A DS GEORGE CROSS THRILLER

'DS George Cross is as arresting as the cases he solves.' RICHARD E. GRANT

“A perfect detective for our time and for all time.” STEPHEN FRY

 ‘Tim Sullivan’s wonderfully realised, captivating character, DS George Cross, shot to the top of my favourites when I first encountered him. The Teacher shows him at his best.’ MARI HANNAH

 'Starts with a bang and then continues to deliver all the way to the thrilling end . . . A great addition to what is becoming a classic series.' IMRAN MAHMOOD on The Teacher

‘George Cross is in a class of his own.’ SIMON TOYNE

‘In DS George Cross, Tim Sullivan has created a character who is as endearing as any I’ve ever come across in this genre. His quirks are his gift, and with Sullivan’s tremendous plotting and superb writing, this series is a gift to readers.’ LIZ NUGENT

The Teacher

by Tim Sullivan
Hardback / 18 January 2024 / Head of Zeus / £20

He's a victim. But is he innocent?

THE BODY: 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. The stab wound on his body tells a different story.

THE EVIDENCE: In the weeks before his murder, Alistair Moreton changed. He usually kept himself to himself, but people swear there was someone in the house when they checked on him, that there was a reason he wouldn't let them inside.

THE PUNISHMENT: Moreton made people's lives a misery, from his neighbours to his ex-pupils. While DS George Cross's list of suspects is long, every victim deserves justice.

But in all of Alistair's years, there was something important he never learned: If you go through life making enemies, don't be surprised when they teach you a lesson.

ABOUT tim sullivan

Tim Sullivan is a crime writer, screenwriter and director whose film credits include A Handful of Dust, Jack and Sarah and Cold Feet. Early in his career he directed Jeremy Brett’s iconic portrayal of Sherlock Holmes in ITV’s The Casebook of Sherlock Holmes¸ cementing his lifelong passion for crime fiction.

Tim’s crime series, featuring the socially awkward but brilliantly persistent DS George Cross, has been widely acclaimed and topped the book charts. The Teacher is the sixth in the series.

He lives in North London with his wife Rachel, the Emmy Award-winning producer of The Barefoot Contessa and Pioneer Woman.

TimSullivan.co.uk / Twitter: @timjrsullivan / Instagram: @timsullivannovelist / TikTok: @timsullivanauthor

TALKING POINTS & FEATURE IDEAS 

  • How The Teacher was inspired by Tim’s real-life experiences of violence and abuse at prep school.

  • Boarding school survivors – the effects or being bullied and abused at school, and then often ending up in positions of power.

  • Creating a setting – why Bristol is the perfect place for the DS George Cross series. Tim lived in Bristol as a child and was educated at Clifton College – it’s a city he loves and has many connections with.

  • Creating character – from films to crime novels, what keeps us hooked?

  • Differences between writing for screen and writing novels – from detailed storyboarding, to being surprised by what your character does next…

  • How experience as a director helps the novel writing process – from The Casebook Of Sherlock Holmes to George Cross…
    NB Tim’s first two movies were adaptations of books which was another way of learning about the process of novel writing and the difference between the page and the screen.

  • The importance of supporting characters in fiction – in Sullivan’s George Cross novels his partner at work, Josie Ottey, is often his conduit, interpreter, and apologist to those that don’t make any effort to understand him. Alice Mackenzie, the young staffer, relatively new to the department acts as the eyes for the reader as she comes to understand her boss and his ways. His father, Raymond, is a constant source of love and support for someone who is so often misunderstood and abused. This cast of characters enables the detective, sleuth, pathologist, whoever the main character in a crime novel is, to function at their best.

  • The perfect detectives, and what they have in common – from Sherlock Holmes to Poirot and Philip Marlowe to Harry Bosch

  • Creating George – from his passion for playing the organ to his absent mother, what makes George tick?

SELECTED PRAISE

‘In The Teacher George Cross is in a class of his own. He says all the things you think but never dare speak and suffers fools not at all. We should all be more like George.’ SIMON TOYNE on The Teacher

‘I loved The Monk. A clever mystery full of tension but also humour and compassion. George Cross is becoming one of my favourite detectives.’ ELLY GRIFFITHS on The Monk

‘Compelling, full of twists and turns, I couldn’t put this down. Sullivan has created a truly original and endearing detective in George Cross. I’m looking forward to the next one.’ SIMON MCCLEAVE on The Politician

‘Tim Sullivan has pulled off the ultimate conjuring trick: an absorbing plot with an engaging detective I’d follow to the ends of the earth. Just brilliant!’ MARION TODD on The Monk

'A brilliantly old-school detective with a modern twist . . . from the complex emotion of his private life to the razor-sharp detail of the police investigation. Spot on!' RUSS THOMAS on The Monk

‘DS Cross is an extraordinary character… Incredibly well researched, as is the whole book….A fascinating man.. I got a real window into what it felt like to be him…and how brilliant he is.’  -  NIHAL, BBC Radio 5 on The Monk

‘Tim Sullivan’s detective, DS George Cross, is autistic. His approach to investigations is unorthodox…he works surprisingly well as a fictional character, processing clues in a way that recalls Poirot’s “little grey cells”.’ SUNDAY TIMES on The Monk

‘A gripping, atmospheric police procedural with an intriguing detective and an excellent foil in the shape of his longsuffering partner DS Josie Ottey.’ GUARDIAN on The Monk

'An extremely accomplished, traditional mystery in the PD James mode...this well-plotted and paced novel is an absolute treat' IRISH TIMES

'A British detective for the 21st century who will be hard to forget' DAILY MAIL

‘The fact that Cross has been diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder makes him just as intriguing as the murder mystery’ THE TIMES

‘Elegant writing and a firm grasp of the crime medium…We’ve had sleuths on the autistic spectrum before but Sullivan’s copper is among the most distinctive characterisations.’ FINANCIAL TIMES

‘Fantastic story with a brilliant D.S. Loved it’ FROST MAGAZINE

‘A compelling, suspenseful police procedural with an intimate, positive insight into living on the autistic spectrum' WOMAN

'Superb, clever and taut' BELFAST TELEGRAPH

For further information please contact:

EMMA FINNIGAN PR

07870 210468 | emma@emmafinniganpr.co.uk | @emmafinnigan | www.emmafinniganpr.co.uk