The Dentist

Screenwriter Sullivan debuts with an excellent procedural centered on a neurodivergent investigator. Det. Sgt. George Cross’s eccentric behavior and strict adherence to department rules grate on his colleagues, but his superior sleuthing comes in handy when an old man is found strangled in the street. The responding officers are quick to dismiss the death as a case of homeless-on-homeless crime, but Cross isn’t convinced. The victim’s bag, for instance, contains valuable items that Cross suggests a financially insecure killer would have stolen. He becomes fixated on the case, in part because he identifies with a victim who “was easier not to engage with, to walk past, avoid.” Eventually, the dead man is identified as Lenny Carpenter, who’d been living out of a seedy hostel in recent weeks. More digging reveals that Lenny’s wife, Hilary, an author, was murdered long ago, and that Lenny was declared dead years before his actual death. Realizing something larger is at play, Cross reopens Hilary’s cold case and uncovers a conspiracy stretching back decades. Sullivan strikes gold his first time out, injecting investigative scenes with a cinematic flair and firmly establishing Cross as a quirky, lovable lead. Readers will be eager for the sequel. Agent: Peter Straus, RCW Literary. (Oct.)