Wulf's Book Reviews

The Bookseller by Tim Sullivan Five stars out of five. “The Bookseller” places DS George Cross in Bristol’s world of rare and second-hand bookselling. When Ed Squire is murdered in his own shop, the investigation takes in more than a crime scene: the business has a long history and loyalties stretching across generations. Squire’s Rare Books feels lived in, rather than arranged as a picturesque backdrop. I liked how the antiquarian setting gives the case its own character through the value of old stock and the people who know its history. This is a procedural with a specific subject, not just another murder in another town. Cross fits this world, and his attentive, methodical questions give the investigation a steady centre. Ottey’s more socially intuitive approach helps widen the team’s view of the people around the shop. Their partnership is familiar, but the family tensions and professional loyalties provide new ground for it. The supporting cast feels connected to the business, no...

The Hunter by Tim Sullivan Four stars out of five. “The Hunter”, Tim Sullivan’s Christmas story, gives George Cross two problems: a murder in a frosted hedgerow and what to buy his mother. At the centre is Cross’s clockwork approach to routine, which brings a familiar mix of precision and gentle humour. One small domestic observation captures his perspective: »This didn’t make a lot of sense to Cross who saw a lot of sense in eating the same thing as often as possible.« It is a lovely reminder that what seems obvious to someone else may not be obvious to him. Sullivan never makes Cross merely eccentric for effect; his way of seeing the world shapes the humour and the investigation alike. The Christmas thread gives the case warmth, while the murder remains central. I enjoyed returning to Cross and watching his methodical habits at work. My only reservation is length: the story ends just as I wanted more time with him and the characters around him. It is a pleasant visit, and I would g...

The Teacher by Tim Sullivan Five stars out of five. “The Teacher”, Tim Sullivan’s sixth George Cross novel, opens with an elderly schoolteacher’s death and an account of events that does not quite fit. The mystery’s pleasure lies in the small discrepancies that remain after everyone else thinks they have an answer. That is precisely the territory in which Cross excels. Cross’s clockwork precision is the book’s chief pleasure. His attachment to routine is stated plainly: »He liked regularity in his life. It removed unpredictability.« His routines are not simply a source of comfort; they train his attention to disruptions that others overlook. On a case, a break in routine is not noise to ignore but a signal to examine. Sullivan makes Cross’s autism part of the way he sees and orders information, without turning it into a magic power. He returns to records, tests assumptions, and follows a line of thought to its end. Even after the apparent case has narrowed, he has »systematically and...

The Monk by Tim Sullivan Five stars out of five, and a clear favourite. “The Monk” brings together two unanswered questions: who was Brother Dominic, a murdered monk whose past is unknown to the police, and what will George Cross make of his mother’s unexpected return? With no leads, the detectives must establish who Dominic was before they can make sense of the killing. Cross, meanwhile, has to revisit the question he has carried since childhood: why did his mother leave? I liked the quiet parallel between the two threads: the investigation reconstructs a stranger’s history, while Cross tries to understand a gap in his own. Cross remains the series’ centre, precise in his reasoning but less at ease with the social assumptions other people take for granted. When Ottey says a man was trying to ease the tension, Cross replies, » Then he might have been better suited to a career as a masseur «. Ottey laughs, and Cross looks surprised. The joke lands without making him its target; Sulliva...

The Ex-Wife by Tim Sullivan Read my Goodreads review The premise suits George Cross: a conviction seems settled, but one detail keeps him wondering whether a second death was missed. That gives this cold-case novella a neat hook, and the brisk opening wastes little time. Yet at twenty-eight pages, “The Ex-Wife” feels less like a compact mystery than a synopsis of a fuller one. Interviews and clues arrive before they can gather much weight, leaving little space for the investigation, Cross’s colleagues, or the victims to develop. The moral emphasis is harder to accept. The narrator’s insistence that » Everyone from the press to the prosecution was rightly appalled « sets the tone, and the story repeatedly underlines the injustice of the earlier failure. The concern is understandable, but the writing feels preachy: it announces its judgement instead of trusting the case to make it. There is a good Cross mystery here, but not enough story around it. I finished wanting more room, sharper ...

The Politician by Tim Sullivan Five stars out of five, and a favourite. The fourth DS Cross novel gives Tim Sullivan a familiar detective and a case with a fresh public face. Former mayor Peggy Frampton is found dead after what appears to be a burglary. Her polarising public profile, the online abuse directed at her, and the complicated people around her create a broad field of possible motives. The political backdrop feels current, but the case stays rooted in people and evidence. George Cross remains the series’ centre. His autism shapes how he parses evidence and how literally he handles conversation. One exchange catches both his precision and the comic friction it can create: »You do not have vertigo, I assure you.« The correction is entirely sincere; the other person’s exasperation is part of the joke. Sullivan makes the humour emerge from the mismatch between exactness and social tact, never from asking us to laugh at Cross. The awkwardness is real, but it never cancels the use...