The Tailor

The elements that intertwine to make The Tailor a wonderful reading experience in this reviewer’s opinion are –

[a] Vividly realised central character.

[b] An ensemble cast that act as foils to the eccentricities of the central character and investigation.

[c] Smatterings of subtle humour that help lighten the truly beastly aspects of human nature that this novel reveals.

[d] Hauntingly rendered location[s] in the British South West as if combined visually into a picture-frame by artists John Constable by way of Alfred Kubin.

[e] Deft [and non-intrusive] social commentary that provokes deep thought in the reader. And most crucially [f] Fine story-telling that engages the reader until little else matters, except the pages turning as the narrative unravels.

When William ‘Billy’ Titcomb [the eponymous Tailor] is brutally murdered inside a toilet on a morning train from Bristol Temple Meads to London Paddington, the Avon and Somerset Police Major Crimes Unit [MCU] are tasked to investigate.  

DS George Cross, together with former partner Josie Ottey [now promoted to Detective Inspector] is tasked to lead the investigation under the eye of their boss DCI Ben Carson. Though the lead investigator is neuro-divergent, the author rather than use Cross’s Autism as the key to the investigative process; references it purely as an ordinary facet of Cross’s character.

There are issues of Cross’s elderly [and formerly estranged] parents Raymond and Christine impinging upon the Detective’s life, as well as local uber-villains Franklin ‘Rocky’ Rockwell and Declan O’Leary.

It appears that the murdered tailor was traveling to China by way of London Heathrow then Dubai to meet lawyers. At [The Tailor] Billy Titcomb’s funeral, Cross is surprised to see Toby Fletcher [an old contact from a previous case], as well ‘Rocky’ Rockwell attend to pay their respects.

As the case has possible political ramifications, George Cross is assigned the recently promoted [former staff officer] Alice MacKenzie as his partner, with DC Prianka and Catherine handling the CCTV and technical IT issues. Adding the murdered man’s twin sister Gwen [who was also his business partner at Bristol’s Titcomb and Titcomb], and his wife ‘Min’ a former PhD Chinese research chemist who he met at University College London [UCL], muddies the waters of what appears as purely an opportunistic murder.

What George Cross and his team uncover is something entirely different, and a much darker view of human nature and the term ‘bad actors’ emerge.

Another facet of Sullivan’s mystery is the insight into the craft of the tailor which is presented from the perspective of our autistic investigator who becomes fascinated by the artistry [and technical detail] behind handcrafting a bespoke suit.

Though this latest DS George Cross detective novel is a part of a now essential British Police Procedural series, The Tailor was my first novel by former film maker Tim Sullivan. Though there are subtle hints about happenings from previous instalments, at no time did I feel adrift. I read the book as a standalone – and at the end, I urgently ordered all the preceding novels because when I turned the final page - I was bereft.