Review: The Monk: A DS George Cross Thriller by Tim Sullivan

 

DS George Cross is rarely shocked. After all, he has seen quite a lot over the years. The scene in the woodlands of Goblin Combe though has been quite the surprise for the Detective Sargent of the Avon and Somerset police. It has been quite a surprise to others on the Major Crimes unit team as well.

 

It is a bad business.

 

The ditch in the rural area has a chair sitting in it. When folks smelled the odor in the area, most folks would think that it came from a dead animal. It would only be if one got closer, as a dog walker did this morning, that one would see the contents of the dumped chair. One would see the remains of a badly beaten man, industrial duct taped to the chair, and very clearly dead as time and nature has long been at work breaking down what was once a vibrant person.

 

A person who, based on how he is still dressed, was once a monk. In all likelihood, what sits before them is the body of Dom Dominic Augustus of St. Eustace’s Monastery. He was reported missing two days ago by the father abbot. Dom Dominic Augustus clearly went through a literal hell on earth in his last hours before he was dumped here where he was finally found.

 

For Cross, the central question of the case is answering the why. Not necessarily, the who did it part first. Once the team is able to fully answer why the Benedictine Monk was brutally beaten to death, everything else will fall into place.

 

And it does, slowly and beautifully.

 

DS George Cross always gets the killer or killers. The process is always a highly entertaining aspect of these reads. That is very true here as this reader snickered several times as things were said between Cross and others. Along with the investigative process and those details, several secondary characters, as well as Cross, are further developed. As part of this process, we learn more about Cross’s background, why his mom left, and the ongoing emotional impact of her return all these years later.

 

The result is another complicated read that pulls the reader into this world very fast and does not let go. An entertaining series that must be read in order for the full effect, The Monk: A DS George Cross Mystery by Tim Sullivan is another installment well worth reading.

 

 

Amazon Associate Purchase Link: https://amzn.to/4bFZyT5

 

 

My reading copy came from Atlantic Crime, an imprint of Grove Atlantic, through NetGalley, with no expectation of a positive review.

 

 

Kevin R. Tipple ©2026