The Politician: A DS Cross Thriller

Sullivan’s triumphant fourth whodunit featuring George Cross of the Avon and Somerset police (after The Patient) finds the neurodivergent sleuth investigating the suspicious death of an ex-mayor. Cross is called in after Peggy Frampton, the former mayor of Bristol, is found bludgeoned to death in her bedroom. His colleagues, including his boss, DCI Ben Carson, are sure that Frampton was the victim of a burglary turned violent, but Cross thinks otherwise, citing the absence of aspirated blood near Frampton’s head as evidence that she was methodically choked before being bludgeoned. On his own, Cross researches the politician’s many enemies—including a real estate developer whose project she’d thwarted—for clues about who had motive to kill her. In the process, he finds tantalizing leads buried in the controversial advice blog Frampton launched after leaving politics. Sullivan puts more suspects into the mix than in previous entries, encouraging readers to flex their armchair sleuthing skills, and he continues to mine charming comedy from Cross’s literal-mindedness (when meeting Frampton’s husband, Cross’s partner advises him to offer condolences rather than “comment on how much shorter than his wife the man is”). This series only gets better as it goes. (Mar.)