First published in Great Britain in 2025; published by Atlantic Crime on June 2, 2026
Like most writers of a genre series, Tim Sullivan follows a formula for George Cross novels. Readers have little reason to complain when the formula works, at least until it grows stale. Sullivan’s method produces intelligent plots and his original characters add to the pleasure. There’s no reason for him to change his recipe.
The formula is satisfying. Cross investigates a murder. He interviews multiple witnesses, some of whom might have a motive to commit the murder. A superior urges him to charge the most likely suspect. Cross resists because he wants charges to be followed by convictions and isn’t confident that he’s arrested the true killer until he has tracked down all the evidence and eliminated every possibility of innocence. A new suspect emerges but just when the reader thinks the mystery is solved, Cross fits the last puzzle piece into position, the suspect is exonerated, and the killer’s identity is revealed. What more can a mystery reader ask?
It will come as no surprise that the murder victim in The Bookseller is a bookseller. Torquil Squire is ninety years old and has spent most of his life buying and selling rare books. His son Ed worked in his Bristol shop. On the night of his death, Ed stayed in the shop after closing because he expected his father to return from an auction in London. Torquil was delayed a bit and when he returned, he found that his son had been stabbed to death.
Victoria Squire is the victim’s wife. Her niece, Persephone, is the daughter of her brother, Ian Hartwell, and his ex-wife Sarah. Sarah had a physical altercation with Ed about a decade earlier. Persephone works at the bookstore, together with Sam Taylor. Persephone was in the building when the murder occurred and is hiding in a bathroom when the police arrive. Sam resents Persephone’s attempt to shift the store’s focus from rare used books to new bestsellers. Naturally, all these characters are all suspects.
Like many readers, I love books about books. Sullivan opens an insightful window into England’s rare book market. Cross learns that rare book dealers have attempted to corner the market on books by a particular author. If one dealer acquires all first editions of an author’s books, the absence of competition allows him to drive up the price. Ed made an enemy of a London bookseller named Patrick Gibb after accusing him of cornering the market on Evelyn Waugh. That makes Gibb a suspect.
Torquil made an enemy of his former partner, Denholm Simpson, when he took half their stock and opened a store of his own in a building that he acquired from a customer. Denholm had a son named Nigel who used to be Ed’s best friend. Nigel recently brokered the sale to Ed of a letter authored by Christopher Columbus. Ed purchased it from an Italian and sold it to a wealthy Russian collector at a healthy profit. The letter turned out to be stolen, costing the Russian oligarch a couple million dollars when the library that owned it leaned of the sale and demanded its return. The Russian is on the suspect list because his goons threatened Ed’s life.
Subplots involving secondary characters have been developing throughout the series. Cross’ mother has been back in his life, an event to which — thanks to his autism — Cross has not easily adjusted. His father’s health has taken a bad turn, which has Cross contemplating retirement to take on the role of caregiver. Cross’ partner, DS Josie Ottey, has been promoted to DI, technically making her Cross’ superior — another event that doesn’t thrill Cross, although he sticks to protocol and calls her ma’am, much to Josie’s annoyance. Alice Mackenzie, a former staffer, is now pursuing police training. Series fans are likely to view these subplots as enjoyable encounters with old friends.
Cross is increasingly endearing. He has developed effective coping mechanisms for his autism, but his relentless honesty and failure to recognize when honesty will be perceived as rude is a dependable source of comic relief. At the same time, he makes serious efforts to understand the important people in his life by using logic and close observation as a substitute for his inability to express his emotions. Sullivan makes me believe characters when they say that Cross is both maddening and loveable.
As always, I changed my mind about the killer’s identity two or three times — maybe four, possibly five. Admittedly, I usually change my mind after Cross explains why my favored suspect couldn’t be the murderer. Cross is a cleverer detective than I am, but the series would be boring if that weren’t true. The large collection of suspects makes it challenging to identify the killer, but the answer is always plausible and Sullivan always gives the reader a sporting chance to guess the mystery’s solution. I have yet to be disappointed by this series and now rate the Cross novels as a “must read” for fans of classic mysteries.
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