Publication Day Review: The Cyclist: A DS George Cross Mystery by Tim Sullivan

  

It has been a few months since the events of The Dentist as the police procedural, The Cyclist: A DS George Cross Mystery by Tim Sullivan begins, and DS George Cross is at, in all likelihood, a crime scene. An annoyed contractor wants to get his men back to work on the teardown of a row of garages, but the dead body wrapped in plastic and sitting in the bucket of a digger has meant that all work is stopped. Detective Sergeant George Cross of the Somerset and Avon police force flatly and calmly explains the reality of the situation in his unique style and returns to the business at hand—solving a murder.

 

The unique style of Detective Sergeant George Cross is due to the fact that he is on the autism spectrum with Asperger’s syndrome. He has a very hard time picking up on social cues and interacting with people. He does not recognize emotions and has to go through a sort of mental catalog to figure out the emotion a person is displaying on their face. So, he is working hard to be civil and polite with the contractor who wants nothing more than to get the project back underway, and doesn’t quite get why DS George Cross is saying what he is saying to him. DS Ottey is soon able to rescue Cross before things go sideways with the man.

 

DS George Cross is detail focused and driven and is an exceptional investigator though he drives everyone around him a bit mad at times. Of course, if everyone had his attention to detail, that would really help everyone. Since the pathologist clearly does not, she might have noticed clues on the body that would give them an idea as to the identity of the victim. The victim had no identification, no engraved watch, no cell phone, nothing at all that would identify him. But, in his close examination of the body in front of the perturbed pathologist in the morgue, DS Cross identified several clues that indicate the victim was a serious cyclist.

 

That fact soon proves out to be true and the team is able to identify the victim. Now that the victim is identified, they can actually start investigating him, his background, relationships, etc., and begin to make slow progress in a complicated case.

 

This second book in the series builds off the first book, The Dentist, and does so very well. Further character development of George Cross, as well as several other characters, is underway here and does not distract from the main storyline. Also present are the economic budgetary issues impacting the police in the name of efficiency and are, actually, doing the exact opposite. Also present is a complex mystery with far reaching implications.

 

A police procedural series that should be read in order, The Cyclist: A DS George Cross Mystery by Tim Sullivan is a highly entertaining read.

 

The book, and the series, to date, is highly recommended.

 

 

Amazon Associate Purchase Link: https://amzn.to/4omEQLH

 

 

I received a digital ARC from the publisher, Grove Atlantic, through NetGalley, with no expectation of a positive review.

 

 

Kevin R. Tipple ©2025