leading to a family with a sketchy history and a number of folks murdered along the way.
Gunn throws enough red herrings into the pond to keep things interesting and, of course, I enjoyed the references to places in the city with which I am familiar. The book is fairly brief and the story moves along well enough, so why only three stars and my opening remark? Well, for one, the writing seemed a bit forced, or perhaps formulaic. It failed to "flow" naturally and some of the dialogue in the squad and field just felt more like a script than the natural banter between colleagues. Of course, that is an elusive element in these books, and if you want to see it done right, read any of Ed McBain's 87th Precinct novels. And finally, while I'm kvetching, why set a story in Tucson in the winter? Sure, the desert southwest gets cold, even sees snow (albeit the kind that melts in a day) once in a blue moon, but what we all know it's famous for is the oven-temp summers. Gunn could have set this in July or August, and capitalized on the heat, the ferocity of the monsoon thunderstorms, and how the weather can actually be used as another character. Oh well, just this reader's opinion.
In sum, this was a fine diversion, but fell shy of what I'd hoped.
December 2, 2022
ok but…
I pretty much enjoyed the story. But not every police department I think actually puts prospective officers through that much and that difficult training. That is very misleading. And at the end they left it that they might not be able to prove their case…?? And another fiction account of police departments failing because of a lazy officer which leads to a cold case that succeeds with proper policing.
I pretty much enjoyed the story. But not every police department I think actually puts prospective officers through that much and that difficult training. That is very misleading. And at the end they left it that they might not be able to prove their case…?? And another fiction account of police departments failing because of a lazy officer which leads to a cold case that succeeds with proper policing.
October 26, 2014
This is subtitled "A Sarah Burke Police Procedural"--and so it is. It's possibly the most procedural procedural I've ever read. It's also dull. Although there is some about the detectives on the case, I found that I needed more to humanize them. I don't think Sarah Burke will be on my "must read" list.
August 11, 2015
This one focused almost entirely on the within-book mystery (and did a very good job of that) - this time not much changed in Sarah's home situation (her mom, niece, and fellow-policeofficer-boyfriend all sharing a house with her)
Well done.
Well done.
October 27, 2018
I didn't realize when I bought this book at a library book sale that it's the fifth in a series. I intend to check out the first four so I can get to know these characters better. Hopefully the series is continuing.
It has a good pace and enjoyable characters.
It has a good pace and enjoyable characters.
September 29, 2014
very bored with this book.
January 24, 2016
interesting, but a bit too proceduralprocedural.
September 23, 2017
I always enjoy Elizabeth Gunn's mysteries, whether set in Minnesota or Arizona!
June 29, 2019
Good book with lots of Tucson references. Love detective stories.
Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews