Today’s Post by Joe Farace
“Good books don’t give up all their secrets at once.” —Stephen King
There’s good rockin’ tonight–Elvis Presley
My original intention for this book club series was to post updates every other Saturday but so far in 2026 I have not been able to live up to that standard. Part of the problem is that I have not read all that many books this year. Right now I am onto book 18.
I also got buried by two classics written by One book was the 928-page The Count of Monte Cristo and the other was the 564-page The Three Musketeers. While I read and loved the far bulkier The Count of Monte Cristo I only made it halfway through The Three Musketeers. As mentioned before, I was driven to read The Count of Monte Cristo by my affection for the 1934 film version staring Robert Donat that I watched on television as a kid.
My desire to read the Musketeers book, on the other hand, was spurred by the release of The Criterion Collection’s 4K and four-disc version of both the 1973 film and it’s sequel, 1974’s The Four Musketeers. I didn’t enjoy the book. Sections of it were humorous but it was a hard slog matched only by the double slog of watching Richard Lester’s direction of the ’73 film and even more depressingly by the 1974 sequel. I plan on doing a YouTube video about the films but don’t want to say more except…don’t waste your money on these films! Come to think about it, the same goes for the book.
A New Favorite Author
Tim Sullivan is a German-born British film and television director and screenwriter who is known for his work with Granada Television and his feature film Jack and Sarah (1995). More recently, he is better known as a crime fiction writer, with a series of novels featuring the autistic Detective Sergeant George Cross and that’s what I want to talk with you about today.
A few weeks ago, Mary and I were at the Barnes and Noble’s store in Lone Tree and she wanted to buy me some trade paperback mystery books. I found a book that looked promising called J.J. Tabasco’s Self-Service Detective Agency that’s set in Cancun. It looked like fun and was a pleasant read. She found a book called The Monk written by Tim Sullivan., who at that point I had never heard of. On the surface, The Monk, and other books in this series are police procedurals but you will soon discover that they are also cozy mysteries that when these genres are combined produce a wonderful blend of the two styles making them an impressive and immersive reading experience.
Please keep in mind that this detective is not Mr. Monk from the TV series, he is autistic and his neurodevelopmental disorder is handled with skill and affection by the author. In the book, Cross and his partner, a black woman named Josie, operate out of the Avon-Somerset area of England. Cross lives with his father, rides a bike to work and enjoys playing (and repairing) pipe organs at local churches. He, like all the characters in the book, are fully rounded, living breathing people that you will enjoy reading about and part of that enjoyment is Sullivan’s skill as a writer. Not just the plotting which is superb but the actual placing of the words on paper. He is brilliant in a way that doesn’t immediately hit you over the head but after reading just a few pages you will revel in his use of language.
The plot revolves around the murder of a Benedictine Monk and like most cozy mysteries, the murder occurs before the book even begins. The story revolves around two things: Life in a Benedictine monastery and the monks who live there and the murdered monk’s previous life in the world of London finance. The sections on monastic life are fascinating especially when contrasted with DS Cross’s investigation which features his extensive Maigret-like integration into the monks’ daily life and the police procedural aspects of the book.
Since devouring—my wife’s words—The Monk, I became so fascinated with DS Cross that I’ve since purchased three other George Cross books, including The Cyclist, which I just finished reading and also highly recommend. Tip: Some of the older books in this series are available from Amazon at affordable (low) prices, so if you get addicted to George Cross, like I am, you can save a few bucks. By the way, the book’s titles represent the occupation of the murdered character that the plot revolves around. Sullivan combines the juggler-like expertise of being a talented story teller and a brilliant writer. You should consider picking up any one of the eight novels, including the upcoming The Tailor that will be published on August 11. Highly recommended.