The world of second hand bookselling is a cut-throat business. Getting your hands on those precious first editions at a price that you can still make a profit when selling them on is not straightforward and you never know who’s toes your going to step on – and if they are going to push back…

When the body of a bookseller is found in his own bookshop, Bristol CID have their hands full trying to find out who had motive enough to kill him? Did he disturb a robbery or was there something personal behind his death? It falls to DS Cross to hunt down the killer – but with Bristol’s finest distracted by personal issues, can he bring this killer to book? [Sorry about that, couldn’t resist…]

So, after reading The Dentist, the first DS Cross book, a year and a bit ago, I’ve been meaning to come back to the series. The concept of a functioning police detective with Asperger’s Syndrome is a strong one and the central character of Cross and his supportive team, along with how he deals with work and life hurdles, is the selling point of the series.

Here, we find Cross dealing with the return of his mother (who he assumes left because of his condition) and his father suffering from a life-threatening illness, along with his long-time partner being promoted and the changes he sees that will bring. At this stage in the series, he has a strong support network at work, and his partner knows how he ticks. The story of how someone like Cross succeeds at life is a really positive thing and while there is humour here, at no point do we find ourselves laughing at Cross.

The police procedural side of the tale is very much of what I’m starting to term “watching the detectives”. The investigation is very much how a police investigation would work but it’s not really a play-along at home sort of thing. As with The Dentist, the investigation takes some turns but there don’t seem to be many points where some stunning deduction is made from the evidence – it basically reads how I would expect the majority of police investigations would go.

The story does take at least one twist along the way, and it is an enjoyable read. Fans of the series will enjoy this installment.

Many thanks to the publisher for the review copy. The Bookseller is out in hardback and paperback today!