MIND AND MATTERS OF CRIME: MEIKE ALANA LOOKS AT THE DS GEORGE CROSS MYSTERIES

While I love reading all over the mystery/thriller genre, I have a few subgenres that I particularly enjoy. “Geezer noir” (featuring elderly sleuths, like the Richard Osman Thursday Murder Club series) is a particular favorite. A close second would be mysteries featuring neurodivergent characters, which I attribute to reading “The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime” by Mark Haddon over 20 years ago. To this day it remains one of my favorite books, primarily because I was fascinated by learning about a brain that functions differently from most.

I was recently excited to discover this new series by Tim Sullivan, which features British Detective Sergeant George Cross who has Asperger’s Syndrome. I say “new” but that isn’t a hundred percent accurate—it’s been out in the UK for a while, it’s just new to the US. Beginning in October 2025, Atlantic Crime is releasing all eight books over the following months.

When we meet DS George Cross in Book 1, The Dentist, he has fairly recently begun working with DS Josie Ottey. He hasn’t been able to successfully partner with anyone else in the department—to a man they find George’s lack of basic social skills and dogged determination to investigate every last detail deeply off-putting. That leaves the woman officer—a single mother of two who finds George frustrating but also sees the value in his single-minded pursuit of justice. When he encounters a dead body for the first time in an investigation, George makes a vow to himself that he will find the victim’s killer. Because his mind doesn’t view any detail too small to investigate, he often ends up making connections that others miss. Where others find this frustrating, Josie is able to appreciate the value this brings to their investigations. Throughout the series, their partnership develops and Josie begins to understand George and gain his trust. This in turn helps her to coach him in ways that improve his ability to more effectively communicate with others. We get to watch as George evolves both professionally and personally, and as his social circle gradually expands. That’s what really sets this series apart for me—Sullivan maintains these multiple character development arcs throughout the series, while at the same time delivering a solid mystery story in each installment. While these are by no stretch of the imagination cozy mysteries—the murders are sometimes gruesome—George’s social stumbling lends a periodic touch of humor that lightens what could otherwise be a pretty dark reading experience.

Sullivan has a long and storied career as a director and screenwriter who has collaborated with multiple top talents. In the early 2000’s he turned his talents to writing mystery novels and introduced lucky readers to DS Cross. I for one hope he continues this third career act.