Oh. My. Word. I don’t remember laughing so hard at what I have read like I did in two particular scenes in this book. Tim Sullivan, you are a genius.

We are back for our 8th novel in the George Cross series. “The Tailor” is not just as good as the others, to me, it surpassed them. But just barely. How do you improve on perfection?

These books can be enjoyed by everyone, but for those of us in education that have students on the spectrum, or for parents with children on the spectrum, these books are a pure delight. Tim Sullivan has nailed what it is like when you are blessed to have someone with Autism in your life.

But let us not forget there is a murder. And to me, this one finds Sullivan at the top of his game in writing. With these books, you start out with the death of a person in a career, but by the end of the book, you have been on an adventure. And fortunately for us, the brilliant DS George Cross is leading the way.

Finlay Robertson narrates this series and takes the absolute joy of a novel and adds even more to it. His briskness in how he speaks for DS Cross just cracks me up. There is one scene where George is talking to two men that had me dying laughing. It was funny when I read the book. But Robertson’s narration made it even funnier. You will know when you get to it whether you read it or listen to it.

I received this ARC from NetGalley and the publisher in exchange for an unbiased review.

I have listened to all the George Cross (a somewhat annoying play on words really) audiobooks and would like to thank Netgalley for the opportunity to listen to this advance copy, if you have read any George cross books you won’t be disappointed, we get all the familiar side stories and characters we have come to enjoy, a pleasure to listen to

I’ve been an avid fan of the George Cross series from the very beginning, so every new instalment goes straight to the top of my listening list. George, his family and his team have become characters I’ve grown really attached to, and The Tailor certainly didn’t disappoint.

This time the investigation centres around the world of bespoke tailoring, and I loved how much detail and research had clearly gone into that side of the story. It gave the mystery a fresh feel while still delivering the thoughtful, character driven police procedural I’ve come to expect from the series. George’s unique way of seeing the world is always fascinating, and his attention to detail uncovers things others would easily miss, adding another layer of depth to the investigation.

The narration was excellent throughout. The narrator captured George perfectly and handled the wide range of characters and accents with ease, making it effortless to become completely immersed in the story.

Another brilliant addition to a series that just keeps getting better. If you’ve been following George Cross from the start, you won’t want to miss this one. If you’re new to the series, I’d definitely recommend going back to the beginning, you’ll appreciate these wonderful characters even more.

Thank you to NetGalley for the opportunity to listen to this book.

A disturbing murder scene on a train seems like a random act of violence but George Cross is sure it is something much more sinister. It seems like forever since we last encountered George, but this book was definitely worth the wait. It is well written and intricately plotted with clues scattered throughout which enable the reader to follow George's logic. There are all the twists we have come to expect from Tim Sullivan, and I was absolutely fascinated by the world of upmarket bespoke tailoring (as was George!). All of George's colleagues are back including Ottey and Carson, and I was pleased that Alice Mackenzie is now a part of CID. George's personal life and relationships with family and friends are also further explored in the book.

The narration by Finlay Robertson was great.

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
The narrator did an excellent job and the story is even more entertaining
Highly recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher for this arc, all opinions are mine

The Tailor
Author Tim Sullivan
Narrator Finley Robertson
5 stars
I love the George Cross series and was very excited to get this advanced audio copy from NetGalley .
This is a police procedural with humour and heart and terrifically interesting characters , that have all evolved as the series have progressed.
The mystery revolves around the killing of a tailor on a train , George and them team uncover espionage , gangsters amongst other things but the plot always seems believable and not far fetched .
The book can be read as a stand alone but I would recommend reading the series in order as the back stories are so interesting .
Already looking forward to the book
Highly recommend this series

LOVE this series. George is definitely one of my favourite detectives and this was another cracker of a book.

Why was a tailor killed on a train and why was his luggage taken? There is nobody better than George to figure it all out!

The narrator also did an excellent job!

🎧Audio Book Review🎧

The Tailor
Tim Sullivan

🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟

I was instantly drawn to this front cover image - which as you probably know by now, I absolutely love a bright, bold (and simple) cover, especially if there's blood involved.
It just tells me in no uncertain terms, that this is going to be my kind of read.

What I hadn't realised, was that this book forms part of the George Cross Mystery series and that it is in fact the eighth book!!

Now, you know I hate reading books out of order, but also that with this genre, it's often not the end of the world if I'm reading book 8 first.
This case is whole and complete and I absolutely loved the way that the character introduction was written into the first few chapters with the addition to a new member to the team and this helped explain and describe George to a tee!!

All I'm going to say on the matter of plot is that this was a complex case that had a good number of suspects and twists and turns throughout the story.
The pacing was perfect and had me hooked from the start.
In fact I devoured this through the course of only a day because I loved the progression of the storyline and needed to see how all the different elements would link up and form a conclusion.

As much as I love a great storyline that keeps us guessing to the end - and this was really a super clever case - I found that the fact I connected with George on such a deep level, the absolute best thing about this read.

George is quite obviously a neurodiverse character and I loved getting to know him and his foibles throughout the story.
Having some experience with ND (my son and most likely myself), it was absolutely brilliant to see this portrayed in such a manner here.

Obviously there are some downsides to such a condition and these were written with understanding and care and never came across as hugely negative.
When needed, there was always a balance the other way to counteract this.
But, there were a number of times that I not only recognised patterns and behaviours, but found these so endearing and sometimes hilarious to watch play out.
I'm absolutely talking about the kidnap scene here 🤣- absolute genius!

It was nice to see George at work with the team - seeing how he fitted into the routine of police work - but I also loved seeing him at home too and I can't wait to explore this more through the series.

I am obsessed with George and have already added all the previous books to my wishlist - I can't wait to read them all!




💕Thank you to the author, publisher and NetGalley for my ARC copy - this is my honest review 💕

I've said it before and I'll say it again but I love George Cross, and The Tailor is another great instalment. It is filled with great characters and a ingenious plot full of twists and turns and the usual very cleverly written George mannerisms, George sadly no longer has Ottey as his partner as she's now been promoted and for me I did miss their usual partnership but newly qualified Alice tries to keep up with him admirably and what I really like about Tim Sullivan's writing is each book can easily be read as a standalone and he doesn't spend half the book rehashing the previous plots. A big shout out to Finlay Robertson who does another amazing job bringing George and everyone else to life with his accomplished narration.
In a nutshell, even though its a police procedural novel it is full of clever humour and ingenious plots, thoroughly recommend to everyone.

If you are deciding between reading the print version or listening to the audio, go with the audiobook. The narrator captures George’s flat, literal, and utterly precise cadence beautifully, contrasting it against the mounting tension of the supporting cast. The dry humor embedded in Cross's literal interpretations of common idioms shines much brighter when spoken aloud, giving the narrative a brilliant Columbo-esque charm.
The Tailor functions perfectly as a standalone mystery, so you don't need to have listened to the first seven books to enjoy it. It’s a smart, labyrinthine "whodunit" that seamlessly balances a complex espionage plot with rich character development and plenty of subtle wit.