DS George Cross doesn’t like surprises. He spends each Christmas the same way: at home eating Chinese takeout with his father, Raymond. But this year Raymond has invited George’s mother, and she intends to cook a turkey. Worse, when George asks her what she would like for a present, she tells him she’d much rather be surprised. How on earth is George supposed to know what to get her?

A murder case, when it comes, is something of a relief. On a frosty morning soon after, Cross is called to inspect a body found in the thick hedgerow bordering a farm. It appears the young man was trying to scramble through the tangled branches when he died. He was running away from something. Or someone.

Cross and his partner, DS Ottey, learn that the victim was a forager, but with the local farmers closing ranks, finding the killer won’t be easy. Even so, Ottey is confident Cross will notice what everyone else has missed. In any investigation, George is patient, persistent, and impossible to put off. But solving the mystery of his mother’s present may take a different set of skills . . .

Praise for Tim Sullivan and the DS George Cross mysteries:

“A gripping, atmospheric police procedural.”—The Guardian, on The Monk

“One of the most iconic British fictional detectives of the 21st century . . . a delight.”—Daily Mail

“Old-fashioned in a good way . . . satisfying.”—Sunday Times

“I am insanely in love with George Cross, a perfect detective for our time and for all time. His complexity, orneriness and dogged persistence makes for such a complete and admirable hero… The Patient is a cracking mystery, full of twists and surprises to the end.”―Stephen Fry

“The fact that Cross has been diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder makes him just as intriguing as the murder mystery.”—The Times

“A compelling, suspenseful police procedural with an intimate, positive insight into living on the autistic spectrum.”—Woman

“A popular, must-read series.”—The Sun

“A clever mystery full of tension but also humour and compassion. George Cross is becoming one of my favourite detectives.”—Elly Griffiths

“These are must-read detective novels. George Cross is a great creation.”—Mark Billingham

“[This] is becoming a classic series.”—Imran Mahmood

“DS George Cross shot to the top of my favourites when I first encountered him.”—Mari Hannah