Book Summary and Reviews of The Monk by Tim Sullivan

The Monk by Tim Sullivan

The Monk

DS George Cross Mysteries #5

by Tim Sullivan

  • Critics' Consensus (3):
  • Published:
  • Apr 2026, 384 pages
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About this book

Book Summary

To find a murderer, you need a motive ...

When a beloved yet mysterious monk is brutally murdered, Detective Sergeant George Cross faces a case with no leads, while his personal life is thrown into disarray

DS George Cross has always wondered why his mother left him when he was a child. Now that she is back in his life, he suddenly has answers—but this unexpected reunion is not anything he's used to dealing with. So when the body of a monk is found savagely beaten to death in a woodland near Bristol, Cross is eager to throw himself into the case.

The problem is, no one in the Bristol station has any leads. Nothing is known about Brother Dominic's past. How can Cross unpick a crime when they don't know anything about the victim? And why would someone want to harm a monk?

Cross's dogged investigation reveals that while the monk was a much-loved and respected friend, brother, he was also a very wealthy man—and he sacrificed it all for his faith. For a man who has nothing, it seems strange that greed could be the motive for his murder. But greed is a sin, after all.

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Reviews

Media Reviews

"Sullivan keeps his hot streak alive ... This is contemporary crime fiction at its finest." —Publishers Weekly (starred review)

"A meticulous English detective cracks a tight monastic community to solve a brutal murder ... A delightful final twist will leave many readers impatient for Cross' next case. A top-notch series that deepens with every installment." —Kirkus Reviews (starred review)

"A gripping, atmospheric police procedural." —The Guardian (UK)

This information about The Monk was first featured in "The BookBrowse Review" - BookBrowse's membership magazine, and in our weekly "Publishing This Week" newsletter. Publication information is for the USA, and (unless stated otherwise) represents the first print edition. The reviews are necessarily limited to those that were available to us ahead of publication. If you are the publisher or author and feel that they do not properly reflect the range of media opinion now available, send us a message with the mainstream reviews that you would like to see added.

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Author Information

Tim Sullivan

Tim Sullivan is an internationally bestselling author and acclaimed screenwriter, whose credits include A Handful of Dust, Where Angels Fear to Tread, Jack and Sarah, and Letters to Juliet. He is also a television director whose credits include Sherlock Holmes and Cold Feet. His DS George Cross series was a breakout success in the UK and has sold over 850,000 copies worldwide. He lives in North London with his wife, Rachel.

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