RD Wingfield only managed a limited number of stories featuring his wonderful creation, maverick Detective Inspector "Jack" Frost and the fictional Denton police force before he died in the '90s. Such a shame -these are really very well constructed books and satisfying mysteries.
Wingfield lived to see the highly successful TV series starring David Jason, but had a problem with Jason's portrayal, in the main because the TV character was totally different and quite toned down compared to the greasy, unkempt, foul-mouthed, chain-smoking policeman that Wingfield describes so well. All the outside DCs or DSs seconded (usually unwillingly) to Denton nick and placed under Inspector Frost's mantle are generally flawed or world-weary but find themselves quickly at their wits' end with their superior's antics and unorthodox policing methods.
The cackling humour within these books arises from Frost's callous disregard of the rules and his slapdash, usually disgraceful conduct, which numerous times steer him towards suspension or worse. The funniest is his relationship with the stuffy, hapless Superintendent Mullett, dubbed "Horn Rim Harry", whom Frost manages to wrong-foot on a regular basis. At times, Jack's sexist attitude and verbal crudity might prove moderately grating to current PC attitudes but given this was a prevalent attitude of the time (the Inspector is portrayed as being in his 50s when these were written in the 1990s so can therefore be reasonably expected to be entrenched in the old-fashioned attitudes and this simply adds validity to his seemingly 'disreputable' character.
All Wingfield's books are a true joy to read and if you can suspend that hovering image of the former Del-Boy (and despite the much cleaner raincoat, decent scarf and less battered hat) from your mind's eye, it remains a simply wonderful series that should not be missed.
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