DI Jack Frost is best-known for his small screen portrayal by David Jason. Created by the late R.D. Wingfield, the books he appears in are much more subtle and fascinating than their TV adaptations, developing a gently askew view of small-town Britain. James Henry has taken over the series and has gone back to Frost's earlier years in the 1970s and this 3rd prequel (after First Frost and Fatal Frost) is set straight after his wife's burial when a mysterious human foot is found in a farmer's field and soon after a local businessman is shot and a valuable painting goes missing. Despite his own burdensome woes, Frost has to unthread the criminal spiderweb. Superbly-plotted and humane English detection.
DI Frost is one of the most beloved detectives to grace our shelves and our screens. The original series was written by R. D. Wingfield who died in 2007, with the last Frost book published in 2008. Rather than merely continue the series, James Henry (the pseudonym for James Gurbutt and Henry Sutton) has written three prequels set in the 70s and 80s which take the series up to where it first started. Brilliantly capturing the era and the character of Frost this is gripping and enjoyable.
November 1982. It's been one of the worst days of DS Jack Frost's life. He has buried his wife Mary, and must now endure the wake, attended by all of Denton's finest. All, that is, apart from DC Sue Clarke, who has been summoned to the discovery of a human foot in a farmer's field. And things get worse. Local entrepreneur Harry Baskin is shot inside his club and a valuable painting goes missing. As the week goes on, a cyclist is found dead in suspicious circumstances. Frost is on the case, but another disaster - one he is entirely unprepared for - is about to strike.
James Henry is the pen name for James Gurbutt, who has long been a fan of the original R. D. Wingfield Frost books and the subsequent TV series. He worked for several years as an accountant before moving into publishing. In 2009 he set up Corsair, a literary imprint for Constable & Robinson, Wingfield's original publisher. He lives in Essex.
After a successful career writing for radio, R. D. Wingfield turned his attention to fiction, creating the character of Jack Frost. The series has been adapted for television as the perennially popular A Touch of Frost, starring David Jason. R. D. Wingfield died in 2007.
