British author Tim Sullivan has written an engaging series about a detective with autism. Set in Bristol, the series (the first installment of which is The Dentist) features Detective Sergeant George Cross, whose almost total lack of empathy is one of his hallmarks as he compiles the best record for the Somerset and Avon police force.

It is the quiet consistency of his mannerisms that makes the series so charming. Cross plies his trade — solving homicides — across multiple volumes named for the respective victim’s profession (e.g., The Cyclist, The Bookseller, The Monk, and so on).

Above all else, the books are engrossing police procedurals featuring Cross’ gay father, Raymond, and his colleague-in-arms, Josie Ottey, a Black single mother of two. There is also a full cast of supporting characters (not least the murder victims), including Alice Mackenzie, who starts out as a police staff investigator, and latecomer Michael Swift, who becomes Alice’s live-in boyfriend.

I’ve been to Brighton — site of a Conservative Party conference — which is near where a good friend was born. It’s a beach town in Essex on the southern shore of England, not that far from where Cross does his sleuthing. (Of course, no place in Britain is “far” by American standards.)

I have now read every DS George Cross investigation I could get my hands on. The series resonates with me so much that I wonder if I, too, am on the spectrum. (I’m not.) On the other hand, the Daily Mail, a conservative British tabloid, also loves the series and describes it as iconic. And it’s well written, too.

Darrell Delamaide is the author of two novels and two books of nonfiction. He lives in Washington, DC.