Wingfield’s A Touch of Frost

Despite the fact that I thoroughly enjoyed Frost At Christmas, I put off picking up the sequel for several months (nearly 8 to be exact). After finishing it, I feel like an idiot for waiting so long. I can easily state that I will not be making this mistake twice. The third book is ready to go and I’ll be diving in shortly.

Frost hates doing any sort of formal report. In fact, he hates it so much that he’ll take on an unreasonable amount of additional work to avoid the inevitable paperwork that will follow the closing of any one case. At one point, Frost is involved, in some shape or form, with 5 separate cases. He’s investigating the death of a vagabond in a public washroom, a hit and run potentially perpetrated by the son of a Member of Parliament, the murder of a stripper, the robbery of a bookie and finally, the disappearance of a fifteen year old girl.

Wingfield is simply incredible here, there’s no better way to explain it. As I’ve mentioned, he has Frost and his sidekick-of-the-week, Webster, running all over the streets of Denton involved in five separate crimes. What’s remarkable is that at no point did the plot seem convoluted nor did I feel lost. When Frost starts to make headway in one case, he’s reminded of, or provided with new evidence to, another.

It takes talent to present such an ambitious story and not leave the reader feeling confused. It also takes impressive writing chops to craft a type of prose that entertains the reader and keeps the narrative moving smoothly. There were more than a few moments where anything from a smirk to genuinely laughing out loud occurred.

It’s only the second book in the series but you can tell Wingfield has Frost nailed down. Not only that but a tremendous supporting cast that keep up the overall flow of the story. These reasons should be enough for a fan of the mystery genre to at least give it a shot. Judging by the first two books, there doesn’t seem to be any reason to read one before the other. Reading out of order shouldn’t prevent any problems so if you’re interested, give this one a shot first, you will not be disappointed!