Customer Reviews

A Touch of Frost (Isis)

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Detective Inspector Jack Frost of Denton CID is an aging, scruffy, undisciplined, irreverent and intuitive sleuth who manages to solve all those nasty cases that baffle his more conventional colleagues. A Touch of Frost, the first in a five-novel series by playwright and former comedy writer, R.D. Wingfield, is an engrossing whirlwind of rape victims, body bags and multiple suspects that drive Frost and Webster, his newly-demoted side-kick, over four sleepless days and nights.

Utilizing plain language, expert composition and the bawdy humour that is the series hallmark, Wingfield deftly steers the plots interwoven complexities, such that the reader is immediately hooked by this irresistible page-turner. The entire cast of characters, from the odious Commander Mullett to the unwashed derelict, Wally Peters, is vividly and believably drawn. And, as befits the title, a chilling frost clings to the gruesome crime scenes and suitably shrouds the corpse-strewn town.

A word of caution, however: The relentless irreverence and grim humour that limns virtually every page of this novel are bound to offend some sensibilities and annoy others, especially those readers accustomed to drawing-room mysteries, or to the literary school of detective fiction. But for those of us with the wit and the grit, the Frost books are a refreshing and welcome throwback to an earlier style, when the protagonist was not a recovering alcoholic with dysfunctional offspring, but was simply an honest copper who went out and got the job done, with a minimum of fuss. Highly recommended.

I have watched without any great enjoyment the televised A&E mystery series featuring DI Frost, and I therefore found myself disinclined to read any of Wingfield's work. However, I picked up a copy of A Touch of Frost on my way out of the library one day, and I found (much to my surprise) that I truly enjoyed the novel!

I am now looking forward to reading other books by R.D. Wingfield, and I would recommend this particular book to anyone who enjoys British mysteries. This book is humorous and fast-paced, and the hard-nosed DI Frost is made less obnoxious and much more bearable by way of his dry sense of humour and an unpretentious intolerance of sycophants and their political maneuvering.

This was definitely an unexpected find!

Having seen the tv show from the UK, I was intrigued (but not surprised) to learn there is a book series behind the program. The book keeps you guessing not only about "whodunit," but also about whether or not the crimes are inter-related. Frost's character is amusing, as is his co-workers' reactions to him. I think there is more than a little shock value in Wingfield's humor. All in all, an entertaining read! I can't wait to get started on the rest of the novels!

HAVE JUST FOUND THIS AUTHOR AND HAVE THOROUGHLY ENJOYED ALL FOUR OF HIS INSPECTOR FROST BOOKS (NIGHT FROST, FROST AT CHRISTMAS, A TOUCH OF FROST AND HARD FROST)

HIS COMIC AND SOMETIMES CRUDE ONE-LINERS KEPT ME ENTERTAINED AND GAVE ME SOME LIGHT RELIEF FROM THE SOMETIMES GRUESOME STORY LINES WHICH UNFOLD IN THESE EXCITING DETECTIVE MYSTERIES. CAN'T WAIT TO READ MORE OF HIS BOOKS. HAS ANYONE EVER READ ANY OTHER BOOKS BY THIS AUTHOR OR BOOKS THAT ARE SIMILAR? HURRY AND WRITE SOME MORE MR WINGFIELD.

When I first began to watch the television series derived from R.D. Wingfield's "Frost" books, I worked under the assumption that there must have been quite a few books from which to work, as each episode had a nicely filled-out plot, particularly during the first two series.

This is not true. There have been only a few books, but Wingfield conspires to stuff his plots so efficiently that the writers of the television show merely had to remove bits and pieces of the books to create the episodes.

This book inspired two of the best episodes of the first series; CONCLUSIONS (the night-club robbery, the hit-and-run-case, the bank robbery, and the murdered policeman) and NOTHING TO HIDE (the dead junkie in the public restroom). Frost himself remains a much less sympathetic fellow on page than screen, but Wingfield conspired to make him an amusing sort of swine, so it isn't nearly as annoying as one might expect . . .

I absolutely loved this book. I could not put it down. All of this author's books are great. If you love Cracker or other mysteries like them. Read this one, you will not regret it!

As with other Wingfield mysteries, this one is filled with the touches that make Jack Frost such a unique character. Intriguing plot lines and brilliant characterisations.

This is my third Inspector Frost novel and it is a good one. DI "Jack" Frost is a curmudgeonly detective in the Denton police force and has his hands full investigating a variety of crimes. In each book, Frost usually has several different crimes he has to solve. This time it is a missing teenager, stolen coins, a hit and run murder, and a serial rapist. He has help from either a new detective sargent or detective constable. This character is different in each book it seems. These are not graphic, high action novels but rather a laid back mystery which is intriguing and suspenseful and requires using a little of the gray matter to enjoy. Highly recommended.

If you're a Frost fan, you'll find this book eminently enjoyable. If you are unfamiliar with Jack Frost, this book will introduce you to a terrific character and a gifted author.

Detective Inspector "Jack" Frost is the subject of a popular television series in the UK. The character was awarded a medal for bravery (due to a foolish mistake) and dominates the TV series. Although RD Wingfield has written only four books, the many plots contained in them have been cannibalised for many episodes of the TV series.

This is the first Frost book I have read. Beginning with Frost attempting to attend a retirement party and failing as he is required to attend a number of crime scenes, it sets up a number of interlinking (and sometimes not) plots (the investigation of the death of a tramp, the disappearance of a girl, a rape inquiry). The different plots give a misleading depth to the novel, though Wingfield handles the plots reasonably (although without the mastery of James Ellroy, Ian Rankin, or Reginald Hill). However, at times there is too much happening

Wingfield, as one would expect from a former script writer for British comedian Kenneth Williams, is also a funny writer, although sometimes the jokes teeter into offensiveness.

The novel is strong on the tedium of much police procedural work, and perceptive on police politics (similar to office politics in most jobs).

However, the novel is heavily dependent on the character of Frost. Other characters fit neat stereotypes, or are too poorly drawn to give credibility, and the depth given to Frost with some subtle nuances (notably in the conclusion) merely emphasise, how two dimensional other characters are.

This is an enjoyable novel, but not gripping. It is not, to this reviewer, in the first level of modern British genre fiction.