The Cyclist

Introducing your new crime thriller fix: Bristol detective DS George Cross, champion of the outsider, the voiceless and the dispossessed.

DS George Cross can be rude, difficult, and awkward with people. But his unfailing logic and relentless pursuit of justice means his conviction rate is the best on the force. So when a ravaged body is found in a local demolition site, it’s up to Cross to piece together the truth from whatever fragments he can find.

The demolition began at dawn. Walls knocked over. Twisted pipes uprooted. Window frames smashed. And then, a dead body appeared in the wreckage…

DS Cross has little to go on, but from the faint tan lines on the ravaged body, and strange scars on his forearms, an identity gradually emerges: a young man; an amateur cyclist; a reliance on performance-enhancing drugs. But what led this man to his death? In the face of budget cuts, unreliable witnesses and colleagues pushing to close the case, Cross mounts a meticulous investigation that will uncover jealousy, ambition and a family tearing itself apart…