The Teacher: A DS George Cross Mystery by Tim Sullivan Format: eARC
Source: supplied by publisher via NetGalley
Formats available: hardcover, paperback, ebook, audiobook
Genres: crime thriller, mystery
Series: DS George Cross #6
Pages: 384
Published by Atlantic Crime on May 5, 2026
Purchasing Info: Author's Website, Publisher's Website, Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Kobo, Bookshop.org, Better World Books
Goodreads
“Every generation has its iconic detective—Holmes, Poirot and Morse—but Cross is emerging as the one for now. Treasure him.”—Daily Mail
If you go through life making enemies, don't be surprised when they teach you a lesson
Detective Sergeant George Cross is on the case when an elderly teacher is found with two potential murder wounds. He's a victim, but is he innocent?
In a village in South West England, an elderly man is found dead in his home. The angle of his neck says he fell down the stairs. But the stab wound on his body tells a different story.
In the weeks before his murder, Alistair Moreton changed. He always kept to himself, but people swear there was someone in the house when they checked on him. There was a reason he wouldn't let them inside.
Prickly and miserable, Moreton wreaked havoc on his neighbors and his ex-pupils. While DS George Cross's list of suspects is long, every victim deserves justice. But in all of Moreton’s years, there was something important he never If you go through life making enemies, don't be surprised when they teach you a lesson.
My Review:
The books in the DS Cross series, so far at least, have been titled after the profession of the victim in each case. Also, at least so far, that victim is almost never what one would call a good example of their profession. And that’s particularly true in this sixth book in the series, whose titular victim is a retired teacher.
At first, it’s the retired part of that description that grabs the case. The dead man is eighty years old. He lives alone, he doesn’t get along with his neighbors and we’re not surprised because they’re awful. He’s a bit of a curmudgeon. Maybe more than a bit.
But he seems like a spent force – at least in any way except verbally – to be much of a threat to anyone. Meaning that the case starts focusing on the obvious – the obnoxious neighbors as well as another town resident who attempted to tar the old man with the brush he’d already painted himself with. Both are obvious suspects with obvious motives that most cops would rather obviously rush to an equally obvious justice.
Which is where, of course, the case gets interesting – perhaps a bit more than usual. Not just because DS Cross NEVER lets his investigation get ahead of the facts. He doesn’t guess, he doesn’t presume, he absolutely never assumes. He doggedly follows the evidence wherever it leads.
Cross is never fast, but he’s always thorough. Painstakingly so. Because of that thoroughness, he has the highest solve rate in the entire district. An achievement that makes the special privileges that Cross receives – a private office that his rank would not otherwise entitle him to, along with a whole lot of indulgence on the part of her superiors when it comes to following slender leads and refusing to make an arrest or close a case before the last ‘i’ is dotted and the last ‘t’ is crossed to Cross’s satisfaction – seem like a small price to pay for cases that are nearly always successful and never get thrown out of court on technicalities or missed lines of enquiry.
But Cross’s usual partner, DS Ottey, has taken a brief leave to move house. The temporary detective taking her place is, well, an asshole. Also a throwback to the bad old days of policing. Even worse, where Cross is a Detective Sergeant, Bobby Warner outranks him as a Detective Inspector.
DI Warner thinks he’s in control of the case. He also thinks he’s in control of Cross. Of course, he’s neither. In the end, he’s not even in control of himself. But Cross’ dogged determination to solve the case, along with a surprising bit of malicious compliance on Cross’ part to make sure it gets done properly, adds a new source of tension AND a higher stakes level of interoffice politicking to yet another stellar entry in the DS Cross series.
Escape Rating A+: I was in the middle of a reading slump. Looking back, I often return to this series when I’m in a slump because this kicks me right out of my slough of despond and straight back into the joy of reading.
In this particular case, I was on an airplane TO the ALA Conference and needed something to take me away even as I was being taken away. So to speak. Ahem.
Most of the stories in this series have an “A” and a “B” plot. The “A” plot is of course the case. We wouldn’t be here without the body – and neither would Cross. And it’s always a case that requires Cross’ brand of intensely focused, detail-oriented investigation, because the surface layer never tells the story.
The “B” plot usually revolves around the personal aspects of Cross’ life. Not just his work life and his relationships with his police partner (and minder) DS Ottey, along with the rest of his colleagues as they coalesce into his “Scooby gang”, but also his somewhat hapless but indulgent boss and the increasingly complicated relationship between himself, his dad, his formerly estranged mother and the beginnings of his new friendships. Which are all more complex than appears on the surface because Cross’ autism spectrum disorder frequently puts people off. It also makes changes difficult to deal with – and he’s going through a lot of them.
This time around there’s also a bit of a “C” plot. Because Ottey has taken leave to move house, leaving Cross working under DI Warner who is, frankly, a complete rotter. Warner thinks he’s putting Cross in his place, but all he’s really doing is making a complete hash of the case and exposing his own shortcomings. Literally. Pun intended.
Watching Cross run rings around this asshole was a whole lot of fun, while it was surprisingly fulfilling to see Cross’ ‘guv’, DCI Ben Carson, grow a conscience and a spine.
The case itself went to some very dark places, in directions that were completely overlooked in the opening by everyone but Cross. That was usual, but the directions that darkness took were breathtaking and thought provoking at the same time.
In short, the case was compelling, the office politicking was particularly on point AND pointed, while the interpersonal dynamics of the characters are getting increasingly – and delightfully – more complicated. I have high hopes – as usual – for the next book in the series, The Bookseller. Which I’m sure I’ll pick up the next time I need a reading pick-me-up!
