The continuation of Inspector Frost

The late R D Wingfield's Inspector Frost series, which spawned the much beloved and long-running tv series A Touch of Frost, ran to only six books:

• Frost at Christmas	1989	1
• A Touch of Frost	1990	2
• Night Frost	1992	3
• Hard Frost	1995	4
• Winter Frost	1999	5
• A Killing Frost	2008	6

In recent years. a prequel series has been produced by two authors then one author under the name "James Henry":

DS Jack Frost, 1980s

• First Frost	2011	1
• Fatal Frost	2012	2
• Morning Frost	2013	3
• Frost at Midnight	2017	4

And now, the prequel series is being continued by Danny Miller, in Lethal Frost published 9 August:

Denton, 1984. After a morning’s betting at the races, bookmaker George Price is found in his car, barely alive with a bullet in his head. As he’s rushed to hospital, Detective Inspector Jack Frost and the Denton police force start their hunt for the would-be murderer.

But with a long list of enemies who might want the bookie dead, the team have got their work cut out for them. And with a slew of other crimes hitting the area, from counterfeit goods to a violent drugs gangs swamping Denton with cheap heroin, the stakes have never been higher.

Will Frost find the answers he’s looking for before things go from bad to worse?

More Jack Frost books (not by R D Wingfield)

News from the Bookseller:

Transworld has signed a deal to publish two new Jack Frost novels, written on behalf of the estate of R. D Wingfield, who died in 2007.

Sarah Turner, editorial Director, acquired the UK & Commonwealth rights from Philip Patterson at Marjacq Scripts.

Writing under the pseudonym James Henry, the books will be co-authored by James Gurbutt, who has just joined Constable & Robinson to found a new imprint, and Harvill Secker author Henry Sutton.

They will be prequels to the bestselling series written by Wingfield, which inspired the series A Touch Of Frost, and the first will be published by Bantam Press in early 2011.

Read the whole article here.

The Euro Crime bibliography for R D Wingfield is here.

New Reviews: Mike Ripley's crime file, Scott, Tallis, Wingfield

This week, Mike Ripley reviews some new releases whilst the rest of the reviews cover some recent paperbacks that we can recommend:

New Reviews:

In Mike Ripley's Crime File he reviews When Will There Be Good News? by Kate Atkinson, A Darker Domain by Val McDermid and Lost in Juarez by Douglas Lindsay;

Amanda Gillies enthuses about The Crystal Skull by Manda Scott;

Terry Halligan thoroughly enjoyed his time in 1903 Austria in Fatal Lies by Frank Tallis

and Maxine Clarke reviews the last ever Frost book, A Killing Frost by R D Wingfield which sees Inspector Frost juggling many cases whilst trying to stay put in Denton CID.

New Reviews

Here are this week's new reviews and details of the new competition.

Latest Reviews:

In the latest Crime File from Mike Ripley, he reviews The Manor of Death by Bernard Knight, Murder's Immortal Mask by Paul Doherty, A Killing Frost by R D Wingfield and Dog Eats Dog by Iain Levison;

Norman Price reviews the paperback release of Cross by Ken Bruen saying that "If you haven't read Ken Bruen yet then you are missing some the finest crime fiction being written today";

Maxine Clarke reviews Black Seconds by Karin Fossum, which has also just come out in paperback, and believes it's even better than Calling Out for You/The Indian Bride;

Terry Halligan reviews the latest in the award winning series by Ariana Franklin, The Death Maze which was released in the US as The Serpent's Tale;

Maxine also reviews the second in the Gotland set series from Mari Jungstedt, Unspoken calling it "a great read"

and new reviewer Eve Olsen is less than impressed with Julia Navarro's The Brotherhood of the Holy Shroud with its cardboard characters and lack of research.

Current Competition (closing date 31 May):

Win a signed copy of Spider by Michael Morley*

* UK/Europe only

New Reviews - Leon, Wingfield etc

Here are this week's new reviews and details of this month's competitions.

Latest Reviews:

Maxine Clarke reviews the paperback edition of Simon Beckett's Written in Bone writing that it is "superbly and tightly plotted and proceeds at a thrilling pace";

Declan Burke reviews the latest in the Ed Loy PI series from Declan Hughes - The Dying Breed (US: The Price of Blood) calling it a "complex, labyrinthine, gritty, coarse (and, yes, bloody) novel";

I review the second in the Sarah Tanner series from Victorian supremo L M Jackson - The Mesmerist's Apprentice which I found took a while to warm up, but worth the wait;

Maxine also review the new outing from Donna Leon - The Girl of His Dreams which sees a return to form for the mistress of Venice;

Staying over the Channel, Norman Price reviews the succint offering from Jean-Patrick Manchette - Three to Kill - saying that it is a "taut superbly written noir thriller"

and back in the UK, Fiona Walker enthuses about the latest and, alas, last Frost book from R D Wingfield - A Killing Frost.


Current Competitions (closing date 30 April):

Win a copy of The Trophy Taker by Lee Weeks*

Win a copy of The Death Maze by Ariana Franklin**

Win a copy of An Expert in Murder by Nicola Upson**


* UK/Europe only
**No geographical restrictions on entrants

It's Christmas Crime (5) - R D Wingfield

Frost at Christmas is the first in the six-book series featuring DI Jack Frost. The final part, Killing Frost, will be published posthumously in April 2008.

Synopsis:

Ten days to Christmas and Tracey Uphill, aged eight, hasn't come home from Sunday school. Her mother, a pretty young prostitute, is desperate. Enter Detective Inspector Jack Frost, sloppy, scruffy and insubordinate. To help him investigate the case of the missing child, Frost has been assigned a new sidekick, the Chief Constable's nephew. Fresh to provincial Denton in an oversmart suit, Detective Constable Clive Barnard is an easy target for Frost's withering satire. Assisted and annoyed by Barnard, Frost, complete with a store of tasteless anecdotes to fit every occasion, proceeds with the investigation in typically unorthodox style. After he's consulted a local witch, Dead Man's Hollow yields up a skeleton. Frost finds himself drawn into an unsolved crime from the past and risks not only his career, but also his life...

TV - A Touch of Frost

Digital Spy reports that a new episode of A Touch of Frost is being filmed:

Sir David Jason is to star in a new episode of A Touch of Frost on ITV1.

The 90 minute episode is titled "In the Public Interest" and is now in production in Leeds. It will air next year.

"I'm delighted to be playing Jack Frost once again," said Sir David. "He's a great character and I'm very fond of him."

John Lyons and Bruce Alexander will return as Detective Sergeant Lyons and Superintendent Mullett respectively in the new episode along with Mel Martin, Tam Williams and Julia St. John. Adrian Lukis, most recently seen playing Doug Wright in The Bill, will play villain James Callum.

David Reynolds, ITV controller of comedy drama and drama features for ITV Yorkshire said: "There is a real appetite for crime drama and A Touch of Frost provides scope for a range of stories and characters. Viewers can expect this episode to keep them guessing, and there is a twist that will add further intrigue to the drama."

The final Frost book from the late R D Wingfield, 'A Killing Frost', will be out in April 2008.

R D Wingfield RIP

Sad news comes from The Rap Sheet that R D Wingfield, author of the Frost series, has died aged 79. He managed to complete a sixth Frost book, 'Killing Frost', before he died, which is to be published next year.

Stuart MacBride leads the tributes.