The Tailor by Tim Sullivan is another George Cross police mystery and it is a very satisfying read. A bespoke tailor enters the 9.26 train from Bristol to London. Before the tailor even reaches Bath his body is found slumped in the toilet, having been murdered. D.S.Cross realises, it was a professional hit. This realisation causes Cross into an unfamiliar world, which is merciless. George wonders at times if he is followed. George Cross is tenacious and always gets to the truth but this time someone wishes to stop him by force, if necessary.. In this eight book of the series, George Cross encounters Chinese agents, South Korean hit men and MI6 and still manages to find the truth or as near as he can in this murky world of industry espionage and foreign agents. Highly recommended

Having been recommended this series by customers, I took the plunge on the newest instalment and I had a lot of fun! A high quality cosy-ish murder mystery series (all stand alone) with George Cross, an autistic-coded detective at the helm of the investigation. I felt George’s depiction was accurate without being patronising, showing him struggling with emotionally charged situations (but being well supported by his colleagues) and developing a deep interest in tailoring, which additionally helped him to crack the case. I was particularly interested in the details of tailoring too!The writing was easy to read but excellent, and combined with George’s bluntness reminded me of Bob Mortimer’s humour. I’ll definitely read more of these, having flown through this one. Thank you to the publisher for the early copy in exchange for review.

One of my favourite mystery series: George Cross is back in an excellent mystery, twisty and exciting. It's a gripping, compelling, and highly entertaining novel. The evolutions in George's private life are both strong and sweet. I love this character as I love the rest of the team. It was an excellent read, one of the 2026 best police procedural I read so far Highly recommended. Many thanks to the publisher for this arc, all opinions are mine

This is the eight book in Tim Sullivan's "George Cross Mysteries" series, it can be read as a standalone but I would seriously urge reading the series in sequence to get the most enjoyment. I do love DS George Cross, he has a brilliant mind for solving puzzles, he is on the autistic spectrum and he has no filters but he is the best detective in the Bristol PD, I love how the team respect him, understand him and cover for his foibles. Josie Ottie had been Georges partner and she understood him better than anyone and George felt comfortable with her, but Josie had been promoted to DI and George has a new partner, would DC Alice Mackenzie be able to stand up to Georges barbed and sometimes rude remarks ? would she fit in with his quirky routine, Oh yes she would no matter what it took, she could learn a lot from George. On the 10am Bristol Temple Meade to Paddington train, a body was found in the toilet, lying in a pool of blood, a plastic freezer bag over his head punctured with a ball point pen, the body was eventually identified as bespoke tailor, William Titcombe, why would anyone want to kill a bespoke tailor, a family man with a Chinese wife and two young children. As this story unfolds the author reveals George's lateral thinking, his outlandish ideas that sometimes make no sense......until they do, this story goes far beyond a simple murder, it involves ingenious industrial espionage on a big scale,George gradually untangles the tightly woven threads until he himself becomes a target. I love how George's team acknowledge his idiosyncrasies, I love how Alice is determined to be George's shadow no matter what she had to do to make this happen, and I love the background drama of George's father, Raymond and his mother Christine. A thoroughly enjoyable story. Thank you Net Gallery for this ARC, my review is totally voluntary.