Tuesday, March 03, 2026
Publication Day Review: The Politician: A DS George Cross Mystery by Tim Sullivan
Peggy Frampton is very much dead in her
bedroom as The Politician: A DS George Cross Mystery by Tim
Sullivan begins. The cleaning lady had found her employer dead that morning.
Now Cross, the Detective Sergeant from the Avon and Somerset Police, will lead
the hunt for the killer or killers as this most definitely is a murder case.
At one time, Peggy Frampton was the
Mayor of Bristol. In recent years, she has been a social media influencer
through an advice column, and a writer. She has a massive online presence and
impact, not only in her local Bristol, England, community, but far beyond. She
tended to ruffle feathers, at times, with her blunt advice.
She is survived by her husband, Peter,
and their adult children. Peter is a lawyer. As it happens, he is in London, on a case, and is on
the way back home as DS George Cross looks at the body and the crime scene.
While some, such as DCI Ben Carson, believe
this is aa case of a simple burglary gone wrong, DS George Cross does not.
Before much can be done by the local police, due to the high-profile nature of the
case, Chief Superintendent Heather Mathews is brought in to supervise. Fortunately
for everyone, while she has never worked with Cross before, she knows of him
and how he is, and so she allows him wide latitude to pursue the case as he
sees fit. That means he can treat it like any other case and not be micromanaged
by Carson or anyone else.
That is always a plus. Especially here
with a case that is complex and constantly evolving as lines of inquiry are
adjusted as evidence comes to light. As always, the reader knows that Cross
will identify and build a case against those involved. The real question is
what else will he and his team unearth in their pursuit of justice for the
dead.
For that, you will have to read the
book.
It would also be best if you started
with the first read, The Dentist: A DS George Cross Mystery, and
work your way forward to this fourth book of the re-released series. This is not
a static police procedural series with very little change over time. Instead,
and one of the things that makes it so good, characters constantly evolve and
deal with things in life, relationships change, and more happens while the
police work continues.
The Politician: A DS George Cross
Mystery by Tim Sullivan is another very good installment of a
really good police procedural series. What more could you want?
Amazon Associate Purchase Link: https://amzn.to/3Nu5Hrp
I received a digital ARC from the
publisher, Atlantic Crime, imprint of Grove Atlantic, through NetGalley, with
no expectation of a positive review.
Kevin R. Tipple ©2026
Monday, March 02, 2026
Mystery Fanfare: Dr Seuss's Birthday & Read Across America Day!
Bookblog of the Bristol Library: The Little Book of Secret Societies by Joel Levy
In Reference to Murder: Media Murder for Monday
Beneath the Stains of Time: The Locked Village and the Eight Tricks (2024) by Danro Kamosaki
Aubrey Nye Hamilton Reviews: The White Crow by Michael Robotham
The White
Crow by Michael Robotham (Scribner, July 2025) is the second Constable Philomena
McCarthy book. Like Clayton Burroughs in the Bull Mountain series by Brian
Panowich, Phil is the daughter of a long-established gangster, only she’s in
London and Clayton is in Georgia. They have both chosen to step outside their
family’s deeply entrenched criminal organizations to join law enforcement, a
decision that both bewilders and infuriates their fathers. Phil uneasily
balances her love for her family with her deep investment in her job and so far
she’s been successful.
Phil,
patrolling the streets with her night shift partner, sees a child in blood-stained
pajamas on a sidewalk. Phil takes her home and finds Daisy’s mother bound and
dead on the kitchen floor. The family has been the target of a home invasion
and the father, owner of a high-end jewelry store, has been driven to the store
to allow the attackers to clean the place out.
In the
meantime, someone is systematically sabotaging the McCarthy construction site
where the latest and most ambitious building complex is taking shape. The
saboteurs have been so determined that the work is months behind and the
McCarthy capital operating budget has evaporated under the heavy costs of replacing
damaged equipment. The banks are mumbling about foreclosure, the insurance
companies are backing out, and the McCarthys are scrambling for a fix while
searching for the culprit.
Robotham
skillfully juggles dual plot lines and multiple POVs. The child outside at
night is a good device to attract police to a crime scene. Brian McGilloway
used it effectively in Little
Girl Lost (Pan Macmillan, 2011). The underlying theme of motherhood and
family is thoughtful and perceptive. Phil’s husband wants to start a family
now, Phil wants to wait. Stepping in for Daisy’s absent parents gives Phil
something to think about, as does watching Daisy’s godmother who is given
temporary custody. The question of what actually makes a mother a mother is a
good one: does a woman have to give birth to be a mother? And, can you love
someone, even a close relative, when you heartily disagree with their life
choices?
Dramatic and
violent action with far-reaching implications for Phil and her father wrap up
the plot. I am looking forward to seeing how they play out in the next book,
which hopefully we will see soon.
Starred
reviews from Library Journal, Kirkus, and Publishers Weekly for
this fine story.
- Publisher: Scribner
- Publication date: July 1, 2025
- Language: English
- Print length: 368 pages
- ISBN-10: 1668031027
- ISBN-13: 978-1668031025
Amazon
Associate Purchase Link: https://amzn.to/4rumaLx
Aubrey Nye Hamilton ©2026
Aubrey Hamilton is a former librarian who works on Federal It projects by day and reads mysteries at night.
Sunday, March 01, 2026
Little Big Crimes: Love is Blue, by Lawrence Maddox
Bitter Tea and Mystery: Going to Beautiful: Anthony Bidulka
Bookblog of the Bristol Library: March New Fiction!
Friday, February 27, 2026
Back Online
We lost internet from just after noon yesterday to just after six or so tonight. Am back.
Thursday, February 26, 2026
In Reference to Murder: Nonpareil Nonfiction for 2025
Jerry's House of Everything: THE GREEN HORNET: THERE WAS A CROOKED MAN (MAY 24, 1938)
Beneath the Stains of Time: Tim MacNab Seeks a Story (1937) by Marten Toonder
Thursday Treats: 2/25/2026
Welcome back to “Thursday Treats.” Been a hard week. Mixed bag doc appointment
Monday, a couple of falls, and then late-night Tuesday evening, my oldest
called to tell me that they are getting divorced. She suddenly took the kids,
my grandkids, from their place about six weeks ago, has not communicated one
word since, and has now, apparently, filed for divorce. He has no idea why at
all. I am too sick and too broke to be of any help at all. So, this week has
sucked.
Publishing wise, things seem to be a bit
light. A couple of things did cross my desk though….
SMFS member S. B. Watson announced that
her new novella, Laughing Matter: An Impossible Crime, was now
out. Published by Black
Beacon Books, this is the first of three planned novellas they are
releasing this year. It is only available in eBook format at Amazon. These new novella’s join Cameron Trost’s Let Darkness Take Hold: A Tale of Suburban
Suspense released in 2012.Weekly.
SMFS member Barb Goffman shared the news
of the latest issue of Black Cat Weekly. Available at the website, Black Cat Weekly
#234 is now out and features numerous short stories, novellas, and
more. A single digital issue is $2.99, but the longer subscriptions are the
real deal and the way to go.
Then there are the publishing delays. Last week was supposed to see the release of Diversion: A Probation Case Files Mystery by Cindy Goyette. Thanks to the digital ARC from the author, I had the publication day review. It wasn’t until later in the day I learned that the publisher, Level Best Books, had delayed the release to some unspecified time in the future and had to correct the review and my social media posts.
Delay with them has happened again this
week. This time it is fellow SMFS member, and my VP when I was SMFS President, Kathleen
Marple Kalb. She reports that her latest book, The Stuff of Malice,
did not release on time as scheduled on Tuesday. This third book in the series
that began with The Stuff of Malice: An
Old Stuff Mystery is now “coming soon” with no new release date
announced.
Level Best Books does have a spiffy new
revamped website now so one hopes
that is a sign they are getting back on track to fulfill their publicly stated mission of
being “… one of the premiere publishers of mysteries and thrillers.”
SUNDAY UPDATE: Since this column went live, and, apparently, while my AT&T internet was down from Thursday afternoon to Friday evening, the publisher got the eBook versions of both books listed at Amazon. Diversion can be found here. The Stuff of Malice can be found here. At this time, the paperback versions of these third books in very popular series are not available.
Out now and reviewed by yours truly earlier this week is The Crossroads: A Joe Pickett Novel by C.J. Box. I am a big fan of this series featuring Wyoming Game Warden Joe Pickett. They made a tv series of it awhile back, but as almost always happens, the books are way better. If you missed my review of this new read, go here.
And, finally, The Politician: A DS George Cross Mystery by Tim Sullivan comes out next Tuesday. This is the fourth book in this excellent police procedural series being released here in the United States by Atlantic Crime, an imprint of Grove Atlantic. Like the Eve Dallas series, I came to this one by way of reviews by Lesa Holstine. I have been getting digital ARCs through NetGalley and have massively enjoyed the reads. Make sure you start at the beginning and read Lesa’s review of The Dentist. Come here Tuesday when my publication day review of The Politician: A DS George Cross Mystery will appear here.
Until next time….
Kevin R. Tipple ©2026
Wednesday, February 25, 2026
Publishing ... and Other Forms of Insanity: 83 Writing Contests in March 2026 - No entry fees!
The Short Mystery Fiction Society Blog: SMFS Spotlight: Cheryl Head
Jerry's House of Everything: SHORT STORY WEDNESDAY: THE THREE DRUGS
Tuesday, February 24, 2026
Mystery Fanfare: MYSTERY READERS JOURNAL NEWS FOR 2026: Subscribe now!
SleuthSayers: Sixteen Lives
Publishing ... and Other Forms of Insanity: 34 Marvelous Writing Conferences and Workshops in March
Bookblog of the Bristol Library: Vows and Villainy by Elizabeth Penney
Jerry's House of Everything: INCOMING
In Reference to Murder: Media Murder for Monday
Publication Day Review: The Crossroads: A Joe Pickett Novel by C.J. Box
Marybeth Pickett always knew that being
the wife of a Wyoming Game Warden meant the worse could happen at any time. She
knows from the start of The Crossroads: A Joe Pickett Novel that it
has almost happened. At least her husband is still alive, if only by a
thread.
That November morning a Wyoming Game and
Fisheries Department pickup was found smack in the middle of Antler Creek Road
by a hunter. It was riddled with bullet holes. Her husband, Joe Pickett, was
also hit and suffered severe trauma.
She soon makes her way to the isolated scene
where the ambulance crew is prepping him for an emergency helicopter ride to
Billings, Montana. Shot, including once in the head, he needs a trauma unit and
far more medical care that the small community hospital in Saddlestring,
Wyoming, can provide. First, he has to survive the half hour plus chopper
flight to get to the trauma unit.
With a newly elected sheriff in town,
and other local law enforcement challenges, their three daughters decide that
they will figure out who ambushed their dad. Sitting in the hospital with their
mom isn’t going to help. Sheridan, April, and Lucy are known in the community
which means people will talk to them. They know how to investigate having grown
up in a household where both parents have investigated a lot of cases over the
years. They know they can do this. To
figure out who did it, they have to figure out why he was on the road and where
he was headed. They are going to figure it out.
And Nate Romanowski might get involved
as well.
The Crossroads: A Joe Pickett Novel is the latest book
in the long running series. It is also a mighty good read. In addition to the reminder
of how Marybeth and Joe met and details of their marriage, readers are given a
long glimpse into the lives of their adult daughters. Ladies that have seen a
thing, or three, as they grew up and have the scars and internal resources to
deal with any problem.
The Crossroads: A Joe Pickett
Novel
is an intense and very good read. This one will keep you up late-night reading,
if you are not carful. Strongly recommended.
Amazon Associate Purchase Link: https://amzn.to/4qBcI8G
My digital ARC came by way of the publisher, G.P. Putnam's Sons, through NetGalley, with no expectation of a review.
Kevin R. Tipple ©2026
Posts
