Crime

A very un-PC, but very witty police procedural set in the very different 1990s, when people smoked everywhere and there were limited mobile phones and computers. Frost investigates the suspect death of a teenage boy, the abduction of another and a pedophile who gets their kicks from pricking young children so they bleed. Frost expertly swats away Supt Mullett's attempts to bring some order and discipline to his investigation, whilst stealing his best cigarettes. A clever plot with entertaining characters sprinkled through it. ( )

For a town with so much crime, they certainly have a hard time staffing their police force. This time around, Denton is subject to some gruesome occurrences. Detectives are trying to track down a missing child believed to be the bait in a blackmail scam while elsewhere, infants are being stabbed in the comfort of their own cribs. If that wasn’t bad enough, a deranged mother has murdered her three children and then leaped to her death in front of an oncoming train.

Just like in previous Inspector Frost novels, Wingfield has Frost doing the work of many. This could be due to the fact that the Denton Police Department is so wretchedly understaffed or it could be that Frost simply has nothing better to do. For a man that seems to hate most of the people he works with, he can rarely be found doing anything else. The brief amount of time he does designate to himself are mainly just to sleep and even when he’s done that, he’s right back at his desk.

In the first three books, Frost was insufferable to say the least. He disliked most of his co-workers and worked hard to make life miserable for his boss, Chief Superintendent Mullett. This time around, he not only annoys all of those around him but he also succeeded in irritating me.

I understand that Frost is written in such a way to come across as abrasive and short with both those he works with and those he investigates but I’m starting to wonder why Mullet even keeps him around. Sure, he eventually gets the job done but is the aggravation worth it in the end? I’ve got to think it isn’t. In today’s day and age, Frost probably couldn’t get away with half of his comments or even a portion of his actions. He’d have so many sexual harassment lawsuits thrown his way he wouldn’t know what to do with himself.

I don’t want it to seem like I suddenly have an issue with the character. Frankly, he’s always been crass. I just can’t understand why Wingfield decided to turn him up to eleven this time around. Hopefully in the next 3 books he isn’t so ridiculous and returns to his drier, more subtle style of humour that originally brought out his charm.

Cross posted on Every Read Thing ( )

Another winner in the series about the scruffy, scandalous yet extremely smart D.I. Frost. As usual, the police are overworked and understaffed as they deal with some extreme cases. A psychopath is breaking into houses and stabbing young children, a teenage girl was abducted and found naked wandering the streets, a corpse with missing fingers has turned up, three children in one family have been murdered and another young boy is missing.

These are serious crimes and yet this book still manages to be hilarious as we follow along in the wake of an apparent bumbling, foul-mouthed Frost who manages to upset his superiors every step of the way with his rule bending, yet successful methods.

A great series of books that always manage to make me laugh but I would caution against reading these books too closely together as they are quite similar in their plots. I find one a year is just about right. ( )

Detective Inspector Frost.
"It's a high price to pay for a pack of smokes when Frost interrupts his vacation to filch some of Commander Mullett's cigarettes and finds himself pressed into emergency duty. Denton Division is shorthanded after a car crash involving several tipsy high-ranking cops, and on Guy Fawkes night there's more mischief abroad than just a few children making the rounds. Frost must deal with a blackmailer, a shifty businessman, a not-so-grieving widow, a sexual pervert or two, a crazed housewife, and a cold-blooded kidnapper." - Bantam jacket notes.
A good police procedural, likeable detective - a good series. ( )