Book Review: A Killing Frost by R.D. Wingfield

I've always liked gritty police proceduals, and R.D.Wingfield's Frost series, upon which the ITV television series was based, are some of my favourites.

Detective Inspector Frost, a wonderfully unlikeable protagonist, spent half his time pouring scorn on criminals and the other half trying to arrest them, only to be hindered by incompetent yet tolerated underlings and the spin-happy buffoon Superintendent Mullett.

A Killing Frost, the latest story in the series, is an exciting tale laced with black humour.

Frost must catch a blackmailer threatening to poison shoppers, a murderous butcher and a kidnapper, among other crooks disturbing the safety of run-down Denton.

Some scenes in the book are quite hard going- particularly the description of a snuff film the detectives have to watch in order to identify a murder victim. Not a book for the Mary Whitehouses or faint hearted.

However, there are signs that the series is wearing thin.

It is not clear if the story is set in the present day or in the Nineties.

There are references to "WPC Kate Holby" even though female officers are now called PCs.

A handful of references do suggest the present day, including one about compensation for the family of a suspected murdered burglar.

The introduction of a new character who regards Detective Inspector Frost as his nemesis is welcome, and DCI Skinner is a horrible villain who interacts wonderfully with Superintendent Mullett.

However, the crimes Frost has to investigate and the battles he has to fight do tend to be very similar throughout the series.

The threatened transfer, a new angle, could have been more widely explored, for example.

A Killing Frost is still worth a read, but I was slightly disappointed with it.