James Henry (9)Reseñas

Crime

A worthy effort recreating RD Wingfield's characters, set in 1982, when Jack Frost is still a detective sergeant. Frost's team investigates a suspicious death of a teenage girl and then Superintendent Mullett discovers what appears to be a ritualistic murder of a male teenager on his golf course. The usual battle of wills ensues between Frost and Mullett, which of course Frost won. Entertaining reminders of 1980s and absence of mobile phones.

This is 1980s Britain in recession and with a police force that is seriously under-staffed. The IRA are active and Denton police station is having a makeover, as if some magnolia emulsion will make everyone feel better. This is the prequel to the Frost series of novels by RD Wingfield. Jack Frost is a detective sergeant who smokes continuously and, thanks to a series of murders, never goes home. There is plenty of 1980s colour, black humour and shocking storylines.

Morning Frost by James Henry is the third prequel to the original Inspector Jack Frost series written by R. D. Wingfield. After the death of Wingfield, two of his friends continued the series with three prequels. And although they do not quite reach the level of the originals, they have captured the writing style and the essence of the character.

This is the third and final prequel so, for me, the end of the series. I have thoroughly enjoyed reading about the ups and downs of the sloppy, irreverent, seemingly inept detective who always manages to close his cases and capture the bad guy. In this outing he and his team are juggling multiple cases, and working under the pressure of being short staffed. Some of the cases they are dealing with include body parts turning up in a farmer’s field, a shooting at a local night club and a rapist who appears to be targeting teachers.

Morning Frost follows the original books with their clever, interwoven plots, great characters and plenty of dark humor. It also closes the time gap and ends shortly before the first book in the series actually starts. I will certainly miss visiting the fictional town of Denton, and reading about the bizarre cases that Frost and his team have to solve.

I always find it much easier to write a bad good review than a good bad one, and perhaps it's the same with novels: this is certainly more a bad good book than a good bad one (which would be much more fun to read).

First, the characters are indistinctly drawn in themselves and therefore insufficiently distinct from one another. The author refers to them by last name (fair enough), while they refer to each other by first name (again fair enough) - but long before we, the readers, have got the mental images properly straight, because

Second, the plot strands are too many and too briefly dealt with. There is a drugs shipment; a sexual encounter on the ward between a doctor and nurse; the death of one man and the escape of another on a Saturday night in Colchester; the relationship between the local police and a locally garrisoned military regiment. We are breathlessly shuffled from one of these to the next (each heading giving us location and time to the nearest 10 minutes, as if it matters for goodness' sake) without our ever properly knowing who's who or what the hell is going on. One imagines, of course, that all will come together at some point ... so one continues ruefully to check that, yes, this thing is 484 pages long ... and yet one doesn't feel like making the effort, because

Third, none of the plot strands is really good enough: the drugs shipment is lame; the doctor and nurse are unappealing characters, insofar as they are characters at all (the fact that the nurse is our hero's wife induces only a yawn); the death of the squaddie just isn't exciting or intriguing, and regarding the prickly relations between cops and soldiers, rendered through the medium of a shared interest in boxing of all things: frankly, who cares?

I tried, I really did, but nope, this was just a trial from beginning to the point at which I realised that life is too short. I haven't time to waste on the likes of the bore that is DI Nick Lowry, his unpleasant wife or his dull existence.

'The first DI Nick Lowry thriller' trumpets the dust jacket. I'd be thrilled if it was his last.

I've always been a fan of the original RD Wingfield Frost stories and the authors do a remarkably good job of remaining faithful to the style and character of the original, whilst accurately reflecting conditions in 1981 Britain. Sgt Jack Frost is reluctantly put in charge of various investigations by Supt Mullett in the mysterious absence of Jack's mentor, Inspector Williams. Jack's usual disregard for procedures and protocol ruffles feathers but gets results, not always intentionally and the humour and wit of the original is well maintained.

After being sorely disappointed by "First Frost", I tried this book hoping that the author had better captured the spirit of Wingfield's work. Unfortunately, I found this one, the second in the series, no better than the first. I doubt that I'll be reading any more of this series: methinks time would be more enjoyably spent just re-reading (or, more accurately, re-devouring) the original Wingfield books.

Mr Henry's novel has taken a pasting from some reviews, but I enjoyed it. Thought it was a good detective story, my only criticism being the Morse-esque chief super; which was a bit predictable.

DI Nick Lowry has a lot on his plate this New Year. His wife is distant and behaving erratically, he has the death of a soldier from the local barracks, the discovery of a headless corpse on Mersea Island and the murder of two men in a house in Colchester. All the events seem to be linked with the import of a very strong batch of amphetamines from Germany.

I did really like the whole sense of time and place in this book. Set just after the Falklands War in Essex, the references to culture of the 80s were spot on. The descriptions of Mersea Island and the bleak mudflats were extremely evocative and the brutal, sexist nature of policing was realistic. However the story itself never really grabbed me and it took me a while to plough through the book. I don't understand why, the plot was interesting and the setting good but it never grabbed me and left me a little cold.

The third prequel to the original series of Inspector Frost books and this one is the end of Sergeant Frost. It's a good read although this Frost doesn't feel the same as in the original series. The story does feel a bit convoluted in parts but it does come together in a reasonable way. Being set more than 30 years ago it makes for an interesting read about the coming of computers to fighting crime. Though Frost handles this in his usually haphazard style.

I always find it much easier to write a bad good review than a good bad one, and perhaps it's the same with novels: this is certainly more a bad good book than a good bad one (which would be much more fun to read).

First, the characters are indistinctly drawn in themselves and therefore insufficiently distinct from one another. The author refers to them by last name (fair enough), while they refer to each other by first name (again fair enough) - but long before we, the readers, have got the mental images properly straight, because

Second, the plot strands are too many and too briefly dealt with. There is a drugs shipment; a sexual encounter on the ward between a doctor and nurse; the death of one man and the escape of another on a Saturday night in Colchester; the relationship between the local police and a locally garrisoned military regiment. We are breathlessly shuffled from one of these to the next (each heading giving us location and time to the nearest 10 minutes, as if it matters for goodness' sake) without our ever properly knowing who's who or what the hell is going on. One imagines, of course, that all will come together at some point ... so one continues ruefully to check that, yes, this thing is 484 pages long ... and yet one doesn't feel like making the effort, because

Third, none of the plot strands is really good enough: the drugs shipment is lame; the doctor and nurse are unappealing characters, insofar as they are characters at all (the fact that the nurse is our hero's wife induces only a yawn); the death of the squaddie just isn't exciting or intriguing, and regarding the prickly relations between cops and soldiers, rendered through the medium of a shared interest in boxing of all things: frankly, who cares?

I tried, I really did, but nope, this was just a trial from beginning to the point at which I realised that life is too short. I haven't time to waste on the likes of the bore that is DI Nick Lowry, his unpleasant wife or his dull existence.

'The first DI Nick Lowry thriller' trumpets the dust jacket. I'd be thrilled if it was his last.

I am writing this review after receiving a copy of the book through RealReaders. This is the first book written by the author under the James Henry by-line - he is also known as James Gurbutt and has written three prequels to the popular ‘Frost’ series. Blackwater is a story is set in the same period - 1983 - but features Detective Inspector Nick Lowry. There is a similarity in style - Lowry’s immediate boss CS Stephen Sparks is rather a caricature of an 80’s old-style copper with his misogynistic views and his slightly sadistic attitude toward getting a confession from a low-life criminal, whilst simultaneously giving the ‘nod’ to another member of that fraternity who passes on useful information.

The book is set in the garrison town of Colchester; it is New Year and the weather is as bleak as the countryside surrounding the town. The descriptions of the estuaries and the marshlands, colourless and windswept, set the tone for the whole book, whilst the characters are as hard as the town itself.

The story is one of a drug deal gone wrong, with murder and mayhem as the result, and the man to sort it all out is Nick Lowry - a left-over mod with a sharp brain and a quick intelligence who leaves everyone else behind in the search for the truth. A boxer turned birdwatcher, who is trying to give up smoking (for reasons that are not clearly defined), he has the obligatory difficult relationship with his wife and son.

So far, so good; the problem for me was that I didn’t really like any of the characters - goodies or baddies - which meant that I had very little sympathy for any of them. For me, there were far too many characters with side-plots that cluttered up the main storyline and left me somewhat confused. The cover to the book announced it as ‘The First DI Nick Lowry Thriller’ and I did get the impression that Mr. Henry was setting the scene for later books a lot of the time. Adding to the confusion, a lot of the characters were variously called by their first name, their last name and their nickname, throughout the book. Like a lot of people, my fairly busy life means that I usually read in ‘bites’, but I can always follow a good story; but I don’t like having to constantly go back to see who was being beaten up this time! This book had me floundering at times, trying to work out who was dead, who was alive and who was on the run. And at the end …..I still wasn’t 100% sure, although I had worked out the ‘twist’ well beforehand.

However, now that the author has his background out of the way, and we have met the cast of characters for the series, the next books could well be a whole lot better. I’m certainly not writing them off, and will read book two when it comes out. If I could have given this one 3.5 stars I would have, but I’m afraid it has to settle for three.

Having thoroughly enjoyed Morning Frost by this author, I was excited to be sent Blackwater to review. However, I was very disappointed. An average read in my opinion. I found the storyline confusing and the plot really slow, never developing at all. The book is set in and around Colchester in the early '80's. Two of the main characters are policemen, one a steady 40 year old, wishing he could become a twitcher and slow down, the other sports car owner, snappy dresser and young high flyer. The plot seems to revolve around a large shipment of drugs coming into the town via the marshes. A few murders ensue, the older policeman's wife who is having an affair with a Dr from work, is mixed up with one of the murder scenes having been raving it up with some friends in the town prior to the deaths. She also dabbles in drugs. None of the characters had any depth and none were believable. Add to the mix a young blonde PC, overbearing and stubborn military personnel. New Years Eve punch ups between the locals and soldiers and there you have it. I didn't like the way the plot flitted between different scenarios, so many different superficial characters, it was a confusing read. I plodded on to the end, but didn't really feel there had been any point to the story at all.½

I received this book via Real Readers in exchange for an honest review
A new year brings new resolutions for Detective Inspector Nicholas Lowry. With one eye on his approaching fortieth birthday, he has given up his two greatest vices: smoking, and the police boxing team. As a result, the largest remaining threat to his health is now his junior colleague's reckless driving.
With an atmospheric setting in rural Essex and in contrast squaddie town Colchester, I found the Military angle different and interesting it is a good read with believable characters & subtle plot twists that held my attention throughout a good book is when you want to find out the ending!
This First Police Procedural is the first in I suspect a new series.

I was given a hardback copy of this book by the publisher and Realreaders.
Prepare yourselves - there's a new Inspector on the loose, albeit one from the early 1980's. There are some very murky goings on indeed in Colchester and the mudflats on the Essex coast. Enter Nick Lowry who has to solve the murder mystery and the drug problem, not to mention the state of his marriage to a rather flighty Jacqui. He has two sidekicks to help him with the police work, WPC Jane Gabriel and DC Dan Kenton. A great atmospheric start on a dark, foggy night on the mudflats. I loved all the descriptions of the various places but found it a bit difficult to settle into policing in the 1980's - it seemed like an awful lot of hard work crime solving then! It also took a bit of time to get used to jumping around to the different locations and characters. Lowry & Co will become more interesting as we get to know them better in future books. All in all a very good introduction to a new series, easy to read with some nice characters and some not quite so nice!

Fatal Frost by James Henry is the second prequel to the original Frost series by R.D. Wingfield. James Henry has done a very good job as these prequels have totally caught the atmosphere, grittiness and humour of the original books. In this one, it’s the May long weekend of 1982 and DS Frost is trying to take advantage of the quiet to catch up on his paperwork but even though he has come in on his day off, he is the one who must go when a dead body is called in. This is just the beginning of a week of deaths, robberies, and life being made more complicated by his boss, Superintendent Mullett. To further stir the pot, Frost’s wife, Mary seems to have gone home to her mother and his bit-on-the-side isn’t too happy with him either.

This is a very readable and entertaining police procedural, that paints a vivid picture of the younger Frost. Both the action and the humour are non-stop as Frost solves the mysteries in his usual chaotic and unorganized way. He may be an absolute bust when it comes to paperwork or following the rules, but he has a nose for solving crime. Frost is a strangely appealing character considering he drinks like a fish, smokes like a chimney and runs around on his wife. Most of the characters in these books of come off as caricatures which leaves me wondering if the author is actually giving us a satire of the police procedural or the real deal. Either way these books tickle my funny bone and I will be continuing on with the series.

This features characters created by RD Wingfield who only wrote six novels featuring Inspector Frost. In this book set in the early 1980s Frost is still a sergeant. The various plots are preposterous and at the end I was still not sure how the young girl died at the start of the book. An average read.

I am a huge fan of R.D. Wingfield’s Jack Frost series and so I couldn’t resist picking up First Frost by James Henry. This author is actually the pen name for the two men that co-wrote the story. One, James Gurbutt, was R.D. Wingfield’s original publisher. These two authors did an excellent job of capturing the style that the Frost books were written in and I enjoyed First Frost immensely.

Working as a prequel to the series, First Frost is set in the mid-eighties, and finds Frost and his cohorts working on a number of cases that include investigating the disappearance of a teenager, a gang of armed robbers, and the death of a blind man. The Denton Police Force is under-staffed, over-worked and dealing with a new Superintendent, Stanley Mullet, who is a familiar character from the other Frost books. Mullet is rather a control freak as well as being extremely incompetent which is frustrating to his employees but adds a lot of humor to the story. This prequel works well and the authors are obviously very familiar with both the dark humor and the gripping, tense stories that defined this police procedural series and made is so memorial.

It was a treat to read and rediscover my enthusiasm for Jack Frost and I will certainly be on the lookout for more Frost stories by James Henry.

This is a prequel to the Jack Frost series. The book is set in 1981. Frost is a DS at the time. His mentor DI Bert Williams is missing, the station is short handed and the bad guys seem to taking advantage of this. There is a 12 year old girl missing, a possible outbreak of rabies, what may or may not be a case of child abuse, some bank robberies and some dead bodies turning up. Frost is trying to work his way through these cases and then is hit with a very personal crisis.

I've not read the original Frost series but if this book is any indication of them I will certainly add them to my TBR list. There is a lot going on in this book but the authors manage very well to keep the narrative flowing in a smooth way. The characters are outstanding and the dialogue is good. I'm very glad I stumbled onto this book and will be sure to read more in this series.½

Morning Frost, written by James Henry is as good as those written by R D Wingfield. It was so well written, so true to the Frost books and the tv series that I could see everyone in my mind’s eye as they played out the book before me. I loved the early part of the book dealing with Frost’s reaction to the death of his wife and his reaction to the rest of the family members. Classic Frost. Classic R D Wingfield. Classic crime novel.

James Henry is doing a marvelous job recreating Wingfield’s Frost character. This is Henry’s third so far, I believe, and is excellent. All are prequels and in this one Frost has just lost his wife Mary to cancer. Frost is still a sergeant, but Mullett is under pressure from the ACC to promote Frost to Inspector. Waters and Frost become friends and we see the origins of the Clark/Frost relationship. Frost is humanized - a bit. Read very well by Stephen Thorne.

The title is, of course, a pun.

This was taken on the suggestion of a customer who highly recommended this book. In some ways what was so right with theis book was in the end what was a little wrong with it. Having watched frost on the television it was difficult not to have that character in my head as I read the book.
This was based earlier than the TV series so his life was a little different and I found myself saying to myself - so thats why he is like that. Although at other times I am left wondering how he got to where his life is if his characters was like that even then.
Basically a good book that kept me hooked

I have read nearly one hundred and forty books so far this year, and this one slips effortlessly into the bottom ten.

I am not sure what disappointed me most - was it the facile characterisation or the incoherent plotting? One thing I am sure of is that I won't be reading any more of this series.

This is not written by R D Wingfield, but is a prequel by two authors. Not a patch on Wingfield, didn't even seem like the same character.

I was a huge fan of Wingfield's Frost series. They had mystery and humor and excellent writing, so it was with great trepidation that I tried James Henry's re-creation of Frost. I was happy to see he has succeeded. It must be a very difficult thing to do and is not often well accomplished. Robert Goldsborough occasionally succeeds in recreating Archie and Nero, but no one has managed to authentically reproduce Fleming or Ludlum, and they weren't that good in the first place.

Henry's Frost has just the right combination of humor and mystery. It's 1982, Frost is a DS, and Denton is getting its first black policeman. Mullet happens to be on the golf course (a source of both embarrassment and amusement to the regulars) when the eviscerated body of a young boy is found. Overworked with a spate of local burglaries, Frost finds to the murder a welcome distraction and then the boy's sister disappears. Soon he begins to wonder if this isn't a reprise of a school-girls' wiccan adventure from years previous.

Listened to as an audiobook. Delightfully read by Stephen Thorne. Another one of those books that encourages mowing the lawn twice.