Bristol crime writer Tim Sullivan on how his home city continues to shape his work

The screenwriter and director turned successful crime writer, Bristol-born Tim Sullivan is releasing his latest novel The Politician on November 10.

It will be the fourth title in Sullivan’s acclaimed crime fiction series featuring the character DS George Cross, a detective inspector in the Avon & Somerset Police.

Cross, who is on the autism spectrum, is designed to be a character for the modern age, far removed from the heavy-drinking misanthropic stereotypes common to crime fiction.

Tim Sullivan directing – photo: courtesy of Flow Communications

The narrative follows the death of former mayor and activist Peggy Frampton, and Cross’ subsequent investigations into what he believes is her murder.

Though he now lives in London, as a Bristol native, Sullivan’s decision to set his series of novels in his home city made complete sense.

“Bristol is a city I love and have strong connections to,” he says, “so it was the natural choice. The fact that it isn’t a metropolitan hub was perfect, just the right size for my plots to take place in and acquaint the audience with.”

Photo: Head of Zeus

Ahead of the publication, Sullivan shared some of his abiding memories of growing up in Clifton with Bristol 24/7:

“As my father was in the RAF he was often posted overseas. It was during one of these postings, when I was still a toddler, that I first went to stay with my grandparents in Bristol. Both my father and mother had grown up in the city and their parents and extended family still lived there.

“Both sets of grandparents were poor; the 1960s was still a time of outside lavatories, hot water bottles and chamber pots under the bed. My mother’s parents lived in a rundown basement flat in Clifton, the walls virtually held up by rising damp and just a couple of coal fires to warm the place up.

“I have a soft spot for Bristol Rovers. But mainly remember freezing winter afternoons watching Bristol rugby at the Memorial Ground with my grandfather, father and his brothers. Hot Bovril at half time.

“Bristol Zoo was basically in the middle of our school grounds. In the prep school, your lessons could be observed by a couple of giraffes looking over the wall. Walking from the boarding house to school accompanied by the cries and calls of tigers, peacocks and monkeys you could close your eyes imagine you were on an African plain somewhere. I read with sadness that Bristol Zoo had to close.

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“One of my good school friends was the film and theatre director Roger Michell. We met at Clifton College, and our friendship continued through university, at work and throughout my life. He was very instrumental in the early development of George Cross but sadly died last year.

“Other memories include the best fish and chip shop in the world at the bottom of Cotham Hill, served in yesterday’s newspaper. Shopping in the old Maggs department store with my mother and older sister Valerie and getting stuck in the lift. My sister still has a problem with lifts today.

“The arrival of pizza in the early seventies and having my first ever margherita in a tiny pizzeria on Charlotte Street off the top of Park Street. Just around the corner is Belgrave Square where my father went to school. I was always fascinated by it as a child because their playground was on the roof of the building enclosed by wire.

“Sneaking out of school with friends to see Pink Floyd’s Dark Side of the Moon tour from a box in the Hippodrome is something I’ll never forget. Going to the downs to watch the SS Great Britain being towed up the Bristol Channel from the Falkland Islands. The Berkley Tea Rooms that used to be on Park Row where my grandmother would treat me to a chocolate éclair or cream slice.

“Just a few years ago my daughter went to the University of Bristol and her subject’s department was on Woodland Road where my grandparents had lived. I wonder what the little boy quivering on the outside toilet further down the road, at night, too many years ago to be mentioned politely, would think about that.”

Tim Sullivan: The Politician is published by Head of Zeus on November 10. More information is available at www.headofzeus.com.

Main photo: Ivan Weiss

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