‘The Bookseller’ by Tim Sullivan

Published by Head of Zeus,
16 January 2025.
ISBN: 978-1-03591042-7 (HB)

Present-day Bristol. DS George Cross is busy dealing with the announcement that his father has to have an operation for cancer when he’s called by fellow DS Josie Ottey: there’s been a murder at the upmarket antiquarian bookshop in the leafier area of Bristol, with several suspects and even a possible eye-witness ....

DS George Cross is a wonderful character, and Sullivan takes us into his way of seeing the world, picking up on many common autistic traits without ever making the reader feel that Cross is being belittled or looked down on. This is partly achieved with humour, like Cross’s attempts to follow Ottey’s advice to come across as a ‘people person’, or his refreshing directness in questioning, or throwaway remarks – for example, when Ottey is promoted to a DI, George starts worrying about having to get a new partner. He concedes that people found him difficult to work with, but ‘had tried to counter this statement in the past by saying he found it much more difficult to work with’ them. His reaction to his father’s cancer is also characteristic: very practical, reading up everything he can on-line, and insisting on quizzing the surgeon about his expertise. Ottey’s sympathetic approach is a great foil to his practicality, and I also enjoyed the characters within the police station, particularly the boss, Carson, who’s always ready to take someone else’s credit. There’s a good cast of suspicious characters too, even in the dignified book world: one barrow-boy on the up and another going down, a sinister Russian oligarch and the dead man’s temperamental family. The plot moves swiftly from suspect to suspect, and ends with a clever flourish.

A fast -moving police procedural with an outstandingly drawn detective, a real feel of a police investigation and a sleight-of-hand ending. This is the 7^th in the series, and reads very well as a stand-alone, but if you like following a series in order, DS Cross’s first outing is in The Dentist.
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Reviewer: Marsali Taylor

Tim Sullivan is an acclaimed screenwriter, whose credits include A Handful Of Dust, Jack And Sarah (which he also directed) and My Little Pony – A New Generation. He is also a Television director whose credits include Sherlock Holmes and Cold Feet. He has now embarked on a series of crime novels – The Dentist, The Cyclist and The Patient – set in Bristol featuring the eccentric and socially-awkward, but brilliantly persistent DS George Cross.  

www.timsullivan.uk  

Marsali Taylor grew up near Edinburgh and came to Shetland as a newly qualified teacher. Marsali is a qualified STGA tourist-guide who is fascinated by history, and has published plays in Shetland's distinctive dialect, as well as a history of women's suffrage in Shetland. She's also a keen sailor who enjoys exploring in her own 8m yacht, and an active member of her local drama group.  She lives with her husband and two Shetland ponies.

www.marsalitaylor.co.uk