I am in love with DS George Cross, not as a person, but as a character in a police procedural. I have the feeling he would be an exasperating person in real life, and very difficult to work with. But, his partner, DS Josie Ottey is making progress in Tim Sullivan’s The Cyclist.
Cross and Ottey are sent to the scene when construction workers, knocking down a group of garages, find a body wrapped in plastic. Why do construction supervisors always think they can proceed although their site is now a crime scene? There’s no identification on the body, but once Cross witnesses the autopsy he says the victim was a cyclist. He can tell by his upper legs and the pattern of his sun tan.
Eventually, after their trainee, Alice Mackezie, contacts cycling clubs, they’re able to identify Alexander Paphides. Alex worked at his family’s Greek restaurant. Between the cycling club, the restaurant, and Alex’s business interests, the duo have a number of suspects. To the frustration of his boss, Cross eliminates all of them, leaving them with no one. But, Cross has his own unique way of looking at a murder investigation. And, no matter what his superiors say, he won’t stop until he has the correct answer.
As I mentioned when I reviewed The Dentist, Cross is on the spectrum. But, he’s working on his issues. He observes people because he doesn’t have a natural understanding of people and their behavior. Ottey also makes suggestions to him, and his reactions sometimes lead to humorous conversations.
Despite the serious nature of the investigations, there is humor in these books. Cross practices organ one night a week at a local church. The Catholic priest would love to have George play for a recital, and does his best to push Cross. So far, George is resisting him. George isn’t responsible for the turnabout is fair play lesson, but the priest finds himself in the same predicament. He likes to bake, and some of his parishioners have been urging him to participate in “The Great British Baking Show”.
A blurb quotes Stephen Fry as saying “A perfect detective”. I certainly wouldn’t call George Cross a perfect detective, but it’s fascinating to observe him in action in The Cyclist.
The Cyclist by Tim Sullivan. Head of Zeus, 2020, 249p.
FTC Full Disclosure – I bought a copy of the book.
Good morning, Lesa. Thanks to your reviews of Tim Sullivan’s DS Cross books, I’ve gotten hold of the first that I could find, The Politician, which is actually the fourth in the series. I’m looking forward to it.
I hope you like it, Kim. I’m sorry the first one, The Dentist, isn’t readily available. It’s an excellent introduction to George.
I’m two-thirds of the way through The Dentist and enjoying it as much as you said. Alice is pretty much a perfect trainee for George, as she is new, young and enthusiastic, and even though she doesn’t understand him she can see he is good at what he does. There is humor in watching the ambitious boss have to deal with a subordinate who ignores him and does what he wants, but gets results. In fact, he is sometimes openly defiant, announcing that he will ignore the boss’s directives and follow his own path. Good book.
Jeff, I’m so glad you’re enjoying it as much as I did. I like George, Ottey, and Alice. I like to see your opinion of a book that’s new to me. Thank you!
So, I was able to get THE DENTIST at NetGalley.
Went looking for this second book and no joy there or at my local library. When they actually get the systems fully working, I can try to interlibrary loan it. The prices on Amazon for it are nuts and I can’t pick it up.
Can’t get NetGalley to give me FRAMED IN DEATH either.
(grumble, grumble, slams the front door, grumble)
I too was able to get The Dentist from NetGalley. I started it this morning and hope the rest of the series is coming soon in print form to the US. Or even a decent price on Kindle.
In case it’s helpful to anyone, I could only find The Dentist (here on the west coast in Canada) and had trouble finding any of the other books in the series anywhere, but kept looking and found they were available to purchase from a small bookstore chain here in Canada called McNally Robinson, with stores in Winnipeg and Saskatoon. So I ordered the next few books in the series and they arrived promptly. They still have stock and I think they ship outside of Canada, so it’s an option if you’re interested.
If any of you have access to the Cloud Library – check if your local library system belongs to it – ALL the books are available, which seems crazy but worked for me. Our local library (Brooklyn Public Library) does NOT participate, but since we spend three months in Florida in the winter, we have a Palm Beach County Library card, and they are part of the system.
Other than that, Amazon has book seven available for only 49 cents on Kindlle.
I know it isn’t easy to get these books, but I’m still happy I shared them with everyone. I still think it was someone here who mentioned them.